Meet the Team - Merlin Tuttle's Bat Conservation

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Merlin D. Tuttle Founder & Executive Director Merlin is comfortable crawling deep into caves, lugging equipment through tropical jungles, or standing on a stage introducing the world to the Secret Lives of Bats. (Shameless book plug…click here to purchase.) Merlin started his bat career as a teenager, has done field research on every continent where bats live, photographed hundreds of species, founded Bat Conservation International and has been a key force in changing the way the world perceives bats. Merlin couldn’t stand retirement with so much yet to be done, so he founded Merlin Tuttle’s Bat Conservation. He continues to dedicate his life to the study, preservation and promotion of bats and their contributions to our world. MTBC benefits from his lifetime of knowledge, renowned photography and is the legacy of a man who turned his passion into a profession. He also enjoys occasional fly fishing outings and caring for his persimmon trees. To read Merlin’s complete biography click here and for his Curriculum Vitae click here

Teresa-Picture

Teresa M. Nichta Operations Manager, Archivist, Digital and Social Media Coordinator Teresa’s core responsibility is managing Merlin’s extensive photographic collection. She manages social media, video production, field planning, development, correspondence and all things in between. She is also an experienced photographer and practices gardening, aerial silks, and dreaming.

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Alejandro Silveyra Web Developer

Alejandro focuses on Merlin Tuttle’s website development as well as other behind-the-scenes software matters. He is passionate about almost all tech-related things and loves traveling, mountain biking, and photography.

In addition to Tuttle (Chair), the directors are:

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Dr. Michael Ryan, Clark Hubbs Regents Professor in Zoology, The University of Texas at Austin. Ryan is an exceptionally well known animal behaviorist who has worked extensively with bats.

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Dr. Rachel Page, Staff Scientist, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. Bat behavior is Page’s full-time research specialty.

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Linda Moore, Director of Administration and Finance, Bat Conservation International for 28 years (retired in 2013).

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Jeff Acopian Jeff Acopian has a lifelong dedication to conservation, and for more than 25 years he has been a staunch supporter of Merlin’s bat conservation efforts. In collaboration with his late father, Sarkis Acopian he founded the Acopian Center for the Environment at the American University of Armenia in 1992, published A Field Guide to Birds of Armenia in 1996, and developed the Acopian BirdSavers in 2010. Jeff is an electrical engineer and Vice-President of Acopian Power Supplies www.acopian.com.

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William Scanlan William Scanlan has an MBA in entrepreneurship and is bilingual with a special interest in Mexico, its folk art and mescal production. He spent 20 years founding and selling two businesses and collecting folk art prior to founding Heavy Metl Premium Imports in 2015. His company imports high-quality mescal batches to the U.S., bypassing rebottlers to increase income for traditional family producers in Oaxaca. He founded the Metl Matters Foundation to help preserve Oaxacan ancestral heritage and promote sustainable agave cultivation. He also supports a library and cultural center in Santa Catarina Minas where he hopes to provide increased opportunity for disadvantaged children to progress to higher education. In July, 2017, William funded MTBC’s production of a documentary illustrating the key role of bats in sustainable agave production.

Merlin remains enthusiastically committed to bat conservation full-time, and given his unprecedented track record, it is impossible to predict the full potential of his new organization for which he serves as Executive Director. As always, he is aiming high, and his current health is excellent. He hopes to continue full-time for at least another decade. However, should age catch up with him before his new organization can become fully independent, he and his directors have made provision for any remaining assets to be transferred to the most appropriate bat-focused conservation organization available at that time, most likely Bat Conservation International.

Merlin, more than ever, needs partners like you.

Please consider joining him now.

Everyone counts!

Merlin D. Tuttle

Founder & Executive Director

Merlin is comfortable crawling deep into caves, lugging equipment through tropical jungles, or standing on a stage introducing the world to the Secret Lives of Bats. (Shameless book plug…click here to purchase.)
Merlin started his bat career as a teenager, has done field research on every continent where bats live, photographed hundreds of species, founded Bat Conservation International and has been a key force in changing the way the world perceives bats.

Merlin couldn’t stand retirement (2009) with so much yet to be done, so he founded Merlin Tuttle’s Bat Conservation. He continues to dedicate his life to the study, preservation and promotion of bats and their contributions to our world. MTBC benefits from his lifetime of knowledge, renowned photography and is the legacy of a man who turned his passion into a profession.

He also enjoys occasional fly fishing outings and caring for his persimmon trees.
To read Merlin’s complete biography click here and for his Curriculum Vitae click here

Teresa M. Nichta

Operations Manager, Archivist, Digital and Social Media Coordinator

Teresa’s core responsibility is managing Merlin’s extensive photographic collection. She manages social media, video production, field planning, development, correspondence and all things in between. She is also an experienced photographer and practices gardening, aerial silks, and dreaming.

Alejandro Silveyra

Web Developer

Marla Gostisha

Administrative Assistant

Marla assists with website and database maintenance, graphic design and office administration. She is a competitive tennis player and enjoys cycling and photography.

Danielle A. Cordani

Science Specialist, Conservation and Communications

Danielle is a recent graduate from Texas State University where she majored in Wildlife Biology and studied the impacts of wind energy on bats. It was love at first sight when she caught her first Hoary bat during a field outing. Soon after, she co-founded the Bat Association at Texas State (BATS), a student-led organization that promotes bat conservation, research, education, and public outreach. In addition to administrative support, she provides expertise in bat biology, addressing conservation issues, and generating excitement about protecting our favorite winged friends! When she isn’t advocating bats, she enjoys scuba diving, watching her dogs go wild on the river, and supporting local breweries and live music.

Judy Curran

Bookkeeper

Judy is responsible for collecting, recording and interpreting MTBC financial information. She lives to travel, exercise and read.

Directors

Dr. Michael Ryan

Clark Hubbs Regents Professor in Zoology, The University of Texas at Austin. Ryan is an exceptionally well known animal behaviorist who has worked extensively with bats.

Dr. Rachel Page

Rachel is a bat biologist. After completing a BA at Columbia University and a PhD at the University of Texas at Austin, Page conducted postdoctoral research as a Humboldt fellow at the Max Planck Institute in Seewiesen, Germany. Page has been a staff scientist at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama since 2009. Her research focuses on behavior, sensory ecology and predator-prey interactions in bats.

Linda Moore

Linda was the Director of Administration and Finance for Bat Conservation International for 28 years (retired in 2013). She now serves as the Secretary/Treasurer of Merlin Tuttle’s Bat Conservation’s Board of Directors.

Jeff Acopian

Jeff Acopian has a lifelong dedication to conservation, and for more than 25 years he has been a staunch supporter of Merlin’s bat conservation efforts. In collaboration with his late father, Sarkis Acopian he founded the Acopian Center for the Environment at the American University of Armenia in 1992, published A Field Guide to Birds of Armenia in 1996, and developed the Acopian BirdSavers in 2010. Jeff is an electrical engineer and Vice-President of Acopian Power Supplies (www.acopian.com).

Mark Bloschock

Mark Bloschock participated in the Congress Avenue Bridge expansion that led to occupation by the now famous bat colony. He retired from the Texas Dept of Transportation in 2007 as the Bridge Division Special Projects Engineer. He currently serves as Director of Maintenance Operations at VRX, Inc. and lectures nationally and internationally on highway safety as well as on his award-winning accomplishments creating habitat for bats in bridges.