Dr. Joana Hancock’s lifelong dream of working with marine life became a reality in 2002, when she began her career as a sea turtle conservation biologist in Crete, Greece. Since then, Joana has never looked back.
From 2003 to 2009, Joana immersed herself in various WIDECAST projects in Costa Rica and Smithsonian Institute initiatives in Panamá. She coordinated and assisted with monitoring nesting sites and conducting in-water research, focusing on leatherbacks, greens, and hawksbills.
In 2009, Joana journeyed to Cape Verde, West Africa, to lead a loggerhead conservation project. Witnessing the unregulated harvesting of sea turtles there inspired her Masters thesis with the University of Exeter, which investigated the illegal trade of this species in the archipelago.
Her dedication continued in 2012 when she moved to São Tomé and Príncipe islands for her PhD. Joana’s goal was to bolster existing conservation efforts by comprehensively assessing the sea turtles’ status in the region. She delved into species distribution and the ecology of lesser-known life stages, such as juvenile and male sea turtles, employing cutting-edge techniques like genetic markers, stable isotopes, and population modelling.
During her time in the archipelago, Joana had the opportunity to co-found the Central Africa’s sea turtle conservation network (RASTOMA), providing support to projects across São Tomé and Príncipe, Cameroon, and the Republic of Congo, among others. In West Africa, she also dedicated time as a post-doc with ISPA (Portugal), conducting genetic and tracking studies in Mauritania.
In November 2018, Joana joined the Olive Ridley Project (ORP) in Diani Beach, Kenya. She spearheaded the first in-water assessment of green and hawksbill turtles on Kenya’s south coast reefs, led programme development, mentored the on-site sea turtle monitoring assistant, and forged vital partnerships with local NGOs.
Given her extensive research experience, Joana currently serves as a member of the IUCN Marine Turtle Specialist Group.
With ORP Kenya expanding and became a registered NGO in 2025, Joana has now transitioned to the role of Research Coordinator for Kenya, overseeing all research initiatives.
