Training
I am proud of the really outstanding young scientists with whom I've interacted. Helping to shape the thinking and careers of curious, self-motivated, and independent young investigators is really the most rewarding part of my job.
I encourage students interested in joining my lab to write me. Prospective students should be aware that both of the Chicago-area programs with which I am affiliated are highly selective -- strong credentials and/or exceptional promise are needed to gain admission. In most cases, both universities restrict admissions to students seeking doctorates, although exceptions are made for foreign nationals. To offer you much useful feedback on the subtleties of applying, I'll expect a synopsis of your educational background or CV and a statement of research interests.
Students from other museums and universities who wish to visit and work in the Field Museum's mammal collection can review information on our scholarship, internship, and fellowship programs at Field Museum's Scholarship Committee site.
Information about current and past trainees is presented below.
Current Trainees
2017-2020 Brown Postdoctoral Fellow, Field Museum of Natural History -- African bat systematics and biogeography
Ph.D. program, Biological Sciences -- phylogeography of Andean bats (genus Sturnira); co-advisor with R. Mason-Gamer)
Kyle Reid
Ph.D. program, Biological Sciences --
Stefania Briones
Biological Sciences -- African bats; co-advisor with R. Mason-Gamer
Lab Alumni
as Major/Research Adviser or Co-advisor:
Ph.D. (2011) University of Illinois at Chicago (Assistant Professor, University of Jordan in Amman)-- Habitat selection and community assembly in African small mammals
Ph.D. (2003) University of Chicago; now co-founder of Conservation X Labs -- extinction risk of lemurs in Madagascar rainforest fragments
Brown Postdoctoral Fellow (2005-2009); now Professor, Western Kentucky University) -- coevolution of bats and parasitic bat flies
M.Sc. (1984) University of Illinois at Chicago; now Associate Professor, University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh -- chipmunk burrowing ecology
Negaunee Interdisciplinary Postdoctoral Fellow (2016-2018); now Assistant Curator, Rancho La Brea -- Cenozoic evolution of South American landscapes
Ph.D. (2018) University of Chicago -- behavior and morphology of Panamanian bats (co-advisor with Jill Mateo; defense July 2018)
Post-doctoral Fellow (1999); now Curator of Mammals & Director of Biodiversity, North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences -- lion behavior, ecology and evolution
Post-doctoral Fellow (2016-2017); now Researcher, Threatened Species Recovery Hub, Australian National University -- Bats, rodents and possums of the Southwest Pacific
M.Sc. (2002), University of Illinois at Chicago; now a physician -- systematics of Rhagomys (Cricetidae, Sigmodontinae)
NSF Postdoctoral Fellow (2016-2018); now staff scientist at UCSD with Jack Gilbert-- Microbiomes and parasites of African bats
Gregory M. Mikkelson
M.Sc. (1993) University of Chicago; formerly Associate Professor, McGill University -- how do foodwebs fall apart?
Postdoctoral Fellow (2023) -- rodent carnivory
Ph.D. (1999) University of Chicago; now Professor and Curator of Mammals, University of Alaska, Fairbanks -- systematics and biogeography of Tenrecidae (Afrosoricida)
M.Sc. (1989) University of Illinois at Chicago; now Principal Professor and Curator of Mammals, Universidad de San Marcos, Lima -- systematics and biogeography of Sturnira (Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae)
Postdoctoral Fellow (2015-2016); now CONICET Researcher, Museo Paleontológico Egidio Feruglio, Trelew, Argentina -- Cenozoic evolution of the caviomorph rodents
Postdoctoral Fellow (2019-2021); now postdoc at Florida State University -- Morphological integration and modularity of bat skeletal elements
Ph.D. (1995) University of Chicago; now Professor, Florida State University -- evolutionary radiations of Andean mice (Cricetidae: Phyllotini)
B. Sc. Senior thesis (2017) Lake Forest College; now grad student, Northern Arizona University -- Geometric morphometrics of African house bats, Genus Scotophilus
M.Sc. (1994) University of Illinois at Chicago; now Instructor, Harper College -- G-I tract anatomy of caenolestid marsupials (Paucituberculata)
Ph.D. (2014) University of Chicago (now Research Assistant Professor, Arizona State -- diversification of the New World rodents (Octodontoidea)
Ph.D. (2009) University of Illinois at Chicago (Assistant Professor, Arcadia University) -- systematics and biogeography of Platyrrhinus (Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae)
Postdoctoral Fellow (2015-2017), CNPq-Science without Borders; -- Systematics of Caviidae, Mustelidae, and Bathyergidae
Mohammad Abu Baker in Lajuma, South Africa, July 2007.
