Dr. Nicté Ordóñez-Garza, Collection Manager for the Michigan Pathogen Biorepository (M-PABI), recently returned from fieldwork in Belize. There, she explored the complex relationships between animals, pathogens, and parasites—all amid the backdrop of ancient Maya ruins. “It felt like working inside a living museum,” she says. Read on to learn more about her research.

What led you to this area of research?

I have grown increasingly curious about how environmental changes—like habitat loss and fragmentation—affect wildlife and disease dynamics. As a mammalogist, I’ve always been fascinated by small mammals, their diversity, and ecological roles, and I began to appreciate the complex relationships these animals have with parasites and pathogens.


You’ve participated in three consecutive field seasons in Belize. What’s it been like to watch the project evolve?

It’s been incredibly rewarding. In 2023, we started as a small, focused team—developing protocols, building a foundation, and exploring possibilities. It felt like an exciting pilot program. By 2024, the project had grown into a broader collaboration. We had researchers from several countries and disciplines contributing new ideas, skills, and questions. In 2025, the team became even more decentralized and diverse, with graduate students leading independent projects and international collaborators expanding our scope.


Your team collects an incredible range of samples. What are these specimens usedfor, and how do they contribute to understanding disease ecology?

One goal of M-PABI’s collection is to serve as a biorepository—supporting research in ecology, evolution, public health, and emerging pathogens. We collect bat tissues and ectoparasites like bat flies and mites. Since these flies are difficult to identify, we created a taxonomic key to help researchers—especially mammalogists in Belize—correctly identify species.


The Lamanai Archaeological Reserve seems like a unique place to do science. What’s it like to conduct fieldwork among ancient Maya ruins?

It’s remarkable. Lamanai is one of the longest continuously inhabited Maya sites—occupied for over 3,000 years. Each evening, as we enter the forest to set up mist nets, we pass towering temples, plazas, and carved stelae, now entangled with centuries-old trees and vines. At night, the ruins come alive with the sounds of bats, owls, frogs, and insects. It feels like working inside a living museum. This setting reinforces the deep interconnection between biodiversity, culture, and conservation.


You’ve mentored several graduate students during these expeditions. How important is field training for the next generation of disease ecologists andmammalogists?

It’s absolutely essential. Field training teaches students things the lab can’t—like ecological complexity, animal behavior, and how species interact with their environments, as well as practical skills.


What’s next for M-PABI’s work in Belize? 

The next phase is incredibly exciting. We’re continuing our longitudinal monitoring of bats, ectoparasites, and pathogens to study how both seasonal and long-term environmental changes influence disease dynamics. We’re also incorporating new technologies, like portable genomic tools for on-site screening and high-throughput sequencing to analyze the broader microbiome and virome in bats and their parasites.

Ultimately, the work is becoming more interdisciplinary, more global, and more impactful—not just for science, but also for conservation and community engagement.

What’s next for you?

I’m continuing work in Guatemala, studying small mammal communities—rodents, shrews, and marsupials—along a gradient of environmental change: pristine montane forests, forest edges, and agricultural zones like coffee plantations. This fall, I’ll begin lab screening. It’s a continuation of the same passion: understanding how biodiversity, health, and conservation intersect—and using science to inform how we coexist with wildlife.