Senior Research Scientist Research Selected Publications: Shamblin BM, Dodd MG, Pate SM, Godfrey MH, Pfaller JB, Williams KL, Ondich BL, Steen DA, Darrow ES, Hillbrand P, Boettcher R, Coyne MS, Nairn CJ (2021) In search of the "missing majority" of nesting loggerhead turtles: improved inter-seasonal recapture rates through subpopulaiton-scale genetic tagging. Marine Biology 168: 16. Shamblin BM, Hart KM, Martin KJ, Ceriani SA, Bagley DA, Ehrhart LM, Nairn CJ (2020) Green turtle mitochondrial microsatellites indicate finer-scale natal homing to isolated islands than to continental nesting sites. Marine Ecology Progress Series 643: 159-171. Pfaller JB, Pajuelo M, Vander Zanden HB, Andrews KA, Dodd MG, Godfrey MH, Griffin DB, Ondich BL, Pate SM, Williams KL, Shamblin BM, Nairn CJ, Bolten AB, Bjorndal KA (2020) Identifying patterns in foraging-area origins in breeding aggregations of migratory species: Loggerhead turtles in the Northwest Atlantic. PLoS One 15:e0231325. Tumas HR, Shamblin BM, Woodrey MS, Nairn CJ (2019) Broad-scale patterns of genetic diversity and structure in a foundational salt marsh species, black needlefish (Juncus roemerianus). Conservation Genetics 20: 903-915. Pfaller JB, Williams KL, Frick MG, Shamblin BM, Nairn CJ, Girondot M (2019) Genetic determination of tag loss dynamics in nesting loggerhead turtles: a new chapter in the "tag loss problem." Marine Biology 166: 97. Shamblin BM, Godfrey MH, Pate SM, Thompson WP, Sutton H, Altman J, Fair K, McClary J, Wilson AM, Milligan B, Stetzar EJ, Nairn CJ (2018) Green turtles at their northern range limit in the United States represent a distinct subpopulation. Chelonian Conservation and Biology 17:314-319. Tumas HR, Shamblin BM, Woodrey MS, Nibbelink NP, Chandler R, Nairn CJ (2018) Landscape genetics of the foundational salt marsh plant species black needlerush (Juncus roemerianus Scheele) across the northeastern Gulf of Mexico. Landscape Ecology 33:1585-1601. Shamblin BM, Witherington BE, Hirama S, Hardy RF, Nairn CJ (2018) Mixed stock analyses indicate population-scale connectivity effects of active dispersal by surface-pelagic green turtles. Marine Ecology Progress Series 601:215-226. Ferrari B, Shamblin BM, Chandler R, Tumas HR, Haché S, Reitsma L, Nairn CJ (2018) Canada Warbler (Cardellina canadensis): novel molecular markers and a preliminary analysis of genetic diversity and structure. Avian Conservation and Biology 13:8. Shamblin BM, Dodd MG, Griffin DB, Pate SM, Godfrey MH, Coyne MS, Williams KL, Pfaller JB, Ondich BL, Andrews KM, Boettcher R, Nairn CJ (2017) Improved female abundance and reproductive parameter estimates through subpopulation-scale genetic capture-recapture of loggerhead turtles. Marine Biology. 164:138. Shamblin BM, Dutton PH, Shaver DJ, Bagley DA, Putman NF, Mansfield KL, Ehrhart LM, Peña LJ, Nairn CJ (2017) Mexican origins for the Texas green turtle foraging aggregation: a cautionary tale of incomplete baselines and poor marker resolution. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology. 488:111-120. Komoroske LM, Jensen MP, Stewart KR, Shamblin BM, Dutton PH (2017) Advances in the application of genetics in marine turtle biology and conservation. Frontiers in Marine Science. DOI: 10.3389/fmars.2017.00156. Shamblin BM, Dutton PH, Bjorndal KA, Bolten AB, Naro-Maciel E, Santos AJB, Bellini C, Baptistotte C, Marcovaldi MÂ, Nairn CJ (2015) Deeper mitochondrial sequencing reveals cryptic diversity and structure in Brazil’s green turtle rookeries. Chelonian Conservation and Biology. 14:167-172. Shamblin BM, Bagley DA, Ehrhart LM, Desjardin NA, Martin RE, Hart KM, Naro-Maciel E, Rusenko K, Stiner JC, Sobel D, Johnson C, Wilmers TJ, Wright LJ, Nairn CJ (2015) Genetic structure of Florida green turtle rookeries as indicated by mitochondrial control region sequences. Conservation Genetics. 16:673-685. Naro-Maciel E, Reid B, Alter SE, Amato G, Bjorndal KA, Bolten AB, Martin M, Nairn CJ, Shamblin BM, Pineda-Catalan O (2014) From refugia to rookeries: phylogeography of Atlantic green turtles. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology. 461:306-316. Vander Zanden HB, Pfaller JB, Reich KJ, Pajuelo M, Bolten AB, Williams KL, Frick MG, Shamblin BM, Nairn CJ, Bjorndal KA (2014) Foraging areas differentially affect reproductive output and interpretation of trends in abundance of loggerhead turtles. Marine Biology. 161:585-598. Shamblin BM, Bolten AB, Abreu-Grobois FA, Bjorndal KA, Cardona L, Carreras C, Clusa M, Monzón-Argüello C, Nairn CJ, Nielsen JT, Nel R, Soares LS, Stewart KR, Vilaça ST, Türkozan O, Yilmaz C, Dutton PH (2014) Geographic patterns of genetic variation in a broadly distributed marine vertebrate: new insights into loggerhead turtle stock structure from expanded mitochondrial DNA sequences. PLOS ONE. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0085956 Shamblin BM, Bolten AB, Bjorndal KA, Dutton PH, Nielsen JT, Abreu-Grobois FA, Reich KJ, Witherington BE, Bagley DA, Ehrhart LM, Tucker AD, Addison DS, Arenas A, Johnson C, Carthy RR, Lamont MM, Dodd MG, Gaines MS, LaCasella E, Nairn CJ (2012) Expanded mitochondrial control region sequences increase resolution of stock structure among North Atlantic loggerhead turtle rookeries. Marine Ecology Progress Series. 469:145-160. Shamblin BM, Bjorndal KA, Bolten AB, Hillis-Starr ZM, Lundgren I, Naro-Maciel E, Nairn CJ (2012) Mitogenomic sequences better resolve stock structure of southern Greater Caribbean green turtle rookeries. Molecular Ecology. 21:2330-2340. Labs/Centers/Committee: Dr. Nairn Lab Area of Specialty: Wildlife Ecology and Management Non-Game and Endangered Species Wildlife Population Dynamics Wildlife Population Genetics Research Areas: Wildlife Sciences Research Interests: My research focuses on the application of genetic tools to inform management and conservation. Much of this work has addressed knowledge gaps in marine turtle life history. Marine turtle populations are defined based on female natal homing, but the scale of this homing behavior is often difficult to infer due to poor marker resolution. We have refined assessments of population structure and migratory connectivity in western Atlantic loggerhead and green turtles through application of mitogenomic markers. Physical tagging and satellite telemetry projects have made seminal contributions to our understanding of marine turtle reproductive ecology, but many aspects remain unresolved. I developed a clutch sampling approach to identify individuals females without the need to physically interact with them, which has permitted genetic tagging on a scale that would not be feasible using traditional tagging methods. We use these genetic tagging data in a capture-recapture framework to better understand the reproductive ecology of Northern Recovery Unit loggerhead turtles. This work includes characterizing site fidelity and nest site selection as well as refining estimates of adult female population size, survival, and reproductive parameters.
