Merlin’s recovery news is mixed. For the first two weeks following the initial tumor removal, he seemed to be making a miraculous recovery. Then he started getting unexplained headaches and left-side body numbness. His surgeon was out of town, but when he returned he ordered a CT scan and organized an appointment for the next […]
Over the past year, we collaborated with German colleague, Ralph Simon, taking more than 20,000 photos of bats pollinating highly bat-dependent flowers in Costa Rica, Cuba and Ecuador for an article scheduled to appear in the May 2014 issue of National Geographic, then collaborated with Daniel Hargreaves and much appreciated Thai colleagues to photograph 32 […]
We are in San Juan, Puerto Rico enjoying the 42nd North American Symposium on Bat Research, an annual bat research meeting which Merlin has attended every year for the past 42 years! Last night we attended the banquet and a subsequent auction which supports especially worthy students and colleagues in bat research and conservation. The final […]
On our first day in Hat Yai, after a 20-minute drive from our hotel, we arrived at the Prince of Songkla University (PSU) with Sara and Pushpa. We were given a large lab room in which to set up our photography studio while Pushpa, Pipat and others went mist netting for nectar bats for us […]
After a rather tense drive from Hala Bala Wildlife Sanctuary through the risky provinces of Thailand’s Deep South on our way to the Narathiwat Airport, we said goodbye and thanks to Daniel Hargreaves for planning and organizing what had been a fantastic field trip. Daniel needed to return home to the UK, but Merlin and I […]
The time had come to leave the peace and serenity of Hala Bala Wildlife Sanctuary and brave the possibility of insurgent attacks on our way to the Narathiwat Airport. But before leaving this sanctuary, Merlin and Daniel couldn’t pass up the chance to photograph a nearby roost full of Spotted-winged fruit bats (Balionycteris maculata). The […]
Just four nights of photography at Hala Bala yielded photos of 18 species of bats, including the rarely seen Naked Bat, the tiny, cute Tailless and Spotted-Winged Fruit Bats. Here are nine of the beauty queens and runners up:
In only four days of photography at Hala Bala Wildlife Sanctuary, Merlin photographed 15 bat species, in addition to the Naked Bat (Cheiromeles torquatus), Spotted-Winged (Balionycteris maculata) and Tailless (Megaerops ecaudatus) Fruit Bats. The Naked Bats were netted over a beautiful, crystal clear pool in a mountain stream–teeming with leeches. The first night at Hala […]
Our destination was Hala Bala Wildlife Sanctuary to seek and, hopefully, photograph the world’s largest insectivorous bat: the Naked Bat, Cheiromeles torquatus. We were met at the Narathiwat Airport by Pipat Soisook, Curator of Mammals at the Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn Natural History Museum, and Sunate Karapan, Director of the Hala Bala Research Station. The research center’s […]
It rained hard, as we followed the guano miner’s daughter, Chanraem, through a maze of brilliant green rice paddies, ending at an unexpectedly lovely, teak house, landscaped with fruit trees and flowers. We waited on the porch till Siri came to meet us. At 96 years of age, Siri Tanomsri found it difficult to remember […]
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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.
