Dr. Monte L. Thies

Professor

Ph.D., Oklahoma State University - Ecology and Mammalogy

Office: Life Sciences Building 200D
Phone: (936) 294-3746 

Research Interests

Current research focuses on field studies of West Nile Virus, Dengue Fever, and Chagas' Disease at points along the Texas-Mexico border between McAllen and Brownsville; establishment of the Sam Houston Disease Vector Program with its associated BioSafety Level 2 (BSL2) Diagnostic Laboratory for handling material collected in field projects; and implementation of in-depth field sampling of vectors and reservoirs.

Small mammal surveys, including recently completed projects for two Texas Army National Guard training sites, which incorporate comprehensive survey of the mammals present on both sites.

Application of vertebrate anatomy and environmental toxicology to forensic studies. Recent work includes an atlas and key of terrestrial mammals for the state of Texas with scanning electron micrographs (Anica Debelica, MS in Biology).

Ecological studies of the Mexican free-tailed bat: Ongoing research includes cooperative projects with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice and Texas Parks and Wildlife in which three of my past graduate students conducted a molecular systematic comparison of the two subspecies, pesticide accumulations and their effects, roosting behavior, and microhabitat variables in colonies of free-tailed bats in a warehouse at the Walls Unit in Huntsville and the Old Tunnel Wildlife Management Area at Fredericksburg, Texas.