Southeastern biology professor awarded Fulbright Scholar grant to teach, research in Spain
Tuesday, September 8, 2020 
by: Tonya Lowentritt
HAMMOND – Southeastern Louisiana University Professor of Biology Roldán Valverde
has been named a Fulbright Scholar, which will allow him to perform research and undergraduate
level teaching in Spain next year.
Established in 1946, the Fulbright Scholar Program is sponsored by the U.S. Department
of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and allows American scholars
and professionals to lecture and research in a wide range of fields.
“Dr. Valverde has dedicated his professional life to the study of sea turtles,”
said Dean of the College of Science and Technology Daniel McCarthy. “Not only is he
an internationally renowned scholar for his scientific work, but he is also well known
for his dedication to sea turtle conservation. He already serves as the scientific
director of the Sea Turtle Conservancy, so it is no surprise that Dr. Valverde received
this prestigious award.”
A specialist in the reproductive and stress endocrinology of sea turtles, as
well as the nesting ecology of sea turtles, Valverde will be working at the Universidad
de Las Palmas de La Gran Canaria in Spain. He will teach a class in Marine Ecology,
a third year course in the undergraduate curriculum at ULPGC, and he is looking forward
to the new experiences the grant will afford him.
“Taking part in this highly valuable opportunity will provide me with the energy
and inspiration I need to develop new courses here in the U.S., such as marine biology,
a course I think is going to be a hit, especially now that the oceans are in peril
due to human activities,” Valverde said. “While at ULPGC, I am teaching a course in
marine ecology. Marine biology and marine ecology share similar topics, and the latter
can be very instrumental in the development of a course in marine biology in my department.”
As part of the grant, Valverde will also give four, one-hour seminars about his
research specialty, an opportunity he welcomes to present his long-term research projects
to students and colleagues alike.
“The presentation topics are ‘The Biology and Conservation of Sea Turtles,’ ‘The
Role of Vitellogenin in the Reproductive Physiology of Sea Turtles,’ ‘The Reproductive
Ecology of Sea Turtles,’ and ‘The Evolution of Structure and Function of the Endocrine
Stress Response.’”
While in Spain, Valverde will instruct students and colleagues on how to run
testosterone and estrogen assays (the chemical analysis of a substance) to sex juvenile
sea turtles. He will also instruct them on how to run the vitellogenin (the serum
phospholipoglycoprotein precursor to egg yolk) assay.
“I developed this assay in my lab, and it is currently the only functional vitellogenin
assay that has been used to measure this protein in wild sea turtle populations,”
he said. “The implementation of this assay in Spain will help support studies of the
reproductive physiology of sea turtles in that region of the world.”
In addition to his normal teaching duties, research, and serving as the scientific
director of the Sea Turtle Conservancy, Valverde also collaborates with departmental
colleagues to teach study abroad courses in Costa Rica. At the Sea Turtle Conservancy,
Valverde’s mission is to oversee the scientific programs with emphasis on the biological
stations in Tortuguero, Costa Rica and in the Bocas del Toro region in Panama.
“As a professor and as scientific director, my students and colleagues take advantage
of the collaborative experiences and opportunities that I make available to them,
which has helped me create a rich personal network to promote the advancement of our
knowledge of sea turtle biology and conservation,” he said.
