Karliegh Wattier, RaMP Participant

Working with Mandy Guinn

What are you working on right now?

My project is looking at the transcriptome response of Little Brown Bats to White Nose Syndrome, a fungal infection that has been impacting bat populations in North America. At this point in time, I am gathering samples and learning species ID. I am also making a field identification guide for all bats across North Dakota and surrounding states in the hopes that the guide will make it easier for people to learn how to identify bats in the upcoming years. Also, I am beginning to learn GIS so that I can map out the locations of caves and other hibernation sites for bats that I will need to visit this winter to obtain DNA samples for my project.

What is your favorite part of this experience?

Field work! I love getting to go out and spend my nights across North Dakota (and sometimes other states) looking for bats. My mentor and the people in the field with me are some of the best people I have ever had the pleasure of knowing and working with. Even if the field nights are just Mandy and me, we have the best times being partners in crime (if you consider studying bats to be a crime that is)!

What do you enjoy most about Bismarck/UTTC?

Whether I am on or off campus, everyone here in Bismarck is so nice and I love getting to work with so many different types of people in the lab, in the field, or just day to day! Also, the fact that Bismarck is a smaller city than I am used to is incredibly refreshing.