Teague O'Mara, PhD
​Teague is a dad and husband. He's responsible for the lab group and making sure that it is a great place to learn. Teague finished a PhD at Arizona State University where his research in Madagascar tested how female and male ring-tailed lemurs grow up to eat different things, and how sex differences in feeding can help structure life history and ecology. Since then, he has worked mostly on bats to understand how social behavior and physiology work together to buffer unpredictable environments and shape animal social groups. This work has let him explore animal movement and biodiversity around the world and build collaborations with outstanding people.  In addition to his day job as an Assistant Professor and the Dyson Professor of Biology in Biological Sciences at Southeastern Louisiana University, he is also a research associate in the Department of Migration at the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior in Germany and at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panamá.

Corey Samples, MS Student
Corey is a military brat originally from Kentucky but Hinesville, GA is his home. He earned a BS from LA Tech in Applied Biology with a minor in Environmental Science. While completing his Bachelors, Corey worked with leaf litter invertebrate communities, assisted in Crawfish frog surveys, and conducted a herpetofaunal inventory at Wafer Creek Ranch in Ruston. After earning a Masters at SLU, he is unsure of whether he’d like to begin working or apply to doctoral programs; however, Corey wants to work with protecting and conserving native species and their habitats. His hobbies include gaming (video games, cards, tabletop, etc.), traveling, and spending time with his partner and their furry, scaly, and slimy babies.

Corey is on loan from Dr. Chris Beachy's lab, and he is using camera traps to investigate the influences that feral pigs (Sus scrofa) have on the mammal communities of longleaf pine flatwood/savanna habitats.

Micaela Pineda, MS Student
Micaela is originally from Merced, California. She has worked on studies with bison in Yellowstone National Park, Northern Spotted Owls in California, and most recently quail on Rolling Plains Quail Research Ranch. Upon completion of her master's degree she plans to apply for doctoral programs in animal behavior. In her free time she enjoys hiking, swimming, running, and traveling. 

Micaela will be working on deciphering the spatial ecology of the greater noctule (Nyctalus lasiopterus) during their nightly foraging attempts in Doñana National Park, especially when and if they capture migrating birds.

Shawn Pladas, MS Student
Shawn is originally from a small mountain town in Northern Utah and likes to spend his time in the outdoors whitewater rafting, canyoneering, skiing, and birding. He went to the University of Utah and earned a BS in Wildlife Biology and Conservation. He has since worked with a variety of taxa and has grown especially fond of working with bats. After receiving his MS, Shawn plans to continue professionally as an ecological researcher.

Shawn will be trying to understand migration patterns in Brazilian free-tailed bats (Tadarida brasiliensis) and how changes in migration reflecting shifting population dynamics.

Dani White, MS Student (non-thesis)
Dani is originally from a little town in Wisconsin in an area called "The Northwoods," which mainly consists of trees and lakes. She went to Southwestern Oklahoma State University where she earned a Bachelors in environmental and organismal biology and competed in Division II cross country and track. She's now working on her masters at Southeastern Louisiana University and is looking through literature for home range data on frugivorous bats.  After she graduates, Dani hopes to find a job that has aspects of ecology.

Dani is trying to understand how frugivorous bats move and if there are any over-arching patterns in home range use relative to body size, feeding ecology, and phylogeny.
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Adriyan Blue, Honors Thesis Student
​Adriyan is originally from New Orleans, Louisiana and is a graduating senior with plans to go to a graduate school for Public Health next year. Her career interest is epidemiology, while her personal interests are food and travel.

Adriyan is coralling some banked ring-tailed lemur (Lemur catta) hormone data to understand how developmental patterns of glucocorticoids reflect sex, dominance, and aggression.

Matthew Giblin, Undergraduate Student
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Matthew never likes being too comfortable, and is always pushing himself to do better in society. After graduation he plans to attend medical school and through that, specialize in cardiology. 

Matthew is trying to understand more about how cyclic depressions in tent-making bats (Uroderma bilobatum) reflect other patterns of low energy states such as torpor and hibernation, and the likely controls through the sympathetic nervous system.
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Cierra Disedare, Undergraduate Student
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Cierra is from a small town local to Independence Louisiana who appreciates and is open-minded to new experiences. She is currently a senior getting her BS in Integrative Biology with a minor in Spanish, and hopes to continue her education in SELU’s Masters Biology program after graduation. She has always had a love for the outdoors and is an avid hunter. Her career interest is in conservation biology and environmental management, and she has a personal interest in creative writing and animal care.  
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James Lee, Undergraduate Student

​James is trying to understand more about how cyclic depressions in tent-making bats (Uroderma bilobatum) reflect other patterns of low energy states such as torpor and hibernation, and the likely controls through the sympathetic nervous system.

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