Scientists & Staff
Sybill Amelon
Research Wildlife Biologist
202 ABNR Bldg., University of Missouri-Columbia
Columbia, MO, 65211-7260Phone: 573-875-5341 x231
News Releases
- Forest Service Scientists Receive Grant Funding for White-nose Syndrome ResearchSeptember 29, 2015
- U.S. Forest Service Research Team Releases Bats Treated for WNSMay 20, 2015
- New Funding Supports Search for Solutions to White-Nose SyndromeAugust 6, 2014
- Forest Service Scientists Identify Key Fungal Species that Help Explain Mysteries of White Nose SyndromeJuly 25, 2013
- More Accurate, Sensitive DNA Test Allows Early Identification of the Fungus Causing White Nose SyndromeMarch 13, 2013
Featured Publications & Products
- Amelon, Sybill K.; Dalton, David C.; Millspaugh, Joshua J.; Wolf, Sandy A. 2009. Radiotelemetry; techniques and analysis. In: Kunz, Thomas H.; Parsons, Stuart, eds. Ecological and behavioral methods for the study of bats. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press: 57-77.
- Trujillo, Robert G.; Amelon, Sybill K. 2009. Development of microsatellite markers in Myotis sodalis and cross-species amplification in M. gricescens, M. leibii, M. lucifugus, and M. septentrionalis. Conservation Genetics. 10: 1965-1968.
Publications & Products
- Finch, Deborah M.; Butler, Jack L.; Runyon, Justin B.; Fettig, Christopher J.; Kilkenny, Francis F.; Jose, Shibu; Frankel, Susan J.; Cushman, Samuel A.; Cobb, Richard C.; Dukes, Jeffrey S.; Hicke, Jeffrey A.; Amelon, Sybill K. 2021. Effects of Climate Change on Invasive Species. In: Poland, Therese M.; Patel-Weynand, Toral; Finch, Deborah M.; Ford Miniat, Chelcy; Hayes, Deborah C.; Lopez, Vanessa M., eds. Invasive Species in Forests and Rangelands of the United States: A Comprehensive Science Synthesis for the United States Forest Sector. Heidelberg, Germany: Springer International Publishing: 57 - 84. Chapter 4.
- Hooper, Sarah E.; Eshelman, Amanda N.; Cowan, Ashley N.; Roistacher, Alicia ; Paneitz, Tyler S.; Amelon, Sybill K. 2020. Using Deuterium Oxide as a Non-Invasive, Non-Lethal Tool for Assessing Body Composition and Water Consumption in Mammals. Journal of Visualized Experiments
- Hooper, Sarah E.; Weller, Hannah ; Amelon, Sybill K. 2020. Countcolors, an R package for quantification of the fluorescence emitted by Pseudogymnoascus destructans lesions on the wing membranes of hibernating bats. Journal of Wildlife Diseases. 56(4). 10 p.
- Womack-Bulliner, Kathryn M.; Amelon, Sybill K.; Thompson, Frank R.; Lebrun, Jaymi J. 2019. Performance of Hierarchical Abundance Models on Simulated Bat Capture Data. Acta Chiropterologica
- Hooper, S. E.; Backus, R.; Amelon, S. 2018. Effects of dietary selenium and moisture on the physical activity and thyroid axis of cats. Journal of Animal Physiology and Animal Nutrition
- Amelon, Sybill K.; Hooper, Sarah E.; Womack, Kathryn M. 2017. Bat wing biometrics: using collagen-elastin bundles in bat wings as a unique individual identifier. Journal of Mammalogy
- Pikula, Jiri; Amelon, Sybill K.; Bandouchova, Hana; Bartonička, Tomáš; Berkova, Hana; Brichta, Jiri; Hooper, Sarah; Kokurewicz, Tomasz; Kolarik, Miroslav; Köllner, Bernd; Kovacova, Veronika; Linhart, Petr; Piacek, Vladimir; Turner, Gregory G.; Zukal, Jan; Martínková, Natália; Swartz, Sharon. 2017. White-nose syndrome pathology grading in Nearctic and Palearctic bats. PLOS ONE
- Ingersoll, Thomas E.; Sewall, Brent J.; Amelon, Sybill K. 2016. Effects of white-nose syndrome on regional population patterns of 3 hibernating bat species. Conservation Biology
- Vonhof, Maarten J.; Amelon, Sybill K.; Currie, Robert R.; McCracken, Gary F. 2016. Genetic structure of winter populations of the endangered Indiana bat (Myotis sodalis) prior to the white nose syndrome epidemic: implications for the risk of disease spread. Conservation Genetics. 17(5): 1025-1040.
- Starbuck, Clarissa A.; Amelon, Sybill K.; Thompson, Frank R. III. 2015. Relationships between bat occupancy and habitat and landscape structure along a savanna, woodland, forest gradient in the Missouri Ozarks. Wildlife Society Bulletin. 39(1): 20-30.
- Amelon, Sybill K.; Thompson, Frank R. III; Millspaugh, Joshua J. 2014. Resource utilization by foraging eastern red bats (Lasiurus borealis) in the Ozark Region of Missouri. The Journal of Wildlife Management. 78(3): 483-493.
- Ingersoll, Thomas E.; Sewall, Brent J.; Amelon, Sybill K. 2013. Improved analysis of long-term monitoring data demonstrates marked regional declines of bat populations in the eastern United States. PLoS ONE. 8(6): e65907.
- Womack, Kathryn M.; Amelon, Sybill K.; Thompson, Frank R. 2013. Resource selection by Indiana bats during the maternity season. Journal of Wildlife Management. 77(4): 707-715.
- Womack, Kathryn M.; Amelon, Sybill K.; Thompson, Frank R. 2013. Summer Home Range Size of Female Indiana Bats (Myotis Sodalis) in Missouri, USA. Acta Chiropterologica. 15(2): 423-429.
- Amelon, Sybill; Brooks, Robert T.; Glaeser, Jessie; Friggens, Megan; Lindner, Daniel; Loeb, Susan C.; Lynch, Ann; Minnis, Drew; Perry, Roger; Rowland, Mary M.; Tomosy, Monica; Weller, Ted. 2012. U.S. Forest Service Research and Development (USFS R/D) national science strategy on White Nose Syndrome (WNS). Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Research and Development. 18 p.
National Research Highlights
Nonlethal method of defining white-nose syndrome infection proves effective
Year: 2017
White-nose syndrome (WNS) has decimated hibernating bat populations in North America, but species in Europe appear to cope better with fungal skin infections that result in white-nose syndrome. A Forest Service scientist collaborated with scientists in the Czech Republic to develop a nonlethal method of comparing WNS infection in North American and European bats.
Bat wings offer promise as means of recognizing individuals
Year: 2017
The ability to recognize individuals within an animal population is fundamental to conservation and management. Identifying individual bats is uniquely challenging for the scientists studying them. A Forest Service scientist and her partners demonstrated that bats’ wings have great potential as a means of recognizing individual bats.
Last modified: Friday, July 1, 2022