This Auburn PhD found 10,000-year-old bat guano near Huntsville—how it reveals environmental changes + more

Sponsored

Alexandra Tsalickis never thought she’d make her mark on scientific research by studying bat droppings, but now, she wouldn’t want to do anything else.

Read on to learn about how she recently discovered one of the oldest bat guano cores in the world at Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge in Decatur and the other awesome studies she’s done at Auburn University.

Studying bat guano + beyond

Meet Alexandra

The common thread in Alexandra’s life has been her love for the outdoors. As a child, she was inspired by her mother’s enthusiasm for nature. Together, they planted several gardens and enjoyed capturing caterpillars and watching them transform into butterflies.

“Since childhood, I’ve always been fascinated by nature.

I have two older brothers, who were in the Boy Scouts, and I would go on all of the Boy Scout camping trips with them. I was always the only girl there.”

Alexandra Tsalickis, Geosciences PhD student, Auburn University

Alexandra is also passionate about caring for the environment and reduces waste by recycling and riding her bike instead of driving her car. Her love for nature is what inspired her to study Wildlife, Ecology and Conservation at the University of Florida, where she graduated with her bachelor’s degree in 2016.

Launching off after her Master’s in Crop, Soil + Environmental Sciences

After graduating from the University of Florida, Alexandra scored a job at an entomology lab, which eventually led her to look into obtaining a master’s in Crop, Soil and Environmental Sciences from Auburn’s College of Agriculture.

Her entomology lab supervisor was with friends with Dr. Matt Waters, Associate Professor of Paleolimnology and Environmental Science at Auburn. At the time, they were working on a bat guano (or bat droppings) project together. Alexandra learned about the project and was immediately interested.

Turns out, Dr. Waters had a graduate school opening in Auburn’s College of Agriculture; Alexandra applied and was accepted.

Working with Dr. Waters opened the door for her to be on the team that discovered the 10,000-year-old bat guano core at Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge in Decatur.

“Going to Wheeler to extract the bat guano core was one of the most amazing trips I’ve ever been on.

There are so many caves in the Southeast, especially in North Alabama. Going into these caves can initially be difficult and scary, but the process is so much fun.

The bat guano core we collected from Wheeler is not only one of the oldest cores in the United States—it’s one of the oldest in the world.”

Alexandra Tsalickis, Geosciences PhD student, Auburn University

Through measuring the stable isotopes (non-radioactive forms of atoms) of the bat guano core, Alexandra and the team were able to understand how the environment has drastically changed in the past 10,000 years—mostly due to clearing the land for widespread agriculture.

Publishing groundbreaking research on bat guano + other topics

After completing her master’s degree, Alexandra took a small break before deciding to pursue her PhD in Geosciences at Auburn.

After getting back into academia, Alexandra has published several more impressive papers. Here’s a sneak peek into some of her research:

1. She collaborated with her advisor, Dr. Vichula, and studied more bat guano cores to examine how humans have used fire throughout thousands of years—namely, how many prescribed (intentional) fires vs. wildfires were burned.
   • They learned that bats are attracted to prescribed fires because their controlled nature benefits plant growth and draws insects.
     • Alexandra and Dr. Vichula quantified the number of prescribed and wildfires by examining the bat guano core.
2. Alexandra’s research on bat guano set her up for success to examine a different dropping—bison dung.
   • She studied how mass agriculture in Montana has affected the bison population over time, especially their diets.
     • She concluded that modern-day bison are consuming more native plants than they did in the past since humans have cultivated these plants in the environment. In summary, humans have changed the entire eating pattern of bison.

Check out graduate programs in Auburn’s College of Agriculture

Alexandra loved her experience as a graduate student in Auburn’s College of Agriculture and credits her success as a Geosciences PhD student to it.

“Auburn has allowed me to do interdisciplinary research (across departments), which is so vital in today’s research landscape.

I’ve had such positive experiences with my professors here, both in the College of Agriculture and Geosciences. The faculty here is also very caring about mental health, and there are great resources on campus for students. I can’t say enough positive things about my experience at Auburn.”

Alexandra Tsalickis, Geosciences PhD student, Auburn University

Why get a graduate degree from Auburn’s College of Agriculture?

• 10 doctoral + 20 master’s degrees available
• Increased industry earnings
• In-person + online degrees
• Top-notch graduate research assistantships
• The ability to “bring food, water, energy and essential resources to the world—in a phrase, you can help make the world work.”
• Check out the College of Agriculture graduate programs today.

Sponsored by: