Turtle Conservancy Board Chair, Anders Rhodin, was awarded the International Sea Turtle Society Lifetime Achievement Award; an annual award honoring an individual who has had a significant impact on sea turtle biology and conservation through the course of their career.
Rhodin joins some of the giants in the sea turtle world, including past recipients Archie Carr and Peter Pritchard. He describes many decades of partnerships, projects, and dedication that lead up to the receipt of this prestigious award:
“I am overwhelmed and deeply honored to receive this award and will be attending the sea turtle symposium in Thailand to receive the award. At moments like this I think about the people who inspired me along the way in my turtle research and conservation efforts.
It all started with Russ Mittermeier, my oldest and closest turtle friend and colleague, dating back to our undergraduate college days at Dartmouth and traveling together through the Amazon back in 1971, then extending through Peter Pritchard and John Behler, with whom I launched our journal, Chelonian Conservation and Biology when they were leading the IUCN Tortoise and Freshwater Turtle Specialist Group, and who both inspired and mentored me to be more than just an orthopedic surgeon.
And then Rick Hudson who stepped up as the Asian Turtle Crisis emerged as a huge threat to freshwater turtles and tortoises and helped create and lead the Turtle Survival Alliance, followed by Eric Goode who brought his considerable personal resources to bear on making a difference for turtles globally and creating the Turtle Conservancy. Inspirational leaders, one and all. They and so many others who have either done the research or led the organizations or provided the necessary funding to help accomplish our goals have all inspired me.”
Rhodin joined the Turtle Conservancy Board of Directors in 2006, replacing founding Board member John Behler, his close friend and conservation mentor, after John's passing, and was elected Chair of the Board in 2016. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Turtle Survival Alliance and the African Aquatic Conservation Fund. He is Founder and Director of Chelonian Research Foundation and Chair Emeritus and Executive Vice Chair of the IUCN SSC Tortoise and Freshwater Turtle Specialist Group, founding Co-Chair of the Turtle Conservation Fund and a former member of the Chairman’s Council of Conservation International. Rhodin is Founding Editor and Publisher, Chelonian Conservation and Biology & Chelonian Research Monographs (co-published with Turtle Conservancy). Did we mention that he is also an orthopedic surgeon (now retired)? The Turtle Conservancy is honored to have such a tireless, influential, and multifaceted visionary on our board.
Eric Goode (left), Anders Rhodin (middle), and Russell A. Mittermeier (right) pose in front of the Turtle Conservancy conservation sign in 2008