Meet the Speaker: Rodrigo Medellín

Photo: Francisco Cañedo, SinEmbargo

We’re thrilled to welcome Rodrigo Medellín — the Bat Man of Mexico known for his work in the field of bat conservation, jaguars, bighorn sheep, and ocelot, among others — to the 2019 Agave Heritage Festival!

Learn more about Medellín in these articles:

• The Batman of Central Park, The Atlantic

• Can the Bat Man of Mexico also be Tequila’s Super Hero?, National Geographic

Via National Geographic —

Rodrigo A. Medellín is Senior Professor of Ecology at the Institute of Ecology, University of Mexico. He has worked on the ecology and conservation in Mexico and elsewhere for over 40 years, and has authored over 190 publications. Medellin was the President of the Society for Conservation Biology, is the founder of the Program for the Conservation of Bats of Mexico, and is the founding Director of the Latin American Network for Bat Conservation. His work led to delisting Leptonycteris yerbabuenae. Medellin is also Co-Chair of the Bat Specialist Group of IUCN.

Medellin uses a multidisciplinary approach, from behavioral ecology and conservation biology to applied genetics, with an eye towards policy applications. He formerly headed the Wildlife Department of the Mexican Federal Government and continues to advise on wildlife issues. He is an Adjunct Professor at Columbia University, Andalusia International University, the University of Arizona, and a Research Associate at the American Museum of Natural History and the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. He was vice-Chair of the CITES Animals Committee, and is a COP-appointed Scientific Councilor for the Convention of Migratory Species. He has received the 2004 Gerrit S. Miller Award of NASBR, the Whitley Fund for Nature Gold Award, The Rolex Award for Enterprise 2008, among others. He was recently featured in a BBC documentary, The Bat Man of Mexico, narrated by Sir David Attenborough.