James R. Spotila holds the Betz Chair of Environmental Science at Drexel University, where he is also director of the Center for Biodiversity and Conservation. Dr. Spotila is a leading ecologist and physiologist who has written more than 100 articles published in leading scientific journals and helped create the field of biophysical ecology. One of the world's leading authorities on sea turtles, he is the founding president of the International Sea Turtle Society and president of the Leatherback Trust, based in Costa Rica.