--- title: Back to the Bay for Baby Terrapins date: 2026-07-02T13:24:00-04:00 author: University of Maryland canonical_url: "https://today.umd.edu/back-to-the-bay-for-baby-terrapins" section: Articles --- # Back to the Bay for Baby Terrapins *July 2, 2026* — by [Karen Shih ’09](/author/karen-shih) > UMD faculty, students release classroom-raised hatchlings *Terrapin Release Poplar Island Turtles Tess Tudo 06302026 JC 0655 1920x1080 — Crouching at the water’s edge on Poplar Island, Provost and Senior Vice President Jennifer King Rice (center) and music education major Lorelai Loyd ’28 release two terrapin hatchlings raised at UMD, Tess and Tudo, into the Chesapeake Bay. Loyd took the Honors College course “Inclusive Conservation: Indigenous Philosophies and Western Science for Biodiversity and Resilience in the Chesapeake and Beyond” in Spring 2026, one of three across UMD that incorporated the terrapins into the curriculum this past school year. (Photos by John T. Consoli)* A month after the University of Maryland’s Commencement exercises, two more terrapins took their first steps into the real world this week. Tess and Tudo, 9-month-old hatchlings raised in the College of Education, crawled down the wet sand of Poplar Island into the brackish waters of the Chesapeake Bay on Tuesday, cheered on by a crowd of eager Terps. “The best part for me is how invested and excited the students and the faculty get—it’s the joy of connecting with and raising these turtles,” said Clinical Associate Professor Amy Green, director of UMD’s[ Center for Science and Technology in Education](https://education.umd.edu/research/centers/cste), who has now raised four cohorts of diamondback terrapins with Clinical Associate Professor Angela Stoltz. *Amy Green holds a terrapin outdoors — Green holds an adult female terrapin, tagged and released by scientists on Poplar Island.* *A woman in a white cap and shirt holds a small tank with a terrapin inside* Education doctoral student Victoria Fernandez holds Tess. “They are rock stars when it comes to helping with terrapin care,” said Green, noting that the hatchlings started out at the size of a quarter. She calls the turtles “empathy ambassadors” who help students “see the world through their eyes” through assignments like drawing a food web for terrapins that includes the impact of humans on the ecosystem. *People board a boat that says "Egret: Poplar Island, MD"* More than a dozen Terps board a boat to Poplar Island. Made up mostly of dredged materials from the Chesapeake Bay, it’s now an important conservation site free of mammal predators like raccoons and foxes, allowing turtles and other native species to more successfully lay and hatch eggs. Ohio University Professor Emeritus Willem Roosenburg, who attended the release, has been monitoring diamondback terrapins there for more than two decades. Each summer, he collects eggs under a Maryland Department of Natural Resources permit and incubates them, then the Maryland Environmental Service (MES)distributes them to TERP classrooms once they hatch. *A researcher measures a terrapin's shell* Julia Moya, a MES environmental outreach specialist on Poplar Island, takes final measurements of the terrapins’ carapace and plastron, weighs the hatchlings and scans their micro chips before release. She also helped lead a tour of the island for the UMD crew, pointing out blue herons, great egrets and bald eagles, as well as terrapin nesting sites. *Provost Jennifer King Rice holds a terrapin amongst researchers and students* Provost and Senior Vice President Jennifer King Rice holds a wild adult female terrapin, captured by scientists on Poplar Island for tagging. The UMD crew also got to see a full-grown male and compare their sizes, learning how females are significantly larger. The pair were released after Tess and Tudo. *Group of UMD affiliates with a sign that reads "Poplar Island"* In addition to Rice, Green and COE students, UMD community members at the release included University Relations Assistant Vice President Jeff Williams and Alumni Association Senior Executive Director Jessica Roberts ’02. Mario Harley, Piscataway tribal member and historian who frequently guest-lectures at UMD, also attended and spoke about the significance of terrapins to Indigenous communities. **Topics:** [Campus & Community](https://today.umd.edu/tags/campus-community) **Tags:** [Education](https://today.umd.edu/topic/education), [Student Experience](https://today.umd.edu/topic/student-experience) **Units:** [College of Education](https://today.umd.edu/topic/college-education) ## Related Articles - [Tiny Terps Teach Big Lessons](https://today.umd.edu/tiny-terps-teach-big-lessons): Elementary education majors had their lesson brought to life with the help of three diamondback terrapins that are being raised in a tank at the College of Education for the 2022-23 school year. - [What It Takes: The Insect Zoo](https://today.umd.edu/what-it-takes-the-insect-zoo): For many people, just the thought of a roach nearby is enough to make them shudder or shriek. But that fear is what the folks at the Insect Zoo are hoping to change by carefully cultivating a collecti