Research in the Bucknell BatLab, much of it in collaboration with Ken Field at Bucknell University, explores the relationships between African bat health, ecosystem health, conservation, and human disease risk. We are especially interested in the lessons that can be learned by studying the bat immune response to Ebola virus. A partnership with Imran Ejotre at Muni University in Uganda, Luis Viquez-R at Bucknell, and funding from the NIH and NSF facilitate our work. Our current studies on immune responses of epauletted fruit bats were highlighted in a recent National Geographic Magazine article -Bats. A Love Story - that described the many amazing features of the only mammals that can truly fly. 

Additional studies in the Bucknell BatLab have contributed to our understanding of the deadly wildlife disease White-nose Syndrome (WNS) in North American bats.  

For links between bat health, ecosystem health, and zoonotic spillover, see my panel participation in the eCornell webinar How to Prevent the Next Pandemic. Nature-Based Solutions and Policy Opportunities, led by Raina Plowright. Understanding how stressors and other energetic challenges may lead to increased spillover is critical to mitigating future outbreaks and to improving bat health, as explained in the animation on the right. 

In partnership with the Smithsonian Institution, the respective Wildlife Services, Muni University, and others, we conduct biodiversity surveys and participate in conservation efforts. This work includes traditional small mammal trapping and camera trapping in understudied habitats and protected areas. See our Zooniverse “South Sudan Biodiversity Cam” website, with over half a million photos. 

This work is facilitated by my Research Associate appointment in the Division of Mammals at the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, in Washington DC. Smithsonian collaborators Missy Hawkins and Darrin Lunde, along with funding from National Geographic, the US Fish & Wildlife Service, and private foundation donors support this work.