Each evening at 4pm, a small team of scientists walks into the forested heart of northern Belize. Their path winds past ancient Maya ruins and under a canopy alive with the sounds of howler monkeys and cicadas. As dusk settles over the Lamanai Archaeological Reserve, they open mist nets and wait for the night’s first bats.This is fieldwork at its most immersive. It’s the core of an international research effort led in part by the Michigan Pathogen Biorepository (M-PABI) as part of the annual Bat-a-thon.

Now in its 17th year, this unique, field-based gathering is dedicated to understanding how environmental change is shaping the relationships between bats, their parasites, and the pathogens they carry. The collaborative project has grown to now include more than 80 researchers and collaborators from 50 institutions across 15 countries. 

Dr. Nicté Ordóñez-Garza, Research Museum Collection Manager, M-PABI, along with other researchers, contributes her expertise in parasitology, mammalogy, and disease ecology. Their shared mission is to understand how bats interact with their environment, parasites, and microbial communities, both for conservation purposes and public health. 

Through this work, M-PABI is building a deeper understanding of host-pathogen dynamics in the tropics. And by working and training in real-world field conditions, the team is cultivating the next generation of disease ecologists and biodiversity researchers.