Our President

President Col Limpus - who's he?

40+ years of dedication honoured
The International Sea Turtle Society's 28th symposium in Loreto, Mexico saw the inaugural presentation of the Society's Lifetime Achievement Awards. Australia's Dr Col Limpus was rendered speechless as he accepted his award amid plaudits from longtime colleagues and students past and present.

A potted history...

Col began his interest in sea turtles as a teenager, welcoming each New Year in with the turtles on the beaches around Bundaberg.
At university he completed a double major in maths and physics.
Nobody told Col it was difficult to study turtles in the sea or monitor them on multiple beaches. So, with his students helping, he just went and did it... and there began one of the world's largest, longest, and most comprehensive sea turtle datasets.
In 1974, Col joined the Queensland National Parks Service (now the EPA), where he has been influencing sea turtle policy and management ever since. On Australia Day 1992 he received a Public Service Medal for these contributions.

Roles in international sea turtle conservation & management

Member of the IUCN Marine Turtle Species Group since 1968
Technical Advisor to the South Pacific Regional Environment Program since 1990
Board member, and now president, of the ISTS (he has been attending ISTS symposia for over 20 years)
Scientific Councillor for the Convention of Migratory Species
Technical Advisor to the Indian Ocean South East Asian Turtle MoU
President of the International Sea Turtle Society 2008/09

Even after all this time, Col still likes to sit on the beach and hold flippers with turtles that he knows well.