By Dan Nonte, University Relations
Contact: (336) 334-4314
Posted 3-2-10
Matina Kalcounis-Rüppell
GREENSBORO, NC – Dr. Matina Kalcounis-Rüppell, a faculty member in the Department of Biology since 2003, has been honored for her work on behalf of bats.
The U.S. Forest Service is presenting her with its 2010 Wings Across the Americas Award for Bat Conservation for her work with Bat Blitzes, events that bring together Forest Service biologists with volunteer academic and private biologists to survey bats on Forest Service land across the Southeast.
In eight years of Bat Blitzes organized by the Southeastern Bat Diversity Network, 121 groups have worked with the Forest Service to capture, examine and release 2,634 bats of 14 species, including two endangered species and three Forest Service sensitive species.
Kalcounis-Rüppell has led teams, mentored students and spoken to the media at numerous blitzes, and organized the 2004 Bat Blitz in Uwharrie National Forest. Scientists consider bats good indicators of the health of the environment.
She also has been honored recently by UNCG. Last spring, she received the university’s Alumni Teaching Excellence Award. Her teaching and research interests include the behavior and ecology of wild mammals, especially bats and rodents and their use of ultrasound.
The associate professor is a past chair of the North American Society for Bat Research and a past president of theSoutheastern Bat Diversity Network. She and her students give regular presentations to the public about wildlife conservation, among them a popular Halloween-season program on bats.
