CheloniaCast is joined by Dr. Nicole Valenzuela, Professor in the Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal Biology at Iowa State University and principal investigator in the Laboratory of Evolutionary and Ecological Genomics at Iowa State University. Dr. Valenzuela is an elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and researches a variety of areas of evolutionary ecology and biology, using turtles as model systems primarily. She has published over 100 peer reviewed papers and co-edited the book “Temperature Dependent Sex Determination in Vertebrates.” The conversation dives deeper into her experiences both in the field and lab pertaining to her study of sex determination of turtles, turtle genomics, and evolutionary ecology. There is also valuable discussion on the challenges turtles can pose in developmental studies due to their slow growth and natural history.    To learn more about Iowa State University’s Laboratory of Evolutionary and Ecological Genomics visit: https://faculty.sites.iastate.edu/nvalenzu/   To view “Temperature Dependent Sex Determination in Vertebrates” visit: https://smithsonian.figshare.com/articles/book/Temperature-Dependent_Sex_Determination_in_Vertebrates/9761783   Learn more about the CheloniaCast Podcast here: https://theturtleroom.org/cheloniacast/   Learn more about the CheloniaCast Podcast Fund here: https://theturtleroom.org/project/cheloniacast-podcast/   Follow the CheloniaCast Podcast on Instagram/Facebook/Twitter @cheloniacast   Host and production crew social media - Jason Wills - @chelonian.carter / Michael Skibsted - @michael.skibstedd / Jack Thompson - @jack_reptile_naturalist_302 / Ken Wang - @americanmamushi / Wyatt Keil - @wyatts_wildlife_photography / Paul Cuneo - @paul_turtle_conservation42 / Alex Mione - @alex.mione / Ethan Hancock - @ethankinosternonlover / Torsten Watkins - @t_0_.e