A group of biology students, alumni and faculty members from Missouri State University’s College of Natural and Applied Sciences (CNAS) represented the university well at the 104th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Mammalogists (ASM).
The event took place from June 27-July 1 at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. It brought together hundreds of mammalogists, researchers, educators, students and related professionals from across the globe.
The CNAS students and alumni who participated and presented included:
- Graduate student Kaitlyn Bebensee
- Graduate student Carly Trujillo
- Alumna Emily Beasley, BS and MS in Biology
- Alumna Emilyn Gilmore, BS in Wildlife Biology
- Alumna Kali Rouse, BS in Biology
- Alumna Aleana Savage, MS in Biology
Accompanying them were associate professor Dr. Sean Maher and faculty emeritus Dr. Thomas Tomasi.
A variety of research
Bebensee presented a poster on her research with Maher examining prairie small mammals’ diets.
“The conference allowed me to practice communicating science effectively,” Bebensee said. “I was able to network with other mammologists and learn about current research taking place across the U.S., which gave me a better understating of my future career path.”
Trujillo shared her research on bat genetics after White-nose syndrome. She conducted this project with former biology assistant professor Dr. Giorgia Auteri (now an adjunct faculty member).
Beasley presented her postdoctoral research on rabies dynamics. As for Gilmore, she presented a portion of her graduate research she is conducting while at the University of Oklahoma (OU). It focuses on responses of small mammals to habitat fragmentation. She also received the 2025 Kaufman Award at the meeting to support her research work at OU.
Meanwhile, Rouse, who has done observations of mammals using camera traps at Bull Shoals Field Station, gave a poster presentation.
As for Savage, she presented research she conducted with Auteri about the genetics and potential adaptations of North American bat species across the urban-rural gradient.
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