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Education

Saint Mary’s College, Notre Dame, IN - Bachelor of Science, double major in Biology and Global Studies (conc. Economics), 2019
Ball State University, Muncie, IN - Master of Science in Biology, 2023

Research

I am a second-year graduate student in Dr. Tim Carter’s Wildlife Biology Lab. Our lab focuses on a wide range of wildlife research, including critical habitats for bat populations, the prevalence of hantavirus in Peromyscus species, and urban goose management. My research utilizes acoustic monitoring and abundance modeling to investigate how urban variables impact bat abundance and how these responses vary by bat species.

My other research interests include sensory ecology of bats, predator-prey relationships, and human-wildlife interactions.

Teaching

I am a graduate assistant for the Department of Biology. Currently, I serve as the teaching assistant for Mammalogy and Wildlife Biology. I served as the primary instructor for the Mammalogy Lab in Fall ’22. Previously, I taught Foundations of Biology 112 during Fall ‘21 and Spring ‘22.

Future Directions

I graduate in the summer of 2023. I will be working as a technician on a mallard duck research project with Franklin College. Shortly after, I will be moving to Washington state with my cat, Potatoes. I intend to pursue a PhD.

Publications

McGowan, K. A. and Kloepper, L. N. 2020. Different as night and day: wild bats modify echolocation in complex environments when visual cues are present. Animal Behaviour 168: 1-6.

Brighton, C. H., Zusi, L., McGowan, K. A., Kinniry, M., Kloepper, L. N., and Taylor, G. K. 2021. Aerial attack strategies of hawks hunting bats, and the adaptive benefits of swarming. Behavioral Ecology 32(3): 464–476.

Brighton, C. H., Kloepper, L. N., Larkman, L., McGowan, K. A., Zusi, L., and Taylor, G. K. 2022. Raptors avoid confusion effect by targeting fixed points in dense aerial prey aggregations. Nature Communications 13: 4778.

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