The National Geographic Society BAT ECHO team is reunited, Ralph Simon having arrived in Ecuador a week after Merlin and me. At the University of Erlangen and the University of Ulm-Germany, Ralph has done his doctoral research on how plants have evolved special structures to guide echo-locating bats to their flowers. We met him at […]
Half of the National Geographic team “Project Bat Echo” is on the road again, after only a month home from Cuba where we worked for the month of March, resulting in over 6,000 photographs. With barely time to unpack and repack, we left Austin with our more than 350 lbs. of equipment. Last night we […]
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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.
