The National Geographic story “Call of the Bloom” has been four years in the making, but it’s finally published! It was conceived in 2010 when Merlin and I heard Ralph Simon, from the University of Ulm, in Germany, present his doctoral research at the 15th International Bat Research Conference, held in Prague. Merlin was immediately fascinated […]
“To Know Bats Is to Love Them” is a short Q&A piece in National Geographic Daily News with Merlin by science writer Susan McGrath, recounting highlights from his life’s experiences studying and conserving bats. It also addresses recent threats from exaggerated media reporting of diseases potentially associated with bats. Check it out and thanks in […]
Merlin went to Costa Rica last week, with hopes to photograph a Northern ghost bat (Diclidurus albus) roosting beneath a palm frond. Researchers rarely have been able to capture these bats, and almost nothing is known about them. More than 45 years ago, while leading a Smithsonian expedition on Venezuela’s Rio Mavaca, Merlin discovered that […]
Merlin has attended every NASBR conference, since the beginning. Corey Kane, a writer with the Tico Times, wrote an excellent article. During the conference, he interviewed Merlin and included some of his photographs. I’ve included the link, if you care to read all about it: http://www.ticotimes.net/2013/08/17/costa-rica-hosts-largest-ever-bat-conference
Last night in the Mexican desert Merlin was perched on the roof of Fred and Paul’s suburban alongside a giant cardon cactus. He mounted his camera on a tripod with a flash nearby. While we raised a second flash on a tripod duct-taped to three 10-foot poles to create a super tripod. And that was […]
Last night our amazing bat-catching team: Fred Frick, Paul Heady and their friend and colleague, Marm Kilpatrick, succeeded in capturing a Western Yellow bat, a species which Merlin wanted to add to his portrait collection. On their way back to us, they called ahead and we got the set ready. No night off for us, […]
Everything doesn’t go so great all the time. We have our bad nights too. On our second night with bats in the studio, we shot 300 photos, most really good ones. Two nights ago we only got a few useful images, mostly because we were attempting an extremely difficult shot, namely bats in their final approach […]
We spent the afternoon looking for night roosts, because the cold front and high winds would minimize bat activity. We drove for miles, looking under bridges with no luck. Then we spotted an abandoned cinder-block building. On the floor inside we found lots of droppings and abundant wings of large insects, indicative of night roosting […]
Arriving in a country with 350 pounds of photographic and field gear is always stressful. The immigration folks at the airport carefully examined every piece of equipment, but enjoyed Merlin’s stories of how he photographs bats. An hour later, we were cleared. The first order of business was to set up the studio in a […]
It’s been a long time coming, but we’re back on the road again! It’s springtime in the gorgeous Sonoran Desert. This next adventure takes us to Baja California Sur of Mexico. We’re hoping to provide the first photographic documentation of insect-eating pallid bats pollinating the world’s largest cactus, the cardon, which lives exclusively in Mexico […]
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Madelline Mathis has a degree in environmental studies from Rollins College and a passion for wildlife conservation. She is an outstanding nature photographer who has worked extensively with Merlin and other MTBC staff studying and photographing bats in Mozambique, Cuba, Costa Rica, and Texas. Following college graduation, she was employed as an environmental specialist for the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. She subsequently founded the Florida chapter of the International DarkSky Association and currently serves on the board of DarkSky Texas. She also serves on the board of Houston Wilderness and was appointed to the Austin Water Resource Community Planning Task Force.
Michael Lazari Karapetian has over twenty years of investment management experience. He has a degree in business management, is a certified NBA agent, and gained early experience as a money manager for the Bank of America where he established model portfolios for high-net-worth clients. In 2003 he founded Lazari Capital Management, Inc. and Lazari Asset Management, Inc. He is President and CIO of both and manages over a half a billion in assets. In his personal time he champions philanthropic causes. He serves on the board of Moravian College and has a strong affinity for wildlife, both funding and volunteering on behalf of endangered species.
