EEARSS by Alligator Robb Podcast
Season 5, Episode 10 – Dr. Steven G. Platt
Produced by Terrier TV at Titusville High School
Howdy y’all and welcome to another episode of the EEARSS by Alligator Robb Podcast, produced by Terrier TV at Titusville High School.
In Season 5, Episode 10 we talk with Dr. Steven G. Platt, Associate Conservation Herpetologist with the Wildlife Conservation Society.
Dr. Platt has spent decades studying and conserving crocodilians and turtles across the globe. He earned his BSc in Forestry and Wildlife Management from Louisiana State University, his MSc in Biology from Southeastern Louisiana University (studying the nesting ecology and diet of American Alligators), and his PhD in Zoology from Clemson University, where he examined the life history and conservation of Morelet’s Crocodile in Belize. He also completed an internship under Dr. Grahame Webb in Darwin, Australia, focusing on Estuarine Crocodile conservation and management.
His early work with the Wildlife Conservation Society examined American Crocodiles in Belize before expanding into turtle and crocodile research throughout Southeast Asia — Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Myanmar, and China. He has also taught at Oglala Lakota College in South Dakota and Sul Ross State University in Texas, earning tenure before returning full-time to WCS in 2011.
Today, Dr. Platt’s primary focus is restoring a viable wild population of the critically endangered Siamese Crocodile (Crocodylus siamensis) in the Xe Champhone Wetlands of Savannakhet Province, Laos PDR. His recent work documents how careful nest monitoring, egg collection, incubation, and community-based management are producing measurable conservation success.
Village Conservation Teams (VCTs) trained by WCS locate and protect nests, recover viable eggs, and assist in the head-starting program — where young crocodiles are raised safely for about 30 months before being released into protected wetland areas. Since 2013, Dr. Platt and his team have released 170 juvenile Siamese Crocodiles back into the wild, with another 274 currently being raised for future release.
Using improved incubation techniques — including refined use of insulated styrofoam boxes — the project has dramatically increased hatch success rates, achieving over 80 percent in 2024. These methods, combined with local cultural respect for crocodiles as spiritual guardians, are helping stabilize one of the last remaining wild populations of the species.
Dr. Platt’s work exemplifies global conservation partnership: the project is supported by the Agence Française de Développement, European Union, Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies, Asian Development Bank, Virginia Zoo, Detroit Zoo, St. Augustine Alligator Farm, and others. Through community engagement, science, and long-term fieldwork, his team’s efforts in Laos represent one of the most hopeful recovery programs for any crocodilian species worldwide.