Kathrin Barboza Marquez

Kathrin Barboza Marquez
Born	1983 (age 33–34)
Nationality	Bolivian
Occupation	biologist
Years active	2002–
Known for	bat research

Kathrin Barboza Marquez (born 1983) is a Bolivian biologist who is an expert in bat research. In 2006, she and a research partner discovered a species thought to be extinct and in 2010, she was awarded the National Geographic's "Young Explorer Grant". She became the first Bolivian scientist to win a L'Oréal-UNESCO Fellowship for Women in Science in 2012 and in 2013 was named by the BBC as one of the top ten Latin American women of science.

Kathrin Barboza Marquez was born in 1983 and grew up in Cochabamba, Bolivia. She attended the Universidad Mayor de San Simón (UMSS) studying at the Center of Biodiversity and Genetics. She continued her education to earn a Masters in Biology and Conservation of Tropical Areas from the Menéndez Pelayo International University. The degree program was offered by the Higher Council for Scientific Research of Spain, but classes were completed in Quito in a cooperative study arrangement with the Central University of Ecuador.

In 2006, Barboza and a colleague, Aideé Vargas, rediscovered a species thought to have been extinct in Bolivia for 72 years. The species, known as the Bolivian sword-nosed bat (Lonchorhina aurita) is now protected in an area of the Santa Cruz Department known as the Ecological Sanctuary of the Town of San Juan de Corralito located in the Ángel Sandoval Province. It was the first area specifically designated to protect a species of bat in Latin America. Barboza won a 2007 grant to conduct research at Barro Colorado Island in Panama from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. Her project focused on the forest and island borders' effects on the habitat of the island bat population. Upon completion of her work in Panama, Barboza won the 2009 National Georgraphic, Young Explorer Scholarship Grant. She used the scholarship funds to conduct research on the acoustics of bats in the Beni Savanna of northern Bolivia. She created one of the first libraries of echolocation frequencies for insectivorous bats in Bolivia. In addition, she and other scientists conducted a study of ectoparasites on the bat population of the savanna. No comprehensive study had ever been conducted on parasitism of bat colonies. The scientists used mist nets to capture and release their study subjects over a five-month period at the Spirit Wildlife Refuge. As a result, they have cataloged more than 20 morphotypes of mites and ticks and studies are on-going to identify the remaining samples.

...
Wikipedia