Tanya's Turtle Project

10/04/2026

09/14/2026

Huge thanks to William A. Hazel, Inc for inviting us to join them in presenting to GMU’s College of Engineering for this year’s Challenge + X competition.
Hazel’s CEO and What About the Turtles presented to a room full of bright young minds and asked them to tackle a real world problem: how can we detect turtles on construction sites?

Can’t wait to see what these brilliant young engineers come up with!

08/26/2026

Looking forward to giving this presentation next month to my fellow Virginia Master Naturalists!

See more here

06/27/2026

After several repeated trips and assurances from the construction company that there was, indeed, a snapping turtle in this pond, we finally got them! Thank you, AERO Animal Education and Rescue Organization!

06/14/2026

🐢 It's been a busy season at A.E.R.O.! 🐢

Between release events, new patient intakes, educational programs, and the endless cycle of baby feedings, our team has been running at full speed. While wildlife rehab keeps us busy, we've also been fortunate to spend some time helping out our turtle friends through our construction site monitoring program What About The Turtles.

Over the past week alone, volunteers were out on construction walks in both Gainesville and Ashburn, helping locate and safely move turtles and other wildlife out of harm's way before heavy equipment moved in. Every turtle found is one more animal given the chance to continue its journey safely.

We're incredibly grateful for our dedicated volunteers who brave the heat, mud, and tall grass to help protect wildlife during development projects. These efforts make a real difference!

Interested in joining us on a future turtle walk? We have plenty of opportunities coming up and would love to get more people involved. Whether you're a seasoned wildlife enthusiast or simply want to help local wildlife, we'd love to have you join us.

Sign up here:
https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/sl/Lkr7oa2/TanyasTurtleProject

In the meantime, enjoy these photos of some of the turtles saved during yesterday's Gainesville walk and Friday's Ashburn walk. Every one of these faces represents a small victory for wildlife conservation. 💚🐢 and a HUGE THANK YOU TO WILLIAM A HAZEL Inc

04/19/2026

Had successful walks today in the Gainesville Haymarket site 🙂 keep an eye out for turtles!

04/04/2026

We had several teams cover three sites today in search of turtles (and scouted a fourth site for when they’re ready for us). Big thanks again to for granting us permission to their sites!

Want to be notified about future walks? Sign up at WhatAboutTheTurtles.org 

04/04/2026

No fooling here, we're giving you a chance to try being a turtle researcher! Eastern Box turtles are a beloved native species; unfortunately they're at risk of declining due to habitat loss, vehicle collisions, and poaching. We're trying to discover the most turtle-friendly land management practices as part of our long-term research project with the Turtle Conservation Ecology Lab and Joe Kolowski at the Smithsonian’s NZCBI.

Register: https://cliftoninstitute.org/event/science-saturday-box-turtle-survey/