Staff
Center for Ocean Solutions
georges@stanford.edu

George has worked in the field of environmental conservation since 1986. He has served in various capacities for the World Wildlife Fund, The Nature Conservancy, RARE, the Homeland Foundation (now Marisla Foundation), and Conservation International.

Following completion of business school at Yale University, George served as a Director of Business Development for Animal Planet.com at Discovery Communications, Inc. During 2001-2003, prior to commencing doctoral studies at Stanford University, George returned to the international conservation community, and served as Director of Operations for Conservation International’s Andean Regional Program.

George transitioned to Stanford on a Marine Research Fellowship from Conservation International. During this period, George co-wrote and developed the initial vision for the Eastern Tropical Pacific Seascape and raised the seed funding that was critical to launching this four-country transboundary conservation initiative.

Degrees

George holds a Ph.D. in Marine Biology from Stanford University, an M.B.A. from the Yale University School of Management (SOM), an M.S. in the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from Stanford University, and a B.A. in the Biological Basis of Behavior from the University of Pennsylvania.

Research Interests

George’s research involves the application of new and different satellite tagging technologies to understand the behavior and movements of pelagic species in the Eastern Pacific.

During the past five years, George has deployed satellite tags on more than 100 animals, representing many different species of pelagic predators, including Pacific leatherback sea turtles at Playa Grande, Costa Rica, billfish (sailfish and marlin) off the Pacific coast of Panama and Costa Rica, Galapagos sharks at Darwin and Wolf Islands in the Galapagos, salmon sharks in Gravina Sound, Alaska, and giant Pacific bluefin tuna off Greymouth, New Zealand.

George is also a creator and co-founder of the Great Turtle Race, a unique international sea turtle conservation event that occurred online from April 16 to April 29, 2007. The race utilized the tracking data from 11 satellite-tagged sea turtles to raise global awareness and funding for the management and conservation of critically endangered leatherback sea turtles and other threatened pelagic species.

Publications

Shillinger GL, Swithenbank AM, Bailey H, Bograd SJ, Castelton MR, Wallace BP, Spotila JR, Paladino FV, Piedra R, and BA Block. (In review). Vertical and horizontal habitat preferences of post-nesting leatherback turtles in the South Pacific Ocean. Marine Ecology Progress Series.

Spotila JR, Santidrián-Tomillo P. Bailey H, Bograd SJ, Shillinger GL, Roe J, Paladino FV, Morreale SJ, Eckert SA, Benson SR, Eguchi T, Schick RS, Roberts JJ, Donoso M, Halpin PN, Soykan C, Block BA, and Dutton PH (In prep) Interactions of Leatherback Turtles and Fisheries in the Pacific Ocean: A Report to the Lenfest Program of the Pew Foundation. 385+ pp.

Shillinger, G. 2009. Satellite tracking reveals movement, behavior, and distribution of endangered leatherback turtles in the Eastern Tropical and Southeastern Pacific: Implications for Conservation. Ph.D. Thesis. Stanford University. 220 pp.

Shillinger GL, Swithenbank AM, Bograd SJ, Bailey H, Castelton MR, Wallace BP, Spotila JR, Paladino FV, Piedra R, and BA Block. 2009. Identification of high-use internesting habitats for eastern Pacific leatherback turtles: Role of the environment and implications for conservation. Endangered Species Research 10:215-232.

Shillinger GL, Palacios DM, Bailey H, Bograd SJ, Swithenbank AM, Gaspar P, Wallace BP, Spotila JR, Paladino FV, Piedra R, Eckert SA, and BA Block. 2008. Persistent leatherback turtle migrations present opportunities for conservation. PLoS Biol 6(7): e171. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.0060171

Weng KC, Foley DG, Ganong JE, Perle C, Shillinger GL, and BA Block. 2008. Migration of an Upper Trophic Level Predator, the Salmon Shark, Between Distant Ecoregions. Marine Ecology Proceedings 373: 253-264.

Bailey H, Shillinger G, Palacios D., Bograd S, Spotila J, Paladino F, and B Block. 2008. Identifying and comparing phases of movement by leatherback turtles using state-space models. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 356:128-135.

Saba VS, Shillinger GL, Swithenbank AM, Block BA, Spotila JR, et al. 2008. An oceanographic context for the foraging ecology of eastern Pacific leatherback turtles: Consequences of ENSO. Deep-Sea Res I 55: 646–660.

Wallace BP, Spotila JR, Paladino FV, Shillinger GL, and R. Piedra. 2008. Estudios de la conducta, movimientos, y uso de hábitat de las Tortugas Baulas (Dermochelys coriacea) en el Parque Nacional Marino Las Baulas, Areas de Conservación Tempisque. Informe a MINAE para las actividades referente a las Resoluciónes 273-2003-OFAU y ACT-OR-056, ACT-OR-032-06. July 2008. 16 pp.

Hearn A, Ketchum J, Shillinger G, and E Espinoza. 2007. Programa de Investigación y Conservación de Tiburones en la Reserva Marina de Galápagos. Fundación Charles Darwin, Santa Cruz, Galapagos, Ecuador Reporte Anual 2006-7. 111 pp.

Wallace BP, Paladino FV, Spotila JR, and Shillinger GL. 2007. Monitoreo del comportamiento marino de tortugas baulas por telemetría de satélite durante un periodo La Niña. Informe a MINAE para las actividades referente a las Resolución ACT-OR-032-06. August 2007. 16 pp.

Hemphill AH, and Shillinger GL. 2006. Casting the Net Broadly: Ecosystem-Based Management Beyond National Jurisdiction. Sustainable Development Law and Policy, Volume 7, Issue No.1, Fall 2006. pp. 56-60.

Spotila JR, Wallace BP, Paladino FV and Shillinger GL. 2006. Estudios de la conducta, movimientos, y uso de hábitat de las Tortugas Baulas (Dermochelys coriacea) en el Parque Nacional Marino Las Baulas, Areas de Conservación Tempisque. Informe a MINAE para las actividades referente a las Resoluciónes 273-2003-OFAU y ACT-OR-056. May 2006. 17 pp.

Shillinger GL. 2005. The Eastern Tropical Pacific Seascape: An innovative model for transboundary marine conservation. In: Mittermeier RA, Kormos CF, Mittermeier PRG, Sandwith T, Besancon C Transboundary Conservation: A new vision for protected areas Washington (DC): Conservation International. pp. 320–331.