Kathrin Barboza Márquez facts for kids

Kathrin Barboza Márquez (born 1983) is a scientist from Bolivia who is an expert in studying bats. She has made amazing discoveries, like finding a type of bat that people thought was extinct. Kathrin has won important awards, including a "Young Explorer Grant" from National Geographic and a special fellowship for women in science from L'Oréal-UNESCO. In 2013, the BBC named her one of the top ten Latin American women in science.

Early Life and Bat Discovery

Kathrin Barboza Márquez was born in 1983 in Cochabamba, Bolivia. She grew up there as the only child of Mario Pablo Barboza Céspedes and María Alcira Márquez Zurita. She went to the Universidad Mayor de San Simón (UMSS) to study biology. Her main interest was in protecting nature.

In 2003, something unexpected changed her path. As a joke, her friends made her go to a lecture about bats. The speaker was Dr. Luis Aguirre, a visiting bat expert. Kathrin was surprised by what she learned. "I didn't know how important they were," she remembers. "People often think bats are scary or bad, but that's not true." After that lecture, Kathrin decided to focus her studies on bats.

She then took a course on bat bioacoustics, which is about how bats use sound. A German scientist, Elisabeth Kalko, became one of her teachers. For her university project, Kathrin studied how fruit bats reproduce. She also worked with her mentor, Aideé Vargas. They went on a year-long trip to find the Nariz de Espada, or sword-nosed bat. This bat was thought to have disappeared from Bolivia since the 1930s.

Rediscovering the Sword-Nosed Bat

Finding the sword-nosed bat was a big challenge. Kathrin sometimes wondered if all the hard work was worth it. But then, she finally saw the Nariz de Espada. "Our finding meant that the species was not extinct in Bolivia," she said. "We could start working to protect it. The feeling was incredible!"

In 2006, Kathrin Barboza Márquez and Aideé Vargas rediscovered this bat species. It had been missing from Bolivia for 72 years! This bat, called the Bolivian sword-nosed bat (Lonchorhina aurita), is now protected. It lives in a special area in the Santa Cruz Department. This area is called the Ecological Sanctuary of the Town of San Juan de Corralito. It is the first place in Latin America made just to protect a bat species.

After this discovery, Kathrin continued her education. She earned a master's degree in Biology and Conservation of Tropical Areas. She studied in Quito, Ecuador, as part of a program with a Spanish university.

Teaching and Conservation Work

Since 2010, Kathrin has traveled to many countries. She teaches people about bat bioacoustics and how bats help us. Bats are very important for nature. Some bats eat insects, which helps control pests. Other bats help pollinate plants, like those that grow mangoes, bananas, and guavas. They even help pollinate the agave plant, which is used to make tequila!

For her PhD research, Kathrin studied bat species in Madrid, Spain. Many of the 27 native bat species there are endangered. After her research, she returned to Cochabamba. She continued her PhD work and joined projects like the Conservation of Bats in Bolivia. She also works with the Latin American Network for the Conservation of Bats.

Kathrin believes that being a woman in science is special. "I have faced unfair treatment because I am a woman," she shares. "Sometimes, people question my work because I am a young woman scientist." She wants more young women to join the field of conservation. She suggests that schools should let girls talk to women who work in science. For girls interested in this career, Kathrin advises studying biology at university.

In 2019, large fires burned over 4.2 million acres of land in Bolivia. This included the Chiquitano forest, where Kathrin had worked for six years. From her home in La Paz, she helped by teaching people about the fires. She explained how they affected Bolivia's nature and wildlife. Kathrin knows there is much work to do to protect Bolivia's amazing plants and animals. Through her research and advocacy, she helps protect bats and their homes every day.

Kathrin has over ten years of experience. She has taught bat bioacoustic courses in Bolivia, Brazil, Costa Rica, Peru, Spain, and Uruguay. She works as a researcher at the Natural History Museum Alcide d'Orbigny. There, she studies mammalogy, which is the study of mammals. She also teaches courses on fieldwork and biodiversity at Natural Zone, an environmental education company.

Achievements and Awards

Kathrin Barboza Márquez has received many awards for her important work.

• In 2007, she won a grant from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. This allowed her to do research on Barro Colorado Island in Panama. She studied how forests and island edges affect bat populations.
• In 2009, she received the National Geographic Young Explorer Scholarship Grant. She used the money to study bat sounds in the Beni Savanna in northern Bolivia. She created one of the first libraries of echolocation frequencies for insect-eating bats in Bolivia. "Bats have taken me to many countries," she says. "It's amazing to hear something that no one else can hear."
• She also studied ectoparasites (like mites and ticks) on bats in the savanna. This was the first detailed study of parasites on bat colonies in that area.
• In 2012, she won a L'Oréal-UNESCO Fellowship for Women in Science. She was the first Bolivian scientist to receive this award. "I cried with happiness and pride," she remembers. "This showed me how important it was to support girls and women in science back home." She used the award to study the ultrasound sounds of bats. These sounds are too high for humans to hear. By recording these sounds, she can tell if bats are talking or looking for food. The recordings also help identify which bat species live in certain areas.
• In 2013, the BBC named her one of the ten leading women scientists in Latin America.

Other Interests

Besides her work with bats, Kathrin Barboza Márquez also enjoys pilates. She spends several hours a day practicing it. She started pilates because of a back injury she got during one of her trips. She liked it so much that it became another passion. She is now an instructor and a board member at Mundo Pilates in Cochabamba. "It helps me clear my mind," she says. She also likes baking and watching good movies at home on her days off.

See also

In Spanish: Kathrin Barboza Márquez para niños