The recording of this program from 4 November 2025
is now available online.

Bats! Genomics, gene-flow, connectivity and the Yuma Myotis, with Joseph Curti, PhD.

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Many people associate the month before and after Halloween with spooky symbols like witches, ghouls, and of course BATS! But how much do you really know about these furry winged creatures? Join UCLA Postdoctoral Researcher and bat scientist Joseph Curti for an hour-long lecture on the remarkable and misunderstood group of mammals known as bats. In this talk, Joseph will discuss bat diversity in Southern California as well as basic features of bat ecology and natural history. He will also share some of the findings from his research on bat genomics aimed at applying whole genome sequencing to understand genomic health and inbreeding in Yuma Myotis bats (Myotis yumanensis), how connected the Yuma Myotis populations are across their range, and barriers to the movement across California.

Joseph Curti, Ph.D. is a postdoctoral research fellow at the UCLA La Kretz Center for California Conservation Science. Joey’s current research focuses on the impacts of anthropogenic stressors on bat community composition in urban areas across California. Joey received his Ph.D. in 2024 from the UCLA Ecology and Evolutionary Biology department, where he worked with statewide resource managers on a variety of conservation genomics projects. These included a project aimed at evaluating the impact of roadways in Los Angeles to California quail (Callipepla californica) gene flow and rangewide landscape genomics of the Yuma Myotis bat (Myotis yumanensis). Joey has been working with bats since 2015 and has worked on a variety of projects including radio tracking Big Brown Bats (Eptesicus fuscus) in the California Central Valley, mist netting and acoustic surveys of bats on the California Channel Islands, and acoustic surveys of bats for the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area. Outside of his academic research, Joey regularly leads acoustic bat walks and classes on bat ecology and natural history for groups across Los Angeles, including Theodore Payne Foundation, the LA Natural History Museum, the Ojai Valley Land Conservancy, the Resource Conservation District of the Santa Monica Mountains, and the San Fernando Valley Audubon Society. For more information and to stay up-to-date on his most recent publications and research, please visit his website at www.josephcurti.com.

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