The Fulbright Scholar Program has selected Dr. Jeffrey E. Lovich of the U.S. Geological Survey’s Southwest Biological Science Center for a Fulbright Senior Specialists Award. Lovich, a leading turtle expert and deputy director of the center, will use the prestigious grant for a project in Morocco in May 2008. There he will present lectures on ecological-research techniques to graduate and undergraduate students at Cadi Ayyad University and help the university develop a new graduate program. He will also deliver the keynote address at the first annual meeting of the Moroccan Society of Herpetology. The distinguished scientist Professor Mohammed Znari will be Lovich’s host in Morocco. Later in the summer, Znari will come to the United States on another Fulbright grant to work with Lovich in Arizona.

“Jeff Lovich has an inspiring passion for his work, in particular turtles, which is clearly evident when he speaks to students of any age,” said USGS Southwest Biological Science Center Director Andrea Alpine. “Jeff’s selection as a Fulbright scholar recognizes not only his exceptional ability as a scientist but also as a teacher.”

During his 25 years as a research biologist, Lovich has focused to a great degree on the ecology of turtles and fish in the eastern United States and tortoises in California’s Mojave Desert. Lovich has published more than 70 scientific papers and three books. His latest book, a substantial revision of “Turtles of the United States and Canada,” will be available in late 2008 through Johns Hopkins University Press. Of the world’s nearly 300 living species of turtles, Lovich discovered, described, and named three, or about 1 percent, including two turtles native to the United States.

“I am frequently considered a herpetologist because of my lifelong fascination with turtles, which began in childhood,” Lovich said. “However, as an ecologist, my interests are broader than turtles, including the effects of human activities on ecological patterns and processes in the Mojave and Sonoran Deserts and the ecology of invasive species.”

“As an ecologist, I am interested in the intersection of various and ongoing processes with animal populations,” Lovich said. “Within this broader context, I can say that these are troubled times for turtles, tortoises, and terrapins — over half of the species still living are in need of immediate conservation action.”

Lovich is one of more than 400 faculty and professionals who will travel abroad this year through the Fulbright Scholar Program. The grant program provides short-term academic opportunities to prominent U.S. faculty and professionals to promote exchange between U.S. and non-U.S. academic institutions around the world. The U.S. Department of State sponsors the Fulbright Scholar Program to promote mutual understanding between the people of the United States and other counties. Since the program began in 1946, it has awarded grants to more than 285,000 scholars and professionals based upon their academic merit and leadership potential.