Faculty

Heather Judkins

Professor 

CONTACT
St. Petersburg campus
Office: STG 222
Phone: (727) 873-4512

Email: Judkins@usf.edu
Website

Specialty Area	Recent Publications
Marine Biology Research Key Words: Invertebrates, cephalopods, phylogeny, systematics	Heather Judkins

EDUCATION
Ph.D., University of South Florida
M.S., Nova Southeastern University

TEACHING
Marine Biology, Invertebrate Zoology, Marine Ecology

RESEARCH
Heather Judkins is a cephalopod expert. Her research focuses on understanding the evolution, ecology and biogeography of marine creatures such as octopus, squid and cuttlefish. Her current focus is on the Gulf of Mexico and Wider Caribbean.

In 2018, Judkins was selected as President of the Cephalopod International Advisory Council, a global organization that seeks to stimulate and accelerate the direction of cephalopod research. She has been the recipient of numerous grants, including the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative Award and the NOAA Ocean Exploration Grant, which funded exploration of the deep sea in the Gulf of Mexico to examine if bioluminescence acts differently in organisms at depths of 2,000 meters when compared to their shallow-water relatives. Judkins has taken part in nine research expeditions, including the first to film a giant squid in United States waters.

Heather Judkins was also awarded the Florida Marine Science Educators Association Educator of the Year in 2012.

Selected research and publications by Judkins:

The Invertebrate Lab at USFSP focuses on Mollusca, specifically the cephalopods: squids, octopods, and their relatives; as well as pelagic snails.

Past and present projects include investigating the biodiversity, systematics, biogeography, genetic diversity, and physiology of the group.