Dr Nicole Esteban of the University’s Biosciences department has been recognised for her outstanding scientific and conservation work in this year’s Zoological Society of London (ZSL) awards.
Dr Esteban was announced as the winner of the ZSL Marsh Award for Marine and Freshwater Conservation at ZSL’s Awards Celebration Event which took place on 10 December. The Marsh Award for Marine and Freshwater Conservation is awarded for fundamental research which has had significant impact on marine and freshwater conservation.
Dr Esteban heads the Marine Conservation and Ecology Lab and is working at the interface of science, management and conservation. She has a background in marine protected area management, which means she has both a theoretical and practical understanding of marine conservation. Dr Esteban’s research tracking green and hawksbill turtles in the Chagos Archipelago has led to the discovery of deepwater seagrass meadows and mesophotic reefs in the Indian Ocean. She has worked to integrate this into policy and her work has been used by the British and Mauritian Governments to drive the designation of key conservation zones, and by the Seychelles Government to inform marine conservation planning.
Dr Esteban also pioneers the use of innovative technology, deploying remote cameras that record turtle nesting for many months. This technology is set to transform the quality of status assessments for sea turtles that nest in remote, hard to access areas.
Dr Esteban has been at the forefront of efforts to assess the impacts of climate change on nesting sea turtles, including feminisation of hatchling production and rising sea levels causing loss of nesting beaches. Her work to understand the impact of climate change on turtles has led to the identification of practical measures, which she presented at the UNFCCC Conference of the Parties in Glasgow in 2021.