People

Gerry Carter (CV) (Google Scholar)
Associate Professor, Princeton University
Freeman Hrabowski Scholar, Howard Hughes Medical Institute
I study animal cooperation, communication, and cognition. I am particularly interested in the causes and consequences of long-term cooperative relationships. Current experiments in the lab investigate how female vampire bats form and regulate long-term food-sharing relationships. More about me here.

M. May Dixon (CV) (Google Scholar)
Postdoctoral Scientist
As a behavioral ecologist, I am broadly interested in how animals have behaviorally, cognitively, and morphologically diversified and adapted to their specific niches. Previously, I studied how phyllostomid bats use cognition when foraging. I am excited to use bioacoustics and social networks to explore vampire bat social cognition. I am passionate about outreach, pedagogy, and making biology a more welcoming and equitable profession for all. In my free time I love crafting, urban foraging, recording soundscapes, and admiring lichen.

Julia Vrtilek
PhD candidate, The Ohio State University
co-advised by Ian Hamilton
I started my Ph.D. in the Carter Lab in 2020, following a B.A. in Biology (Amherst College), an internship at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute), and an M.S. in Biology (ETH Zürich). I am interested in animal cooperation, communication, and social learning. I am currently studying the relationship between social bonds and vocal communication in vampire bats.

Raven Hartman
PhD student, University of Illinois at Chicago
co-advised by Angie Salles
I obtained a BSc and MSc in aerospace engineering from the University of Cincinnati with a focus on control theory. I joined the Carter Lab at The Ohio State University in 2020 as a BSc student in zoology, then did a MSc from 2021-2023. After starting my PhD, I transferred to University of Illinois at Chicago to work with Angie Salles. I’m interested in studying models of social behavior.

Haley Gmutza
PhD candidate, Princeton University
I started my PhD in the Carter Lab in 2022 after completing my BS in Zoology at Michigan State University and my MSc in EEOB at Eastern Michigan University. I am broadly interested in cooperative and social behavior in mammals. I am studying partner switching in a captive colony of vampire bats. I love to draw in my free time, and I am passionate about teaching and outreach in the sciences.

Bryson Loflin
PhD student at Princeton University
I started my PhD in the Carter lab in 2025 after receiving my B.S. in Biology from UNC Chapel Hill, where I worked with Karin Pfennig on exploratory behaviors in spadefoot toads. I am interested in understanding the evolution and maintenance of cooperative behaviors and their downstream evolutionary consequences, and I’ll be using the vampire bat system for this research. I also enjoy teaching, running, and animal photography!

Nakul Wewhare
PhD student at Princeton University
(Google Scholar)
I started my PhD in the Carter Lab in 2025 after completing my BS-MS at IISER Pune, India, where my master’s thesis examined how social interactions influence vocal learning in parrots. I am broadly interested in animal vocal communication, and I will be working on vocal communication in vampire bats for my PhD.

Luisa F. Gómez Feuillet
PhD student at University of Costa Rica
I am a Colombian biologist with a MSc in Animal Adaptation and Behavioural Biology. I started in January 2025 as a PhD student at the University of Costa Rica jointly supervised by Gloriana Chaverri, Gerry Carter, and Rachel Page. I am studying social bond formation and maintenance in the Spix’s disc-winged bat (Thyroptera tricolor), and how animals use social information to adapt to fluctuations in resource availability. I am also passionate about science outreach. In my free time, I enjoy bouldering, listening to podcasts, meeting friends, and taking long walks.

Kelly Mitzel
Lab Manager
I joined the Carter Lab as a lab manager and research assistant in 2025. Prior to this, I obtained a BA in English Literature (minor: professional writing), a BS in Biology, zoology (minor: mathematics), and a MSc in biology. My interests span from neuroendocrine systems and social behavior to how environmental pollutants can impact hormones and behavior. In my free time, I enjoy video games, anime, drawing, gardening, lifting weights, and collecting bugs and bones in the woods!

Tobias Nguyen
Research Assistant at Princeton University
I joined the Carter Lab as a research assistant in 2024 after obtaining a B.A. in Ecology & Evolutionary Biology at Princeton University. I am interested in sensory and behavioral ecology. My hobbies include art and creative writing.

Guadalupe A. García C.
Research assistant, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
I am Panamanian and hold a Biology degree with a focus on Microbiology and Parasitology from the University of Panama. Working with bats has allowed me to understand them from multiple biological perspectives. Sharing that knowledge is an essential tool for promoting their conservation. At the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, I continue to learn about the fascinating social behavior of vampire bats, especially regarding how they develop the cooperative social bonds.

Jorge Lopez
Research assistant, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
My background includes experiences with a variety of species, from fruit bats and frog-eating bats to amphibians. I am currently pursuing a degree in Law and Political Science at the University of Panama, a program that complements my interdisciplinary perspective on biodiversity conservation. My greatest inspiration is the preservation of bats.

Undergraduate researchers

Ayden Van Fossen (2023-2025), The Ohio State University
David Duffey (2023-2025), The Ohio State University
Isabella Price (2023-2025), The Ohio State University
Phaedra Van Der Molen, (2025), Princeton University

Carter Lab Alumni
(and where they went)

Elizabeth George (postdoc 2023-2025), Assistant Professor at Gannon University
Sebastian Stockmaier (postdoc 2021-2022), Assistant Professor at University of Tennessee Knoxville
Simon Ripperger (postdoc 2018-2021), conservation biologist at Bavarian Environmental Agency, Germany
Imran Razik (PhD 2024), science visualization designer at Max Planck Institute for Animal Behavior
Bridget Brown (MSc 2019), graduate program coordinator at Clemson University
Michael Abou-Elias (undergrad 2022-2024), University of Cincinnati College of Medicine
Jimmy Chen (undergrad 2020-2023), graduate student at UCLA
Eleanor Cronin (undergrad 2019-2023), graduate student at University of North Florida
Molly Lynch (undergrad 2019-2022), graduate student at Tufts University
Emma Kline (undergrad 2018-2021, staff, Biomimicry Design Alliance
Jessica Nystrom (undergrad 2019-2021), staff at Memphis Zoo
Vi Girbino (undergrad 2018-2020), graduate student at U Hawaii