as an Examining Committee Member or Reader:
Ace Kevin Armaga
(2015) M.Sc., University of the Philippines, Los Banos -- Ectoparasitism of cave bats in the Philippines (external examiner)
(2014) Ph.D. University of Illinois at Chicago -- tick infestations on white-footed mice as a landscape of fear
(1995) M.Sc., University of Illinois at Chicago (now Director, Fundación Natura Bolivia)-- seed dispersal in tropical forest fragments in Panamá
Pamela K. Austin
(1998) M.Sc., University of Illinois at Chicago (now in R/E)-- phylogeny and evolution of social behavior in mongooses (Carnivora: Herpestidae)
Hassan A. Babiker Salata
(2012) Ph.D., University of Cape Town (formerly Assistant Professor, University of Juba, South Sudan) -- environmental factors influencing bat distributions in South Africa (external examiner)
(2003) Ph.D., University of Copenhagen (now Deputy Director, Tropical Institute, Universiti Malaysia Sabah)-- mammal persistence in rainforest fragments on Borneo
(2019) Ph.D., University of Chicago (now postdoc, Seattle Children's Research Institute ) -- dental evolution in sage voles
(2004) Ph.D., University of Illinois at Chicago (now Professor, Roosevelt University, Chicago)-- fragmentation impacts on plant-disperser mutualisms
(2000) Ph.D., University of Illinois at Chicago (Instructor, Harper College)-- morphological phylogeny of deer (Cetartiodactyla: Cervidae)
(2005) Ph.D., Texas Tech University (Associate Professor, Western Kentucky University)-- ecology of bat and bat fly associations
(1995) Ph.D., Universidade de Sao Paulo (Executive Coordinator, Avistar, Brazil)-- bat ecology in Atlantic Forest fragments
(2016) Ph.D. Universidade Federal de Paraíba (postdoc, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing) -- systematics of long-eared armadillos (Genus Dasypus) (2016 sandwich fellowship advisor)
Scott M. Fletcher
(2002) M.Sc., Governors State University (now Teacher, Lincoln-Way East High School, New Lenox IL)--environmental stress along an urban-rural environmental gradient
Alex Gombe Mwazo
(2012) M.Sc., Kenyatta University, Nairobi (now Affiliated Researcher, Tsavo East National Park, Kenya)--distribution and vegetation associations of Grevy's zebra
(2018) Ph.D. candidate, Department of Biology, Universidade Federal de Espirito Santo—species delimitation in Amazonian opossums (2018-2019 fellowship sponsor; advised by Leonora Costa)
(2003) Ph.D., University of Illinois at Chicago (now Associate Professor, Harry S. Truman College, Chicago)-- Ecology of fear: A case study of blue sheep and snow leopards in the Nepal Himalayas.
(1995) -- Ph.D, University of Chicago (now Professor, and Department Head, Department of Cell Biology & Anatomy, University of Calgary)-- Fluctuating asymmetry and maturational spans in mammals
(2018 Ph.D. Univerisdade Federal de Santa Maria (Brazil) -- Ecology and function of peccaries (Tayassuidae) (2017 sandwich fellowship advisor)
(1993) Ph.D., University of Illinois at Chicago (now Adjunct Professor, Columbia College, Chicago)-- optimal foraging of Illinois small mammals
Tuqa Jirmo
(2015) Ph.D.,University of Leiden, Netherlands (now COO at Lewa Wildlife Conservancy, Kenya) - African lions in arid habitats of Kenya (external reader)
(2007) Ph.D., University of Illinois at Chicago (Assistant Professor, Vanderbilt University)-- Agouti seed dispersal, tree recruitment, and Amazonian fragmentation
(1989) M.Sc., Northern Illinois University (Ph.D. Univ. New Mexico; now Professor & ex-Chair, Univ. California, Davis)-- distribution and ecology of Chilean rodents
(1990) Ph.D., University of Chicago (now Professor, Roosevelt University, Chicago) -- taphonomy of bone assemblages of carnivores and scavengers
(2023) Ph.D., Agricultural Biology, University of Ruhuna (Sri Lanka)---- Ecology and economics of bat insectivory in tea plantations
Emily Lipstein
(2017) B.S. thesis, Biological Sciences Collegiate Division, University of Chicago —Selection on mitogenomes of monk seals (reader; advised by S. Pruett-Jones))
