Curriculum Vitae
Erin H. Gillam, Ph.D.
Professor
Department of Biological Sciences
Stevens Hall Rm 201
North Dakota State University
Erin.Gillam@ndsu.edu
https://sites.google.com/view/erin-h-gillam/
GENERAL TEACHING AND RESEARCH INTERESTS
Behavioral ecology, animal behavior, animal communication, mammalogy, conservation biology
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
2020 – present Professor, Department of Biological Sciences, NDSU
2015 - 2020 Associate Professor, Department of Biological Sciences, NDSU
2009 - 2015 Assistant Professor, Department of Biological Sciences, NDSU
2007-2008 Postdoctoral fellow, Department of Biology, University of Regina
EDUCATION
Ph.D. University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN., Ecology & Evol. Biology, May 2007
B.Sc. University of Maryland, College Park, MD., Biology Honors, May 2001
TEACHING EXPERIENCE @ NDSU
BIOL 275: Insect Behavior Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experience (2 semesters)
BIOL 463: Animal Behavior (13 semesters, including Summer)
BIOL 866: Advanced Animal Behavior (5 semesters)
BIOL 476: Wildlife Ecology and Management (10 semesters)
BIOL 790: Graduate seminar (1 semester)
MENTORING
Current Ph.D. students: Lydia Olson Nixon, Brian Springall
Graduated Ph.D. students: Paul Barnhart, Karina Montero, JJ Nelson
Graduated M.Sc. students: Lucas Bicknell, Amanda Boyer, Kevin Cortes, Nicholas Johnson,
Katy Goodwin, Hanna Karevold, Derek Krueger
Past undergraduate students: 30+ undergraduates have participated in my group’s research
since 2009
20 MOST RECENT PEER-REVIEWED PUBLICATIONS
In Review
Goodwin, K, L Hunninck, J O’Keefe, A Kirschbaum, EH Gillam, C Heyd, M Romanski, W Route, and S Windels. Comparing occupancy and activity modeling approaches to assess temporal trends in vulnerable bat populations. In Review, Biological Conservation.
In Press
Dzal, Y and Gillam, EH. The Nose Knows: A Review of the Diversity, Form, and Function of the External and Internal Features of the Bat Nose. In Press, Canadian Journal of Zoology.
Published
Alston, J, D Keinath, C Willis, C Lausen, J O'Keefe, J Tyburec, H Broders, P Moosman, T Carter, C Chambers, EH Gillam, K Geluso, T Weller, D Burles, Q Fletcher, K Norquay, and J Goheen. Environmental drivers of body size in North American bats. In Review, Functional Ecology, 37, 1020–1032. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2435.14287
Mallinger, E, K Goodwin, A Kirschbaum, Y Shen, EH Gillam, and E Olson. 2023. Species-specific responses to white-nose syndrome in the Great Lakes region. Ecology and Evolution, 13, e10267. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.10267
Goodwin, K, and EH Gillam. 2021. Testing Accuracy and Agreement among Multiple Versions of Automated Bat Call Classification Software. Wildlife Society Bulletin. 45 (4), 690-705
Stonefish, D., MA Eshleman, GM Linz, HJ Homan, PE Klug, TJ Greives, and EH Gillam. 2021. Migration Routes and Wintering Areas of Male Red-winged Blackbirds as Determined Using Geolocators. Journal of Field Ornithology. 92 (3), 284-293
Frick, W, A Russel, and EH Gillam. 2021. Contributions of Women and Creating a Culture of Inclusivity at the North American Society for Bat Research over the Past 50 Years. 50 Years of Bat Research: Foundations and New Frontiers. Springer. New York, NY.
A Boyer, H Karevold, D Kreuger, N Dochtermann and EH Gillam. 2020. Behavioral Repeatability in the Big Brown Bat, Eptesicus fuscus. Behaviour. 157: 699-717
K Cortes and EH Gillam. 2020. Assessing the use of rivers as migratory corridors for temperate bats. Journal of Mammalogy. 101(2): 448-454
JJ Nelson and EH Gillam. 2020. Influence of Landscape Features on Bat Activity in North Dakota. Journal of Wildlife Management. 84: 382-389. doi:10.1002/jwmg.21789
KC Kral-O’Brien, TJ Hovick, RF Limb, JP Harmon, and EH Gillam. 2020. Incorporating field behaviors into monarch surveys to promote informed conservation actions. Journal for Nature Conservation.
K Bondo, CKR Willis, JD Metheny, RJ Kilgour, EH Gillam, MC Kalcounis-Ruepell, and RM Brigham. 2019. Bats relocate maternity colony after the natural loss of roost trees. Journal of Wildlife Management. 83: 1753-1761.
R Trubitt, TJ Hovick, EH Gillam and D McGranahan. 2019. Habitat associations of bats in a working rangeland landscape. Ecology and Evolution. 10.1002/ece3.4782
BK Montero, M Sagot, C Phillips, R Baker, and EH Gillam. 2018. Geographic variation in contact calls emitted by a leaf-roosting bat suggest distinct modes of vocal transmission. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology. 72(8): 125.
