Biologist
Consultant
Fort Worth, Texas
In the past couple of years I've been working various contracts that have been a combination of ecological consulting (you can read more about this in my Experience) and computer systems projects.
In 1998, my experience with bats started by assisting my undergraduate advisor at Texas Wesleyan University and a graduate student from the University of Texas at Arlington in a study of the community structure of bats in Big Bend National Park, Texas. I went on to attend a tropical biology course in Costa Rica where we studied a number of organisms including bats. I continued to assist the research team in Big Bend where I was exposed to using the Anabat system for recording and analyzing the echolocation calls of bats. With my growing fascination of bats, my interests took two routes; I wanted to broaden my knowledge of echolocation and the Anabat system and I had a desire to explore molecular systematics for studies into evolutionary relationships. I continued to learn the Anabat system by doing some self-teaching, consulting others and attending workshops. In reference to molecular systematics, I began a project studying the molecular phylogenetics of two very interesting species of North American Myotis (you can read more about it below) during my last semester as an undergraduate. I pursued this project as the topic of my master's thesis under the advisement of Dr. Loren Ammerman at Angelo State University. After graduate school, I went on to work in various positions which you can read more about in my Experience.
Salta Province, Argentina.
Some island in the Panama Canal, Panama.
December, 2002 - M.S. in Biology, Angelo State University, San Angelo, Texas.
December, 1999 - B.S. in Biology, Texas Wesleyan University, Fort Worth, Texas.
Thesis title: Phylogenetic Relationships and Phylogeography of Myotis californicus and Myotis ciliolabrum (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae) in the southwestern United States.
My thesis involved the relationship of two North American species of bats that have had a complex taxonomic history due to intraspecific variation in morphology throughout their distribution especially in the southwestern U.S. With a focus on the southwest, I looked at several specimens to determine morphological distinction and analyzed mitochondrial DNA gene sequences for further determination between the species.
After looking at numerous live and museum specimens, I believe one should be cautious when attempting to identify these species in the southwest and at best should take into account the full suite of distinguishing characters when attempting to make species designations. My project resulted in a finding of morphological separation based on the previously described skull characteristics and showed no molecular evidence to separate these morphological distinct forms. A few explanations (e.g. hybridization) may exist for these results, but what we may be looking at is two species in the process of a recent divergence with a case of incomplete lineage sorting. Thus, I believe this gives us a unique opportunity to observe an interesting period in the evolution of these species.
Photo courtesy of Ernie Valdez.
My broad interest is in the biology of mammals, but I am more specifically interested in the systematics and ecology of bats. By using molecular techniques, I aim to understand the evolutionary history, phylogreography, and molecular ecology of various chiropteran groups. From the ecological perspective I'm interested in both community-level responses (i.e. the effects of habitat alteration) and species-level interactions (i.e. foraging strategy, home range, roosting ecology). I also have interests in conservation biology and studies involving the effects of habitat fragmentation on vertebrate communities.
I'm interested in studying echolocation as a means to identifying species of free-flying bats. My focus has been using the Anabat System to record and analyze calls. I’ve used a number of techniques to acquire reference calls such as hand-releases, spotlighting (thanks to Chris Corben) and tethering (thanks to Joe Szewczak). I initially started recording calls in Big Bend National Park, Texas. I then recorded calls at various sites throughout Texas and I hope to continue to sample across the entire state of Texas to make for a more comprehensive collection of calls for Texas bats. In addition, I’ve expanded my library to include calls throughout the U.S. as I’ve worked on various projects throughout the country.
As a result of my trips to Argentina with the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History
in the Spring 2003, 2004, and 2006, I'm working to identify call characteristics and build a call library for bat species in Argentina. I hope to expand my research by recording calls with time expansion detectors and analysis software.
I'm using a time-expansion system (Pettersson D240x detector with IRiver recorder) and Anabat system (new SD1 with PDA) for ultimate call acquisition and comparison at a recent BCI Acoustic Monitoring Workshop. Thanks to Chris Corben, Joe Szewczak, and Ted Weller for loan of equipment.
Despite the debate between using a zero-crossing system (e.g. Anabat) or a time-expansion system (e.g. Pettersson D240x detector and Sonobat software) for call acquisition and analysis, I consider both systems in my work:
The Anabat system serves as an effective monitoring tool with its efficient use and portability in passive (CF Storage or SD1) and active monitoring (using a PDA). I use Anabat mostly in the U.S. where it has been widely used and call signatures are described for species.
A time-expansion system works as an excellent tool in obtaining the complete call characteristics of a species which is great for studying echolocation per se (i.e. variable use of calls). One example in how I hope to use it is to describe call characteristics for bats in Argentina and determine if content like amplitude and harmonics are necessary in distinguishing between species in Argentina.
Past Positions
After graduate school, I had the opportunity to work with various researchers and organizations. Some positions held include:
Research Associate – Texas Tech University, working on various projects involving the molecular phylogenetics of bats from South America and Africa.
Research Zoologist/Crew Leader – Wyoming Natural Diversity Database, surveying mammals in Bighorn Canyon NRA and bats throughout Yellowstone NP and Grand Tetons NP.
Wildlife Biologist – United States Geological Survey, Albuquerque, NM, assisted in small mammal and bat survey of the Colorado Plateau.
Volunteer Research Involvement
Also, over the years I've had the opportunity to work on various interesting research projects including:
A study of the effects of habitat fragmentation on neotropical bat communities on small-forested islands in Gatun Lake based out of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute on Barro Colorado Island, Panama.
Assisted Loren Ammerman and Tom Kunz in a colony assessment of the Mexican long-nosed bat, Leptonycteris nivalis in Big Bend National Park using infrared thermal imaging.
Assisted in a radio-telemetry project studying the nocturnal movements of two species of Leptonycteris (Chiroptera: phyllostomidae) in southwestern New Mexico with the U.S. Geological Survey, Midcontinent Ecological Science Center (Albuquerque, NM).
A NPS Inventory & Monitoring Program project surveying rodents and bats with the U.S. Geological Survey, Southwest Biological Science Center (Flagstaff, AZ) throughout Mojave National Preserve, Joshua Tree National Park and Channel Islands National Park.
Consulting Experience
Currently, I’m finishing a contract with Angelo State University and the Texas National Guard to survey bats of selected training sites where I employ both mist-netting and acoustic monitoring.
I provided services to the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History in mammal surveys of northwestern Argentina. I also established an acoustic monitoring program in order to initiate a call library and demonstrate activity levels of bats.
I worked on a contract with Bat Conservation International studying the effects of wind turbines on bat mortalities. I assisted in the use of infrared thermal imaging cameras to record bat activity near the turbines. For further assessment of bat activity near the turbines, I also setup an acoustic monitoring system using Anabat. You can read more about the project by CLICKING HERE.
I chose the name Zotz because Zotz is derived from the Mayan word for 'bat' (sotz’ or suzti) and is also derived from Camazotz in the Mayan creation story, the Popul Vuh. Camazotz is a god of the underworld who takes the form of a large human-bat. Zotz is represented in Mayan hieroglyphics as the head of a leaf-nosed bat.
More coming soon!