Endangered species interventions

Jon Flanders, Ph.D. – Director, Endangered Species Interventions

Dr. Jon Flanders is responsible for leading conservation initiatives that effectively address BCI’s global conservation priorities. With over 20 years of experience working on conservation projects across the globe, Jon recognizes the importance of partnerships in delivering social, environmental and economic benefits. Working with a range of organizations, from small non-profits to government departments he can strategically prioritize projects that balance conservation needs with sustainability.

Jon received his Ph.D. from the University of Bristol where he integrated investigations of the ecology, diet, and population genetics of the greater horseshoe bat to advance its conservation. Prior to joining BCI, Jon had worked extensively across Asia and Central America leading a variety of conservation-related research projects, as well as teaching workshops and outreach efforts for local researchers and students. 

Jon is an Adjunct Professor in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Tulane University and a Research Associate at the American Museum of Natural History. 

Melquisedec Gamba-Rios, Ph.D. – Regional Director, Latin America & Caribbean

Melquisedec is the ESI Team’s Regional Director for Latin America and & Caribbean Initiatives. In this role, Melqui is responsible for identifying priority areas for the Endangered Species Interventions team to focus, and work with in-country partners to co-develop effective strategies to protect and recover endangered bat species, populations, or habitats. 

Melqui has been working with bat ecology and conservation for over 20 years. Originally from Colombia, Melqui conducted most of his research work in Costa Rica. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Tennessee-Knoxville, where he investigated antipredator behaviors in bats and the implication in bat communication and sociality. He has published work on topics including species distribution, habitat selection, and roost requirements for multiple bat species, with a particular emphasis on the neotropics.

Regional Director, Mexico & Latin America

Born and raised in Mexico, Ana earned her Ph. D. from University of Miami studying how habitat fragmentation impacts movement of tropical forest birds, until she discovered bats! Ana completed her postdoctoral research and the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) working on bat ecology and conservation. For the last 10 years, she has been dedicated to monitoring the effects that habitat transformation has on bats and their habitats, and how to better prevent, manage and restore bat populations. Ana is an active member of the Mexican Program for the Conservation of Bats (PCMM) where she participates as advisor for conservation, monitoring, and educational programs. She is a Fulbright Scholar and National Geographic Explorer.

Ana joins BCI as the in-country advisor for Endangered Species Interventions in Mexico, aiming to facilitate and expand BCI´s activities in Mexico and Latin America, while promoting collaboration with local partners, and building capacity with local agencies and communities to monitor, manage and conserve bats.

Kristen Lear, Ph.D. – Agave Restoration Program Director

Dr. Lear is the Agave Restoration Program Director in charge of BCI’s bi-national Agave Restoration Initiative. She got her start in bat conservation in 6th grade when she built and installed bat houses for her Girl Scout Silver Award project. Since then, she has worked on bat research, conservation, and education projects around the world.

She earned a BA in Zoology from Ohio Wesleyan University in 2011, where she assisted with a project studying the pest control services of bats in pecan orchards and led a bat house study for her Honors research. Following graduation, she earned a Fulbright Scholarship to study the critically endangered Southern bent-wing bat (Miniopterus schreibersii bassanii) in South Australia. In 2020, Kristen earned her Ph.D. in Integrative Conservation from the University of Georgia. Her Ph.D. work combined natural and social science approaches to aid in the conservation of the endangered Mexican long-nosed bat (Leptonycteris nivalis) in northeast Mexico.

Kristen is a National Geographic Explorer, AAAS IF/THEN Ambassador working to encourage girls and young women in STEM fields, and a Lifetime Member of Girl Scouts. She is also passionate about public outreach and education, giving numerous bat talks at schools and organizations around the world, leading public bat walks and bat house building workshops, and making numerous media appearances, including on CBS’ “Mission Unstoppable” TV show. More information about Kristen’s work can be found here.

Isabella Mandl, Ph.D. – Regional Director, Africa & South Asia

Isabella has been working on research projects to support the protection of threatened species on
Madagascar and Comoros since 2013. She is a passionate conservation biologist who, besides
highlighting the importance of working with local communities, believes that understanding animal
behaviour is a key component for successful conservation management. Eager to provide support
where she can, Isabella acts as a mentor for students and early career scientists across Africa.

At BCI, Isabella leads the Livingstone’s fruit bat conservation project. She set up a study on the
species’ movements and is responsible for implementing research and survey protocols, with the
goal of understanding how the fruit bats use the landscape. The insights gained through this project
will be applied in conservation measures, preventing this important species from going extinct.

Jennifer Barros, Ph.D. – Gerente do Programa Brasil

As BCI’s Brazil Program Manager, Jennifer is responsible for leading our cave conservation initiative in Brazil while supporting other projects across Latin America. In this role, Jennifer will work with local communities, NGOs, and Government agencies across Brazil to drive the most effective conservation strategies to protect and enhance critical roost sites for endangered bat species and large colonies throughout the region. Brazil supports one of the richest diversities of bats in the world; of the 181 species of bats currently known to occur in Brazil, 45% are known to roost in caves.

With over ten years of experience studying bats, Jennifer received her master’s from the Universidade Federal de Lavras and her Ph.D. from the Universidade Federal de Pernambuco in Brazil, where she focused on bat cave selection across multiple habitats and developed a prioritization strategy for cave conservation in Brazil. Her research led to a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Konstanz, Germany, to understand the behavioral ecology in cave bat roosting energetic strategies. Jennifer is a former BCI student scholar and, prior to joining BCI, Jennifer has worked extensively across Brazil on cave conservation efforts to minimize the impacts of mining – one of the main threats in the country for bats and caves. 