KS Bohn and EH Gillam. 2018. In-Flight Social Calls: A Primer for Biologists and Managers Studying Echolocation. Canadian Journal of Zoology. 96(8): 787-800
PR Barnhart and EH Gillam. 2017. Documentation of overwintering bat species presence and hibernacula use in the badlands of North Dakota. Northwestern Naturalist. 98(1): 48-56
JJ Nelson and EH Gillam. 2016. Selection of foraging habitat by female little brown bats (Myotis lucifugus). Journal of Mammalogy. 98(1): 222-231
PR Barnhart and EH Gillam. 2016. Understanding peripheral bat populations using maximum-entropy suitability modeling.
QMR Webber, RM Brigham, AD Park, EH Gillam, TJ O’Shea and CKR Willis. 2016. Social network characteristics and predicted pathogen transmission in summer colonies of female big brown bats (Eptesicus fuscus). Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology. 70(5): 701-712
Z Kong, N Fuller, S Wang, K Özcimder, E Gillam, D Theriault, M Betke and J Baillieul. 2016. Perceptual modalities guiding bat flight in a native habitat. Scientific Reports. 6: 27252.
RECENT ACTIVE GRANTS
2017-2024 National Park Service. Monitoring relative abundance of bats at national
parks in the Upper Midwest. $494,743.10. PIs, Alan Kirschbaum (NPS), Bill Route (NPS), Erik Olson (Northland College) and EH Gillam
2020 – 2022 Impacts of White Nose Syndrome on Threatened Bat Populations of ND. North Dakota Game and Fish Department (flow-through funding from
USFWS White-Nose Syndrome Grant Program). Two-year award, $74,959. PI, EH Gillam
2020 – 2022 Mobile Acoustic Monitoring of Bats in North Dakota. North Dakota Game and Fish Department. Two-year award, $15,000. PI, EH Gillam
2019-2022 USDA NIFA Tribal College Research Area of Expertise (TCRAE). From Ecology to Economy: Assessing the Health of Bat Populations and
Examining their Importance to North Dakota Agriculture. $499,858.95. PIs, Mandy Guinn (UTTC) and EH Gillam
FIVE MOST RECENT PRESENTATIONS AT PROFESSIONAL MEETINGS
McCracken, GF, Y-F Lee, EH Gillam, W Frick, and J Krauel. Bats Flying at High Altitudes. 50th Meeting of the North American Society for Bat Research and 19th International Bat Research Conference, Kalamazoo, MI. August 2022.
Springall, B and E Gillam. Testing for Multiple Levels of Information in Carollia perspicillata Social Calls. Annual Meeting of the Animal Behavior Society, San Jose, Costa Rica. July 2022.
Gillam, EH. NABat on the Northern Prairie: Year 1 of State-wide Acoustic Monitoring in North Dakota. 49th Meeting of the North American Society for Bat Research, Kalamazoo, MI. October 2019.
Krueger, D* and EH Gillam. Observing Social Behaviors of Eptesicus fuscus within the Roost. 49th Meeting of the North American Society for Bat Research, Kalamazoo, MI. October 2019. * undergraduate presenter – won a conference award for this poster.
Karevold, H, J Alston, and EH Gillam. Linking foraging strategies and ear morphology in bat species of the Northern Great Plains. 99th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Mammalogists, Washington, DC. June 2019.
RECENT COLLEGE AND UNIVERSITY SERVICE
Chair of the Department of Biological Sciences PTE Committee, 2020-present
Faculty and student trainer for Green Dot at NDSU, 2020-present
Faculty Senate Past President, 2019-2020
Faculty Senate President, 2018-2019
Member of President’s Cabinet, 2018-2019
Faculty Senate Budget Committee, 2018-2019
Learning Spaces Advisory Committee, 2018-2019
Ad Hoc General Education Review Committee, Co-Chair, 2018-2020
Ad Hoc Faculty Senate Bylaws Review Committee, Chair, 2018-2019
IT Council, 2018-2019
Faculty Senate President-Elect, 2017-2018
Faculty Senate Executive Committee, 2017-present
RECENT ORGANIZATIONAL SERVICE
Editor for Nature Scientific Reports (peer-reviewed journal), 2015-2020
Member and Secretary of the Board of Directors of the North American Society for Bat Research (NASBR), 2014-2019
Chair of the NASBR Newsletter Committee and Editor of the NASBR newsletter, 2014 - present
Chair of the NASBR Spallanzani Award Committee, 2014 - present
Chair of the NASBR Auction Committee, 2014-2019
PUBLIC OUTREACH
Multiple talks to > 900 elementary school children (1st-5th grades) in the Fargo-Moorhead area about biology and conservation, 2017-2022
Served as the social media coordinator for the Department of Biological Sciences at NDSU, 2014-2016
Gave public bat talks at two state parks in North Dakota, 2015
Gave a Science Café Presentation entitled “Beauty and the Bat: Tales from Life’s Only Flying Mammal”, April 10, 2012
Participated in the Expanding Your Horizons program by offering a class about the life of a field ecologist to 6th-8th grade girls, 2012
Assisted with planning the annual Darwin Day celebration at NDSU, 2009-2014
HANDLING EXPERIENCE WITH MYOTIS SEPTENTRIONALIS
I have captured Myotis septentrionalis at several locations in the United States. Most of my handling experience with this species comes from my time as a PhD student at the University of Tennessee (2001-2007) under the supervision of Dr. Gary McCracken. While my research did not focus on the northern long-eared bat, I participated in many mist netting and harp trapping activities. My research team at NDSU also captured northern long-eared bats in ND in 2010 and 2012, although despite extensive efforts, we have not caught this species in the state since.