Dissected guano pellet showing antennae, eyes, and body fragments of midges.
Ernest Valdez, PhD
Ernie Valdez is a Research Wildlife Biologist at the Fort Collins Science Center, and works at the New Mexico Landscapes Field Station in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Ernie received his doctorate degree in Biology, during 2006, at the University of New Mexico. His research interests span a variety of topics but are focused on conservation and ecology of insects and small mammals, with an emphasis on bats in temperate and tropical ecosystems. Ernie specializes in the feeding ecology and movement of insectivorous bats but also includes research on the ectoparasites of bats. His current projects include research related to white-nose syndrome, wind energy, and habitat use by bats at uranium mines in the Southwest.
Science and Products
The New Mexico Landscapes Field Station
The New Mexico Landscapes Field Station is a place-based, globally connected, ecological research group that studies ecosystem and wildlife dynamics, working with land managers, community leaders, and Tribes to deliver solutions that foster the linked health of human and natural systems. For over three decades, we have focused on shifting research needs from forest watershed health to wildlife...
New Mexico Landscapes Field Station: Wildlife Research
Below are ongoing or completed research projects related to wildlife at the New Mexico Landscapes Field Station.
New Mexico Landscapes Field Station: People
Staff, affiliates, and collaborators associated with the New Mexico Landscapes Field Station.
External Microbiota of Bats as Potential Bio-control Against Wildlife Diseases
White-nose syndrome (WNS) and/or Pseudogymnoascus destructans (P.d.), the causal agent, has spread westward across 26 states and 5 provinces within the eastern United States and Canada, respectively, over a short period of time. Since its discovery there has been a search to stop the spread of this disease that has killed millions of hibernating bats in its wake. Recent collaborative work by FORT...
Ecology of Insect-eating Bats
Bats are the only flying mammals that are active mostly at night and occur on all continents except Antarctica. Bats are ecologically diverse, with a range of species that specialize in feeding on fruit, nectar, blood, fish, small mammals, and insects. However, of the more than 1,100 known species of bats on Earth, the majority specialize in feeding on insects. In the United States for example, of...
Bat Fatalities at Wind Turbines—Investigating the Causes and Consequences
Wind energy is one of the fastest-growing industries in the world and represents an important step toward reducing dependence on nonrenewable sources of power. However, widespread deployment of industrial wind turbines is having unprecedented adverse effects on certain species of bats that roost in trees and migrate. Bats are beneficial consumers of agricultural insect pests and migratory species...
Surveillance for the Presence of White-Nose Syndrome in the Bat Community at El Malpais National Monument, New Mexico
In 1999 and 2000, FORT conducted a survey of bats at El Malpais National Monument and adjacent lands. During this study, several species of bats were documented, including some that are known to use caves or lava-tube formations as roosts. In the winter of 2006–2007, the fungus-caused disease known as “white-nose syndrome” (WNS) began devastating populations of hibernating bat species that use...
Assessing Impacts to Ecosystems from Uranium Mining in the Grand Canyon Region
The use of uranium is an alternative energy source to petroleum products and some of the United States’ highest quality ore is located on the Colorado Plateau. However, some regions where suitable mining efforts are conducted include areas that are near important environmental resources such as National Parks that provide viewscapes and habitat for wildlife.
Dissected bat guano pellet showing antennae, eyes, and body parts
Dissected guano pellet showing antennae, eyes, and body fragments of midges.
Lava tube opening/possible bat roost with pine forest above.
Opening of a large lava tube at El Malpais National Monument in western New Mexico and likely roost for bats, 2011.
Opening of a large lava tube at El Malpais National Monument in western New Mexico and likely roost for bats, 2011.
a sunset photo, both from El Malpais National Monument
Asunset photo, from El Malpais National Monument, NM.
Asunset photo, from El Malpais National Monument, NM.
The last sheath-tailed bat photo
This photo of a Pacific sheath-tailed bat is the last good photo of this bat from Aguiguan in existence.
This photo of a Pacific sheath-tailed bat is the last good photo of this bat from Aguiguan in existence.
Science and Products
The New Mexico Landscapes Field Station
The New Mexico Landscapes Field Station is a place-based, globally connected, ecological research group that studies ecosystem and wildlife dynamics, working with land managers, community leaders, and Tribes to deliver solutions that foster the linked health of human and natural systems. For over three decades, we have focused on shifting research needs from forest watershed health to wildlife...
New Mexico Landscapes Field Station: Wildlife Research
Below are ongoing or completed research projects related to wildlife at the New Mexico Landscapes Field Station.
New Mexico Landscapes Field Station: People
Staff, affiliates, and collaborators associated with the New Mexico Landscapes Field Station.
External Microbiota of Bats as Potential Bio-control Against Wildlife Diseases
White-nose syndrome (WNS) and/or Pseudogymnoascus destructans (P.d.), the causal agent, has spread westward across 26 states and 5 provinces within the eastern United States and Canada, respectively, over a short period of time. Since its discovery there has been a search to stop the spread of this disease that has killed millions of hibernating bats in its wake. Recent collaborative work by FORT...
Ecology of Insect-eating Bats
Bats are the only flying mammals that are active mostly at night and occur on all continents except Antarctica. Bats are ecologically diverse, with a range of species that specialize in feeding on fruit, nectar, blood, fish, small mammals, and insects. However, of the more than 1,100 known species of bats on Earth, the majority specialize in feeding on insects. In the United States for example, of...
Bat Fatalities at Wind Turbines—Investigating the Causes and Consequences
Wind energy is one of the fastest-growing industries in the world and represents an important step toward reducing dependence on nonrenewable sources of power. However, widespread deployment of industrial wind turbines is having unprecedented adverse effects on certain species of bats that roost in trees and migrate. Bats are beneficial consumers of agricultural insect pests and migratory species...
Surveillance for the Presence of White-Nose Syndrome in the Bat Community at El Malpais National Monument, New Mexico
In 1999 and 2000, FORT conducted a survey of bats at El Malpais National Monument and adjacent lands. During this study, several species of bats were documented, including some that are known to use caves or lava-tube formations as roosts. In the winter of 2006–2007, the fungus-caused disease known as “white-nose syndrome” (WNS) began devastating populations of hibernating bat species that use...
Assessing Impacts to Ecosystems from Uranium Mining in the Grand Canyon Region
The use of uranium is an alternative energy source to petroleum products and some of the United States’ highest quality ore is located on the Colorado Plateau. However, some regions where suitable mining efforts are conducted include areas that are near important environmental resources such as National Parks that provide viewscapes and habitat for wildlife.
Dissected bat guano pellet showing antennae, eyes, and body parts
Dissected guano pellet showing antennae, eyes, and body fragments of midges.
Dissected guano pellet showing antennae, eyes, and body fragments of midges.
Lava tube opening/possible bat roost with pine forest above.
Opening of a large lava tube at El Malpais National Monument in western New Mexico and likely roost for bats, 2011.
Opening of a large lava tube at El Malpais National Monument in western New Mexico and likely roost for bats, 2011.
a sunset photo, both from El Malpais National Monument
Asunset photo, from El Malpais National Monument, NM.
Asunset photo, from El Malpais National Monument, NM.
The last sheath-tailed bat photo
This photo of a Pacific sheath-tailed bat is the last good photo of this bat from Aguiguan in existence.
This photo of a Pacific sheath-tailed bat is the last good photo of this bat from Aguiguan in existence.
*Disclaimer: Listing outside positions with professional scientific organizations on this Staff Profile are for informational purposes only and do not constitute an endorsement of those professional scientific organizations or their activities by the USGS, Department of the Interior, or U.S. Government