Rohit Chakravarty – India Program Manager

Rohit is responsible for leading our endangered species initiatives in India with our partner organisation, Nature Conservation Foundation (NCF). Based out of Bangalore in southern India, Rohit works with all the relevant stakeholders to design and implement conservation actions that tackle the most pressing threats to range-restricted endangered bat species in South Asia as well as assessing locally and globally relevant issues such as the usage of archaeological sites by bats and threats to bats at wind energy sites. He also teaches a summer course on ecology to high school students and conducts public talks and bat walks.

Rohit has studied bats for over a decade, including working on the Andaman Islands for his MSc and the Himalayas as part of his PhD at the Leibniz Institute for Zoo & Wildlife Research, Germany.

Stephanie Brinez – Endangered Species Interventions Specialist

Stephanie got her B.S. in Biology from the Wilke’s Honors College at Florida Atlantic University where she got her first glimpse into bat research. She completed her thesis on bat acoustic monitoring in the greenways around ger campus and detected the Florida Bonneted Bat. This sparked her interest for the species because it was an endangered species in her own backyard, which she continued to research as she furthered her education.

Following her undergraduate studies she worked as a veterinary technician and a wildlife rehabber before pursuing her M.S. in Conservation Medicine at Tufts University. This led her to a fellowship position with US Fish and Wildlife collaborating with BCI to collect data for the NABAT in California.

In a full circle kind of way, Stephanie now gets to work to protect the bat that sparked her interest in her undergrad.

In addition to her passion about bat conservation, she is also passionate about fitness and loves to travel to complete Spartan obstacle course race around the US.

David Wechuli, Ph.D. – Kenya Program Manager

Based in Kenya, David has long-term experience in working with local community-based organizations, leading outreach and conservation activities focused on Kenyan bats and communities. As BCI’s program manager for Kenya, he is in charge of implementing the on-the-ground work for the conservation of endangered bat species and threatened habitats. His passions also include promoting community education and improving people’s livelihoods.

David holds a PhD in Conservation Biology from the University of Cape Town, South Africa, specializing in bat behavioral ecology. Through his research, he investigated variation in echolocation call intensity and detection distance across an environmental gradient for bat assemblages.

Rachel Burke – Agave Restoration Coordinator

Rachel joined BCI as the Agave Restoration Coordinator in 2023. As part of the Endangered Species Intervention team, Rachel works with the Agave Restoration Program on applied conservation for nectar feeding bats in the southwestern United States. She collaborates with native plant growers, land managers, land owners, and other stakeholders to promote a resilient landscape for nectar feeding bats.

For the past decade, Rachel has been working in wildlife management, ecological monitoring, and habitat restoration across the Chihuahuan and Sonoran Deserts. In 2018, she completed a dual masters program in Fish, Wildlife, and Conservation Ecology, and Applied Geography from New Mexico State University. Her thesis work focused on using geospatial modeling to inform applied management and habitat restoration for nectar-feeding bats. Her graduate work brought her to some of the most beautiful parts of the desert sky islands, which quickly became her favorite ecosystem to work in.

Rachel has worked in a variety of positions in the public and private sector, ranging from leading an ecological monitoring crew, analyzing national botany datasets, and working as a federal wildlife biologist for both the Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service. Outside of work, Rachel can typically be found in her basement pottery studio, working in her garden with her dogs, or training for an ultra on the trails outside of Las Cruces, New Mexico.

Natalie Weber – Strategic Advisor for Endangered Species – Africa

As strategic advisor for Endangered Species Africa, Natalie is responsible for supporting BCI’s efforts to prevent or reverse the decline of threatened bat species and loss of critical habitats, mainly in Guinea but also other countries across Africa. To this end, she is working with several partners from local NGOs to international stakeholders as to assess bat diversity in key (protected) areas, identify conservation priorities, and enhance protection of sites crucial for bat species conservation.

Natalie is experienced as independent conservation scientist and research consultant with a focus on bats for almost 20 years and has conducted (field) works in more than 10 countries in Africa (and further in SE Asia and Europe). She has covered a large range of projects and the proven ability to flexibly handle different tasks, from leading field teams to project coordination and management. Her tasks also include capacity building of numerous students and technicians in cooperation with local partners as well as raising awareness about the ecological importance of bats among resident communities. In general, she likes working in different surroundings to always learn more about ecological interrelations and species-specific resource requirements, and to develop tailored conservation strategies.

Sheema Abdul Aziz, Ph.D. – Strategic Advisor for Southeast Asia

Dr. Sheema Abdul Aziz is responsible for identifying, assessing, and exploring the potential for bat-related conservation initiatives in Southeast Asia. With over 20 years of experience, both as a practitioner and a scientist, Sheema aims to forge collaborations with local partners in developing conservation finance mechanisms to achieve long-term impact for threatened bat populations and habitats in the region.

Based in Kuala Lumpur, Sheema received her Ph.D. from Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle, where she investigated bat-plant and bat-human interactions to improve the conservation of Old World fruit bats (Family: Pteropodidae), particularly flying foxes (Pteropus spp.), in Peninsular Malaysia.

Prior to joining BCI, Sheema co-founded and led the Malaysian NGO Rimba for over a decade along with its fruit bat conservation initiative, Project Pteropus. Her experience as a conservation practitioner encompasses work on ecosystem services, tropical forest and protected area management, wildlife population ecology, poaching and wildlife trade, local communities, indigenous rights, and conservation communication. She is also a qualified archaeologist with experience working in heritage conservation.