Chris Richardson

Current Research

I am a physiological ecologist interested in energetics, ecoimmunology, and hormone function of small mammals, particularly bats, with an emphasis on disease ecology and urban ecology. I am broadly interested in the role of physiological factors, including metabolism and immune function, and extrinsic factors, such as pathogens, on the ecology of temperate bats. I use an integrated approach to study immunological, hormonal, and physiological variables. I specifically assess the tradeoffs between energy use for immune function, thermoregulation, and reproduction.

My current research focuses on energy trade-offs between reproduction and immune response to disease in an endangered bat species. A key focus of the research is the impact of stress on immune function as part of understanding bat physiology and ecology associated with white-nose syndrome (WNS), a deadly disease caused by a fungal pathogen. I have received a Morris Animal Foundation grant “Understanding the Role of Intrinsic Physiological Factors in the Population Recovery of Myotis lucifugus (little brown myotis) from White-nose Syndrome” in 2018. This grant supported research on the intrinsic factors affecting recovery of bats from WNS, which has also demonstrated how the seasonal ecology of the pathogen is linked to critical pathology in the bats impacting their reproduction at the colony level. I am currently a Principal Investigator on a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service grant through the 2021 White-nose Syndrome Research for Conservation Grants Program: “Estimating the likelihood of recovery from or the susceptibility to white-nose syndrome in Myotis lucifugus maternity colonies using non-invasive, colony-level assessments. I am also a collaborator on a NSF Ecology and Evolution of Infectious Diseases grant. The primary aims of this project are (1) to study 3 species of North American bats affected by WNS to understand how they adapt to changes in climate and disease threats, and (2) to develop a new disease modeling framework that simultaneously incorporates wildlife movement and connectivity with genetic processes over time.