New grad student: Imran Razik

I’ve always been incredibly curious about the natural world and how it works, especially the animal kingdom. As a kid I would spend hours peeking under rocks, watching documentaries, and reading through wildlife encyclopedias. My entire childhood was focused around biological exploration, be it outside or in a book, so when I finally found out … Continue reading New grad student: Imran Razik

New grad student: Bridget Brown

My entire childhood up until I graduated high school, I was confident that I would be working with animals as a veterinarian. However, after volunteering at small animal clinics for two years, I realized that I no longer desired to become a veterinarian. My interests changed to wanting to invest time in conserving wildlife. I … Continue reading New grad student: Bridget Brown

Team Vampire, Spring 2017

Jineth Berrío-Martínez (MSc in Biology) is a researcher from Colombia who arrived in April has been travelling around Panama to find additional wild vampire bat colonies. She is working on development of biting ability in young vampire bats. My research interests include tropical biology, population ecology, reproductive biology, evolution, and conservation. Early in my career … Continue reading Team Vampire, Spring 2017

‘Team Vampire’ Fall 2016

Julia Vrtilek (Biology, Amherst College, 2015) is studying the development of grooming and food-sharing networks in young-of-the-year vampire bats. What are your interests? I find it fascinating and awe-inspiring that “from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being, evolved.” I’m interested in evolutionary biology, ecology, and animal … Continue reading ‘Team Vampire’ Fall 2016

Summer 2016 updates

Our two undergraduate interns Yeli Garcia (Earlham) and Emily Dong (Cornell) just completed their independent projects and finished their seasons in Panama. Yeli's project was entitled "Guano scent as a cue for roost-finding in vampire bats" and Emily's was "Co-feeding and food sharing in vampire bats". They both worked hard, did a terrific job, and I'm … Continue reading Summer 2016 updates

Q & A with our new interns

Every season, two volunteer interns will be assisting the vampire bat food-sharing project at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Gamboa, Panama. These are our first two interns for Spring 2016. A month ago, eighteen-year-old whiz kid Jana Nowatzki (left) joined our project from Konstanz, Germany. Jana is a surprisingly self-motivated, bright, positive, and precocious student. Armed … Continue reading Q & A with our new interns