Turtles Kingston’s New Administrator

As of September 1, 2021 Turtles Kingston will have a new Administrator/Director. Tara Bauer will be taking over from Mabyn Armstrong who has been the Turtles Kingston Administrator since its relaunch in 2018.

Mabyn relaunched Turtles Kingston in response to the plight of Kingston area turtles, who are too often victims of road mortality, habitat loss, and bycatch in the commercial fishing industry. The relaunch of Turtles Kingston was centred around the Westbrook wetland on Princess St between Collins Bay Rd and Creekside Valley Rd and with the mitigation of this turtle mortality ‘hotspot’, through installation of exclusion fencing, Mabyn found all her goals at Turtles Kingston have been accomplished and it was time to step back.

Tara Bauer is an Environmental Scientist with a specialty in hydrogeology (groundwater and geology) who grew up in Kingston and has just returned after a 12-year absence. Turtles have been Tara’s favourite animal her whole life and in fact one of the first ever awards she remembers receiving was for “Being so knowledgeable about turtles” when she was 10 attending Grass Creek Camp.

It was her passion of turtles and rocks that drove Tara to the University of Guelph’s Environmental Sciences program, and it was her love of physics that pushed her into the Earth and Atmospheric realm. Tara’s professional career is in the abiotic, non-living Earth, but her interests have always expanded into the biotic, living Earth, with courses in Amphibian and Reptile identification and monitoring and contributing to biologic field work when and where possible (including electrofishing).

With her experience in conservation, consulting, and environmental science Tara is excited to use her knowledge and passion to continue the important work of Turtles Kingston.  

Mabyn Armstrong (left) passing the Turtles Kingston hat to Tara Bauer (right), who will be taking over as Administrator for Turtles Kingston