Krizler C. Tanalgo, PhD
Krizler C. Tanalgo, PhD
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Professor of Biology and Group Leader, Ecology and Biodiversity Synthesis Group (Eco/Div), Ecology and Conservation Research Laboratory (Eco/Con Lab)
Department Chairperson, Department of Biological Sciences, College of Science & Mathematics, University of Southern Mindanao
I’m a young professor with wide and crazy interests --- if it involves ecology, conservation biology, or anything that moves (or refuses to move) in an ecosystem, I’m probably interested. My work stretches across macroecology, urban ecology, and biodiversity synthesis. My work focuses on understanding how terrestrial species live, thrive, and sometimes struggle, especially when it comes to extinction risks and conservation priorities.
I’m particularly interested in making conservation science less intimidating, more friendly, and useful. That means building open biodiversity databases, developing user-friendly research tools, and investing heavily in capacity-building and mentorship. In our research group, training is tailor-fit rather than one-size-fits-all, designed around students’ interests and the questions we’re actively asking. One day we’re mapping species distributions and ecological interactions; the next, we’re tracking knowledge gaps, analysing threat landscapes, and asking why we still know so little about species we’re trying to save. We’re also deeply interested in how social and environmental forces collide to shape biodiversity patterns.
Together with a diverse and dynamic team, I am championing the creation of the Philippine Biodiversity Synthesis Centre, an interdisciplinary hub and scientific think tank designed to harness existing data, integrate emerging knowledge, and generate actionable solutions to the country’s most urgent ecological challenges.
Areas of Interest: Conservation science, Macroecology, Biodiversity prioritisation, Data Democracy, Decision-science, Bat ecology and conservation, Tropical biology, & Capacity building
Academic background
Academic background
I earned my Bachelor of Science degree in Biology, specialising in Ecology, from the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Southern Mindanao in the Philippines in 2013. My growing curiosity about how species adapt to and persist within changing environments led me to pursue a Master of Science in Ecology at the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences in China in 2015. During my studies, I became increasingly engaged in research on biodiversity and conservation, which motivated me to upgrade my program to a PhD in Ecology, completed in 2022. Under the supervision of Professor Alice C. Hughes, my doctoral research focused on “Developing Scalable Approaches for Bat Conservation in a Changing World.”
Before completing my PhD, I had the opportunity to join the University of Konstanz and the Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour in Konstanz, Baden-Württemberg, Germany, as a Zukunftskolleg Fellow from 2020 to 2021. This experience broadened my research perspective and deepened my commitment to integrating ecological science with innovative, interdisciplinary approaches to conservation.
I am particularly interested in bats and the vital ecological roles they play. Much of my research is devoted to developing simple, scalable tools and metrics that can guide effective strategies for conserving bats and their habitats, especially in rapidly changing and human-dominated landscapes.
Roles & other responsibilities
Roles & other responsibilities
Academic roles
2025 to Present: Department Chairperson, Department of Biological Science, College of Science and Mathematics, University of Southern Mindanao
2022 to Present: Group leader, Ecology and Biodiversity Synthesis Group, Eco/Con Lab, University of Southern Mindanao
Academic ranks (University of Southern Mindanao)
February 2025 to Present: Professor II
July 2023 to February 2025: Associate Professor V
July 2022 to July 2023: Assistant Professor IV
July 2016 to July 2022: Instructor I
Other roles
Visiting Professor and Advisory Board of the Project Interspecific at the University of Louvain, Belgium
Click for details: https://batsaustronesia.com/en/le-projet-bats-a/
Editorial duties:
Founding Editor: Studies in Natural and Applied Sciences
Associate Editor: Ecological Solutions and Evidence
Subject Editor: Biotropica, Biodiversity Data Journal, Check List: the Journal of Biodiversity Data, Nature Conservation, Rethinking Ecology; Subterranean Biology, Discover Conservation
Review Editor: Journal of Bat Research and Conservation, Frontiers in Conservation Science, npj Biodiversity
Latest works & updates
Latest works & updates
Trait-based ecology is a powerful tool. By studying characteristics such as body size, diet, reproductive strategies, and habitat use, we can better understand how species function in ecosystems, how they respond to environmental changes, and which species may be most vulnerable to extinction. However, this work depends heavily...
The Philippines, one of the world’s most important biodiversity hotspots, is facing alarming threats to its unique terrestrial wildlife. In a new Philippine-wide study from the Eco/Con Lab reveals that between 15% to 23% of the country’s extant terrestrial vertebrate species are at risk of extinction, with endemic amphibians and mammals being the most vulnerable....
An extreme El Niño drought from 2023 to 2024 swept across the Philippines, leaving visible marks on both human communities and natural ecosystems. While its economic and social impacts have been widely discussed, much less is known about how such climatic anomalies shape ecological interactions. A new study published in Biotropica by researchers from the Ecology and Conservation (Eco/Con)...
A new perspectives paper by Professor Krizler C. Tanalgo of the Eco/Con Lab highlights the rich yet under-documented biodiversity of Southeast Asia and the urgent need for better, fairer data sharing to protect it...
In a new collaborative synthesis published today in Biological Conservation, researchers from the Eco/Con Lab, led by Krizler Tanalgo and Kier Dela Cruz, together with Danilo Russo from the Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Evolution (AnEcoEvo) at the University of Naples Federico II (Italy), examined the vulnerability of global bat species to potential ecological and evolutionary traps (EETs) and the life-history traits that influence their risk...
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