The grant will fund equipment for a new sea turtle hormone lab used to advance
groundbreaking sea turtle sex determination research.
Juno Beach, Fla. (October 6, 2025) ─ The Foxwynd Foundation’s Donor Advised Fund (DAF) funded the Foxwynd Foundation’s generous $25,000 donation to Loggerhead Marinelife Center (LMC) to complete its new public-facing sea turtle hormone lab. The lab will be equipped with advanced technology to drive groundbreaking research on sex identification in juvenile and adult sea turtles.
The Foxwynd Foundation is a nonprofit organization committed to improving access to key pillars of human dignity, which includes environmental sustainability. The Foundation’s funding of LMC’s hormone research project is a critical step in the conservation of sea turtles.
“Foxwynd Foundation believes in empowering organizations tackling important environmental challenges. LMC’s hormone lab will allow researchers to make faster, more precise discoveries that benefit both turtles and their ecosystems,” says Erin Bentley, Grant Committee Member with the Foxwynd Foundation.
Sea turtles do not have external characteristics that distinguish males from females until they reach maturity after 20 to 30 years. They also have a “temperature-dependent sex determination,” meaning the sex of a sea turtle is not determined by its DNA, but instead by the temperature at which they nest. This means that as environmental temperatures rise, sea turtle populations can become heavily female-biased, as females are produced with warmer temperatures.
LMC will utilize the new lab to analyze sea turtle testosterone levels to determine their sex, a process that previously had to be outsourced, which delayed research and limited testing capacity. Thanks to the Foxwynd Foundation’s grant, the upgraded equipment tackles one of the biggest challenges in sea turtle conservation – identifying the sex of juvenile turtles. By having on-site testing that is faster and more precise, LMC will be able to evaluate and support a greater number of sea turtles each year.
“This lab will allow researchers to determine a sea turtle’s sex up to 30 years earlier than previously possible,” said Dr. Katie Fowler, a postdoctoral scientist at Loggerhead Marinelife Center. “Understanding whether a sea turtle is male or female is vital because males and females face different threats, including boat strikes, fishing gear entanglement, disease, and the effects of climate change.”
LMC is grateful for the Foxwynd Foundation’s support of the Center’s research to improve sea turtle care and conservation. This new endeavor will help expand LMC’s mission of sea turtle research, conservation, and education.
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