Rebecca Diggins

Research Project: Factors influencing the effective management of green sea turtles in the Conflict islands, Papua New Guinea

Rebecca grew up and completed a Bachelor of Science with the Major Ecology in England, before she came to Australia in 2015 to undertake a Master of Science in Protected Area Management at JCU. She got involved at the Caraplace in the beginning stages and is an existing part of the team since then.

Currently she is undertaking a PhD research focusing on Factors influencing the effective management of green sea turtles in the Conflict Islands (Papua New Guinea). This also includes looking at the population dynamics, local community interests and the development of tourism on the island. With Rebecca’s research focusing on all of that, she hopes that by understanding the turtles use of the island as well as the connection between the resident communities and the tourism to construct an effective plan for their conservations, because after all they’re considered a globally endangered species.