In collaboration with Bazartseren Boldgiv and his lab at the National University of Mongolia, Doug and Maria took two US students to the Gobi Desert of Mongolia for a research experience during July & August 2024. We spent 3 weeks camping in the desert near Sainshand, Dornogovi while undertaking a project on the movement patterns of adult male, adult female, and juvenile Tuvan toad-headed agamas (Phrynocephalus versicolor).

In early October 2024, Erell was granted permission to form a regional SEEDS (Ecology Education, Diversity and Sustainability) chapter by the Ecological Society of America. We plan to recruit high school, undergraduate, and graduate student members from institutions throughout eastern Kansas and western Missouri for our club. Our hands-on outdoor activities, focused on ecological research and education, will take place throughout the region.

Erell is holding a workshop to facilitate movement ecology collaborations, research, and education in the region. The in-person event will be held at the Baker University Wetlands Discovery Center.

Doug and Maria spent 8 days in Toluca, Mexico to visit the Ecology & Behavior Lab. We gave seminars, discussed possible lab projects, and visited possible field sites for future projects. Our stay culminated in a ribbon-cutting ceremony for their newly renovated lab, coupled with a celebration for the successful Master’s defense of Ingrid Morales Méndez, entitled “Efecto de la temperatura en el desempeño de la lagartija Aspidoscelis costatus costatus frente a tareas cognitivas de diferente complejidad” (“Effect of temperature on the performance of the lizard Aspidoscelis costatus costatus in cognitive tasks of different complexity”). 

Mia Phillips, Erell Institute Scientific Advisory Board member, has completed her PhD from Dartmouth College, Department of Biological Sciences, Ecology, Evolution, Environment and Society Program (EEES), defending her thesis on vibrational communication in beetles on 4 June 2024, entitled “It's a Vibe: Exploring the Roles of Physiology and Phylogeny in Novel Signal Evolution"