(2019) Ph.D., University of Toronto and Royal Ontario Museum (now Postdoctoral researcher, University of Toronto) -- phylogeny and taxonomy of Molossus bats (external examiner; advised by Mark Engstrom)
(2017) Ph.D., Zoology, Univ. Fed. Rio Grande do Sul (now Adjunct Professor at UFRGS)–Morphological variation of Sigmodontinae (Rodentia) (2014-2015 sandwich fellowship, advised by Thales R.O. da Freitas)
Rosélis R. D. S. Mazurek
(2001) Ph.D., University of Illinois at Chicago (now with Instituto de Pesquisa e Formação Indígena-Iepé, Amapá, Brazil)-- subsistence hunting by Brazilian aboriginals
(2019) Ph.D., Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais -- macroevolution of Akodontini mice (US sandwich fellowship advisor with Fernando Perini)
(1999) Ph.D., University of Chicago (now Associate Professor, Department of Biological Anthropology, University of Colorado Denver) --Laetoli Pliocene paleoecology
Jane E. Norman
(1999) Ph.D., University of Illinois at Chicago -- molecular systematics of Xenarthra and Perissodactyla
James E. Norton
(2002) M.Sc., University of Illinois at Chicago -- genetic variability of Baird's tapir
(1998) M.Sc., Northern Illinois University (now Chief Skeletal Preparator, National Museum of Natural History)-- ecology and diet of West African rainforest cats (Felidae)
(2002) Ph.D., University of Illinois at Chicago (now Associate Professor, City Colleges of Chicago)-- rapid evolutionary change in rodents
(2020) D.Sc, University of Pretoria (South Africa); now postdoctoral research fellow Markotter lab – migration of African long-fingered bats, Miniopterus natalensis (external examiner)
(2006) M. Sc., Northern Illinois University (now a mom!)-- distribution and status of bats of Mpumalanga Province, South Africa
(2012) Ph.D. Universität Potsdam (Postdoc, Leibniz-Institut für Zoo- und Wildtierforschung)-- Major Histocompatibility Complex variation and parasitism in lesser bulldog bats (external examiner)
(2015) Ph.D., University of Chicago (Fall 2018 Assistant Professor at University of Washington, Tacoma)--Maternal effects on phenotypic traits in coyotes
(2006) Ph.D., University of Cape Town (South Africa)(now retired)--Community structure in insectivorous bats in South Africa (external examiner)
(2013) Ph.D., University of Illinois at Chicago (now Strategist at iNaturalist) -- Seed dispersal by Afrotropical bats and rodents in Eastern Arc forests
(2006) M.Sc., Université d’Abomey-Calavi (Benin)(Ph.D. Leiden University; now Assistant Professor, Université d’Abomey-Calavi -- Phylogeny, morphology, and ecology of West African lions (external adviser)
(1997) Lic., Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos (Ph.D., Texas Tech University; now Auxillary Professor, University of Antioquia, Medellin, Colombia)-- Diet and distribution of Altiplano rodents in Perú (external adviser)
(2016) B.S. thesis, Biological Sciences -- cochlear evolution of Chiroptera (reader; advised by Z-X Luo)
M.Sc. (2015), Biological Sciences, University of Eldoret, Kenya (now PhD candidate, Univ Capetown) – Bat distribution and diversity near Lake Bogoria, Kenya
(2010) M.Sc., Universitat Malaysia Sarawak (Malaysia)--Biogeography and variation of Indo-Malayan Myotis muricola (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae) (external examiner)
(2020) Ph.D., University of Adelaide (Australia) -- Systematics of Indo-Australasian Miniopterus (external examiner; advised by Kyle Armstrong)
(1996) M.Sc., Northern Illinois University -- systematics of Chilean foxes
(1999) Ph.D., Northern Illinois University (now Professor & Curator, University of Wisconsin, Steven Point) -- ecology of hantavirus in Paraguay
(1996) Ph.D., Northern Illinois University (now Professor, Governor's State University, College Park)-- population dynamics of small mammals in Illinois
Sept 2010, with former students (l-r) Sergio Solari, Paúl Velazco and Víctor Pacheco, all now valued collaborators on Neotropical systematics and biogeography (photo via SS at the 2° SPM, Arequipa)