Scientist nerd here

[AldabraNerd]

Dear All,

I haven't got any tortoises (yet), but I still consider myself the luckiest man alive in relation to our chelonian friends: I am an ecologist working on the Aldabra giant tortoise in its homeland, the Aldabra Atoll. I aim to spend at least 1-2 months on the atoll per year (otherwise my dear wife would get too jealous of them thar scaly fellas, alas).
I have already learnt a lot about (many species of) tortoises from different keepers and breeders, and hope to learn a lot here, too.

Cheers,
Dennis

Oh, and here's a photo of myself, a colleague, and one of 'our' herds:

 

[AustinASU]

Omg you are so lucky!!!!!! Aldabraman is going to be uber jealous of you.

 

[wellington]

Hello and Welcome. . That is fantastic. Please share what you learn about the Aldabras, ALDABRAMAN I'm sure would love any info about them from their home land. Also any info about other torts you learn about while your there.

 

[Tom]

Hello and welcome. What you are doing is a dream of many of us. We would love to live vicariously through you. Any info and any pics are much appreciated.

 

[Redstrike]

Welcome!
I'm also a scientist nerd, though I haven't worked with such large study animal on an island archipelago. I did have the pleasure to work with desert tortoises in the Mojave and they were amazing! I can only imagine the fun you'regoing to have with these guys and gals.

What are you studying with these aldabra populations? You can PM me if you don't want to nerd out in front of the whole forum, but I have a feeling they'd also like to know! Is this a PhD/MS project?

 

[Yvonne G]

Welcome, Dennis!

We have an Aldabran breeder right here on the forum (Aldabraman). He has been generous in sharing many pictures and lots of info about his herd.

And I have two male 12 year old aldabrans that I got as hatchlings.

May we know why you have undertaken this study and where is home base?

 

[tortadise]

Welcome! This is fantastic. I have been researching a trip to those regions.

 

[ALDABRAMAN]

Welcome, That is great! Please share pictures and post as much as possible.

 

[Momof4]

Welcome Dennis!!! You are going to be loved around here. Please stick around and share your photos!

 

[AldabraNerd]

Dear All,
Thanks a lot for the warm welcome! I am based at Zurich University, Switzerland, where I'm a research group leader. Together with a bunch of other junior research group leaders, and together with the Seychelles Islands Foundation NGO (who manage the Aldabra Atoll) we have recently launched what will hopefully be long-term studies there. My speciality is plant-animal interactions. I work on pollination, seed dispersal, and herbivory. Obviously the giant tortoises are more active players in the latter two categories...

At the moment, we also have 31 high-tech GPS tags deployed on tortoises on Aldabra, pretty much scattered around the atoll. They will hopefully continue to give us valuable movement data for the next 6-10 years (depending on battery use/life).

I'm happy to share photos and information with you - I'll set up a thread elsewhere for this.

Best,
Dennis

 

[TORTOISEMAN1]

Hello and welcome!

 

[pam]

Welcome

 

[Vishnu2]

I am so jealous right now. Thank you for joining the forum and becoming a family member. I am sure everyone is excited to see you and welcome you. Please share pictures as often as you can as others have mentioned.

 

[GeoTerraTestudo]

Welcome, Dennis. Always great to learn about these animals in the wild. Please share photos and information when you can!

 

[ColorfulTortoise]

Welcome! That must be so interesting to get to work with such amazing tortoises. Good luck with your study.

 

[Yellow Turtle]

Hello and welcome! I've read a lot and got great info from your thread. Please keep sharing pictures and information.

 

[DrewsLife727]

Welcome! This is really awesome

-Drew

 

[mainey34]

Hello, and welcome. Thank you in advance for the wealth of information and pictures.

 

[acrantophis]

Very cool. Very jealous!

 

[Jacqui]

HI! *waves* We in this forum are very lucky to have you joining us. You can give us unique and very important information on this animal in his native habitat. I look forward to reading a lot from you.... and seeing the pictures too.