Fieldwork in Guatemala this past summer was about much more than scientific discovery for Dr. Nicté Ordóñez-Garza, Research Collection Manager with the Microbes, Parasites and Biodiversity Initiative (MPABI) and the U-M Museum of Zoology (UMMZ).
“I learned so many things about my own country and visited places I had never been before,” she said. A native of Guatemala, Nicté traded her laboratory work at the UMMZ for forests and mountains, working with researchers and students from across Latin America to collect bats and rodents, teach field and genomic techniques, and explore how natural history collections can advance research on biodiversity, evolution, and disease.
Her work was part of a genomics workshop organized with colleagues from the University of Kansas, Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala, and University of Michigan. Twenty-two researchers and students from across Latin America learned to trap and handle small mammals, collect specimens and tissues, and use portable technology to extract and sequence DNA in the field.
“The students learned new techniques and how to collect,” Nicté said. “Even more importantly, they began to understand firsthand why we collect and the importance of museums, which was such a valuable part of the experience.”
The workshop took place in Guatemala’s Petén region, where participants worked in and around Tikal National Park and Biotopo Cerro Cahuí Protected Area. They collected bats and rodents while encountering an extraordinary diversity of wildlife. The team also noticed something unusual: despite being there during the rainy season, there were surprisingly few mosquitoes.
For Nicté, the observation was a reminder of how environmental changes can ripple through ecosystems and affect communities that depend on resources such as water and crops.
While Nicté was leading the workshop, MPABI colleague Oliver Keller, Research Museum Collection Specialist, was conducting fieldwork nearby in Cerro Cahuí. He joined the group to present “Mosquitoes and How to Catch Them,” adding another perspective on field methods and biodiversity research.
After the workshop, Nicté continued fieldwork with colleagues from Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala, traveling from the lowlands into the mountains to collect rodents and tissue samples for research on biodiversity and host-associated microbes. The trip also gave her a new perspective on her home country, particularly its cultural and linguistic diversity.
Down in the lowlands, Nicté had a pair of memorable sightings. “Near the lake, we observed a juvenile big-eared climbing rat, which is exciting because spotting a young individual provides direct evidence of active breeding in the area,” she said. Finally, to top off the trip, Nicté also had the unique opportunity to handle a striped hairy-nosed bat (Gardnerycteris keenani), which was, “…a species I had never seen before!” she shared.
The Guatemala workshop was one part of an especially busy summer that also included the BioARC Exchange Program, which focused on building capacity for early warning systems for zoonotic disease. The exchange included two field-based experiences: “Building and Strengthening Capacity to Develop Early Warning Systems for Zoonosis” in Orange Walk, Belize, followed by a program at Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge in Socorro, New Mexico, where Oliver also participated and presented.
Nicté also presented her research on rare Central American rodents at the American Society of Mammalogists meeting in Virginia and traveled to California to work with Global Vistas Foundation, which supports students and early-career researchers from developing countries in attending scientific conferences.
Across the summer’s experiences, a common thread emerged: building connections between researchers, institutions, countries, and fieldwork and collections to expand opportunities for understanding biodiversity.
“This summer’s travel really helped me appreciate the value of collaborations and working with different institutions, in different countries and across different areas of expertise,” she said.
