Today, she's president of the Environmental Concentration Sustainability Club. Her background includes work as a home-repair contractor and in restaurant service, and an associate's degree in science from Ivy Tech Community College.
She "kind of dropped off the face of the earth" after the death of her father. Later, encouraged by her husband, Woods professor Chris Hudson, Slaughterbeck returned to college at SMWC, where she majors in social science and history and minors in environmental studies. She's a junior and the mother of a 5-year-old daughter.
In her off time, she goes "to all things Wabashiki." That wetlands preserve, which opened to the public in 2009, includes 7,000 acres along the Wabash River in West Terre Haute and is part of a continuous 43,000-acre wildlife habitat set aside by the state of Indiana, the federal government and conservation groups. Slaughterbeck is a familiar face at the Wabashiki meetings and work-days.
"Everybody pretty much knows me — and I don't mind — as the 'turtle girl,'" she said, grinning. "If that puts a face to the turtles that are dying, that's fine."
Some turtle species are faring better than others in Indiana. Populations of Eastern box turtles, with large, domed shells, are considered in trouble nationwide, and Indiana laws protect them from being collected, explained Dean Zimmerman, district biologist for the Indiana Department of Natural Resources for the past 40 years. Likewise, the musk, spotted and Blanding turtles' numbers in the state are somewhat fragile. By contrast, snappers — large turtles drawn to waterways such as the Wabash — are thriving, while soft-shell turtles are doing well, Zimmerman said.
Gauging the size and health of turtle populations can be difficult, said Brian MacGowan, extension wildlife specialist at Purdue University. Because the animals often live for decades, researchers could encounter the same turtles year after year, concluding the numbers are stable, even though the turtles' offspring may be fewer, MacGowan said.
Wildlife scientists have found more female turtles than males around roadways, as the mothers seek nesting areas. "They'll go up on land to find a nesting site," MacGowan said. That pursuit of a safe place to care for their young leads to the turtles' hazardous treks through traffic.
Slaughterbeck keeps a journal of the turtles she rescues as they try to cross U.S. 40 by Wabashiki and the railroad tracks crossing U.S. 150. She documents the sex, species and size before releasing them near the banks of the Wabash. She's handled six different species, from the massive snappers which she carefully and quickly lugs by hand, to the smaller musk, Eastern mud, midland painted, and red-eared slider varieties she totes in a bucket.
Because she gathers the turtles beside highways, Slaughterbeck wears a fluorescent vest, along with hiking boots. Though she initially dealt with some taunts from passers-by, "Some people have been really supportive and expressed thanks," she said.
Besides the dangers the turtles face from vehicular traffic at U.S. 40, many also have been killed by trains near the tracks that bisect U.S. 150. In rescuing turtles there, Slaughterbeck has discovered (and reported to authorities) the remains of killed dogs, elements of meth labs and shotgun shells.
"It's pretty gnarly," she said.
The plight of the turtles keeps her going back, day after day, from April through November when the turtles are moving.
"She's out there religiously," said Melanie Alvey, a friend who's helped Slaughterbeck on rescue missions.
In addition to turtles and the troubling items dumped by the railroad tracks, they've also found road-killed beavers and an otter, and much discarded garbage.
"Sometimes, Amber would pick up turtles and I would just pick up trash," Alvey said.
