Associate Professor and Wildlife Extension Specialist
College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaignanimal conservation, ANIMAL ECOLOGY, bats, Birds, Conservation, Wildlife, Wildlife Biology
's research primarily focuses on ways to facilitate the coexistence of bats and humans in human-altered landscapes. She works to understand the roosting and foraging ecology of bats, identify best practices for studying bat ecology, characterize bat behaviors, and assess the quality of mitigation practices designed to help bats. Dr. O'Keefe collaborates with many organizations and people who interact with bats, including private landowners, USDA Forest Service, National Park Service, and state agencies.
More information:
O'Keefe's lab conducts research that facilitates the coexistence of wildlife and humans in human-altered landscapes. We focus on bats, working to understand roosting and foraging ecology, identify best practices for studying bat ecology, characterize bat behaviors, and assess the quality of mitigation practices designed to help bats. We collaborate with many organizations and people who interact with bats, including private landowners, USDA Forest Service, National Park Service, and state agencies. We regularly communicate with a variety of stakeholders to share practical management solutions topics ranging from effective bat house deployments to best practices for protecting bats and their habitat during prescribed burns.Our research encompasses distribution and population status of imperiled bats, human-wildlife interactions in urban areas, bats in anthropogenic structures, ecosystem services of forest-dwelling bats, wildlife health and ecology in managed forests, and urban ecology of bats in small cities.
Affiliations:
O'Keefe is an associate professor and wildlife extension specialist in the and , both part of the at the .
ANIMAL ECOLOGY, Conservation, drought response, Ecology, Painted turtles, Wildlife
Larkin Powell is director of the School of Natural Resources at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and a professor of conservation biology and animal ecology. In recent years, he has led student research projects that documented how painted turtles living in a western Nebraska pond are affected by drought. He has worked on cheetah conservation efforts in Namibia and developed curriculum for th eRwanda Institute for Conservation Agriculture. He is interested in the history of Great Plains landscapes and how government policy has shaped them. His book, "Great Plains Birds," examines the effects of important historical milestones, such as Native American settlement, European settlement, the advent of synthesized nitrogen fertilizers, and farm mechanization, on present-day landscapes.