Dr. Pamela T. Plotkin is a renowned wildlife biologist and conservationist with a focus on marine life, particularly sea turtles. Born and raised in New York City, Dr. Plotkin's early fascination with wildlife was nurtured through television shows like Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom and Tarzan, which offered her a glimpse into the natural world she yearned to explore. In her teenage years, her family moved to New Jersey, providing her with closer access to natural environments. This exposure further fueled her interest in wildlife and conservation. She pursued her undergraduate studies at Penn State University, where she was one of the early students in the newly established wildlife science program. Her goal was to contribute to the conservation of threatened and endangered species. Dr. Plotkin's journey in marine biology began during her graduate studies at Texas A&M in the 1980s. Despite facing gender-based challenges and discouragements in the male-dominated field, she remained undeterred. She often found herself having to prove her capabilities in the field, working as hard as her male counterparts. Her early work involved research cruises, where she faced the challenge of seasickness. Despite these difficulties, she persevered in her pursuit of marine science, contributing significantly to the field of sea turtle conservation.

Scope and Content Note
This interview with Dr. Pamela T. Plotkin, conducted by Dr. Jen Brown, delves into Dr. Plotkin's research on the migratory behavior of sea turtles, particularly the olive ridley and Kemp’s ridley species. The interview begins with Dr. Plotkin discussing her decision to pursue her Ph.D. at Texas A&M in College Station, where she joined a sea turtle lab under Dr. David Owens. She shares her excitement about the opportunity to study the mass nesting behavior of Kemp’s ridley sea turtles in Costa Rica, using the olive ridley sea turtles as a model due to their abundance. Dr. Plotkin then discusses her research project, which involved using satellite telemetry to study the migrations of the turtles. She was tasked with investigating the theory that sea turtles migrate in social units, similar to how fish group together in schools or birds flock together. This theory was based on anecdotal evidence of the same turtles being seen on the same beaches year after year. The interview then delves into the findings of Dr. Plotkin's research. Contrary to the prevailing theory, she found that olive ridley turtles do not migrate in social units. Instead, their migratory behavior is highly flexible and dependent on the availability of food resources, which can vary from year to year due to environmental factors such as El Niño. Dr. Plotkin shares her observations of how the turtles adapted their migratory behavior during an El Niño year, demonstrating their ability to survive and thrive in changing environmental conditions. She suggests that this behavioral flexibility may be why the olive ridley turtle remains the most abundant sea turtle species on the planet. The interview concludes with Dr. Plotkin discussing the implications of her research for the future of sea turtle conservation, particularly in the context of climate change. She expresses optimism about the olive ridley turtles' ability to adapt to changing environmental conditions due to their behavioral flexibility.