Faculty & Staff Profiles

Curtis M. Burney

Associate Professor of Oceanography
burney@nova.edu

Education
Area(s) of Research

Sea Turtle Conservation, Marine Chemistry
My current research interest involves the factors that influence the spatial and temporal distribution of sea turtle nesting on Broward County beaches. Each morning during the sea turtle nesting season (March 1-Sept. 30) members of the sea turtle conservation/research group patrol more than 21 miles of beach on all terrain vehicles to locate sea turtle nests and move those that may be in hazardous locations. Due to heavy coastal development, the majority of these nests are carefully relocated to beach hatcheries, to prevent hatchling disorientation by beachfront lights when they emerge from the nests and attempt to reach the sea. The project generates a large amount of data on nesting success, hatching success and temporal and spatial nesting patterns. The large amount of data generated by the project over the last 16 years has provided the basis for many research projects.

I have previously been involved in research involving the interaction of marine microbes with dissolved organic matter in the sea and I maintain interests in those areas.

Current students

MS Students
Allison Hammill - Influence of El Nino and La Nina on sea turtle nesting.
Danielle Kleppan - Effect of beach sand compaction on sea turtle nest distribution.
Teal Kawana - Influence of air temperature on sea turtle nest hatching success and incubation time.
Linda Searle - Sea turtles of Belize.

Publications

Burney, C.M. and Ouelette, S. 2005. Sea Turtle Conservation Project, Broward Co. Florida. Technical Report 2004. Broward County Environmental Protection Department, Biological Resources Division. Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Dragojlovic, V. and C. Burney. 2004. Organic chemistry laboratory manual, 2004/2005. Premium SciTech, New Westminster, BC, Canada

Burney, C.M., W. Margolis, 1997. Sea Turtle Conservation Project, Broward County Florida. Technical Report 97-01. Broward County Department of Natural Resource Protection. Biological Resources Division. Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.42 pp.

Schmidt, S. Terri and C.M. Burney. 1997. Effects of ghost crab (Ocypode quadrata) invasion on loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta) nests at Hillsboro Beach, Florida. Poster and abstract presented at the 17 th Annual Sea Turtle Symposium, March 3-7, 1997, Orlando Florida.

Burney, C.M., W. Margolis. 1996. Sea Turtle Conservation Project, Broward County Florida. Technical Report 96-01. Broward County Department of Natural Resource Protection. Biological Resources Division. Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. 48 pp.

Burney, C.M., W. Margolis, 1995. Sea Turtle Orientation and Hatching Success Study. Technical Report 95-04. Broward County Department of Natural Resource Protection. Biological Resources Division. Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. 23 pp.

Burney, C.M., Margolis, W. 1995. Sea Turtle Conservation Project, Broward County Florida. Technical Report 95-05. Broward County Department of Natural Resource Protection. Biological Resources Division. Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. 46 pp.

Burney, C.M., and W.E. Margolis. 1994. Sea turtle conservation project, Broward County, Florida. Report,Broward County Dept. of Natural Resource Protection, Ft. Lauderdale, FL, 44 pp.

Mattison, C., C.M. Burney and L. Fisher. 1994. Trends in the spatial distribution of sea turtle activity on an urban beach (1981-1992). Proceedings of the Thirteenth Annual Sea Turtle Symposium, 22-26 Feb. 1993, Jekyll Island Georgia, pp. 102-104.

Margolis, W.E. and C.M. Burney. 1994. Emergence periodicity of Caretta caretta in Broward County, Florida. Proceedings of the Thirteenth Annual Sea Turtle Symposium, 22-26 Feb. 1993, Jekyll Island Georgia, p 98-101.

Burney, C.M.. 1994. Seasonal and diel changes in dissolved and particulate organic matter. Chapter 5, In: The Biology of Dissolved and Particulate Organic Matter in Aquatic Systems and Marine Systems, R. Wotton, ed., Lewis Press, pp. 97-135.

Burney, C.M. and C. Mattison, 1992. Sea Turtle Conservation Project, Broward Co. Florida. 1992 Report. Broward County Erosion Prevention District, Office of Natural Resource Protection. Fort Lauderdale, FL. 45 pp.

Burney, C.M. and C. Mattison. 1992. The effects of egg relocation and beach renourishment on the nesting and hatching success of Caretta caretta p. 395-407, in: Broward County Florida, 1991. Proceedings of the 5th Annual National Conference on Beach Preservation Technology. St. Petersburg, Florida. February 12-14, 1992.

Burney, C.M. and C. Mattison. 1991. Sea Turtle Conservation Project, Broward Co. Florida. 1991 Report. Broward County Erosion Prevention District, Environmental Quality Control Board. Fort Lauderdale, FL. 47 pp.

Burney, C.M., C. Mattison and L. Fisher. 1991. The relationship of loggerhead nesting patterns and moon phase in Broward County, Florida. Proceedings of the Tenth Annual Workshop on Sea Turtle Conservation and Biology, Hilton Head SC, Feb. 20-24, 1990, p.161-164.

Mattison, C., C.M. Burney and L. Fisher. 1991. Sea turtle nesting and hatching success in Broward County, Florida, 1989. Proceedings of the Tenth Annual Workshop on Sea Turtle Conservation and Biology, Hilton Head, SC, Feb. 20-24, 1990,p.165-168.

Burney, C.M. and C. Mattison, 1990. Sea Turtle Conservation Project, Broward Co. Florida. 1990 Report. Broward County Erosion Prevention District, Environmental Quality Control Board. Fort Lauderdale, FL. 46 pp.

Burney, C.M., 1990. Seasonal and diel changes in dissolved and particulate organic matter. Chapter 5, p. 83-116, In: The Biology of Particles in Aquatic Systems, R. Wotton, ed., CRC Press.

Burney, C.M. and Mattison, C., 1989. Sea Turtle Conservation Project, Broward Co. Florida. 1989 Report. Broward County Erosion Prevention District, Environmental Quality Control Board. Fort Lauderdale, Florida. 58 pp.

Burney, C.M. and Mattison, C., 1989. Sea Turtle Conservation Project, Broward Co. Florida. 1989 Report. Broward County Erosion Prevention District, Environmental Quality Control Board. Fort Lauderdale, Florida. 58 pp.

Burney, C.M., 1986. Diel dissolved carbohydrate accumulations in coastal waters of South Florida, Bermuda and Oahu. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science., 23, 197-203.

Burney, C.M., 1986. Bacterial utilization of total in-situ dissolved carbohydrate in offshore waters. Limnol. Oceanogr., 31, 427-431.