Joseph Nikko Curti, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow
UCLA La Kretz Center for California Conservation Science
UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability
619 Charles E. Young Drive East
La Kretz Hall, Suite 300, Box 951496
Los Angeles, CA 90095
Pronouns: he/they
Joey’s research focuses on the impacts of anthropogenic stressors on bat community composition in urban areas across California. Specifically, using unmanned aerial vehicles with onboard sensors and acoustic microphones, Joey will survey bat populations across urban Los Angeles to understand 1) how light and sound pollution vary with altitude, 2) how bat communities respond to these 3-dimensional pollution gradients in real time, and 3) if functional traits of individual bat species explain their relationship to light and sound pollution at different altitudinal strata.
Joey received his Ph.D. in 2024 from the UCLA Ecology and Evolutionary Biology department, where he worked with statewide resource managers on a variety of conservation genomics projects. These included a project aimed at evaluating the impact of roadways in Los Angeles to California quail (Callipepla californica) gene flow and rangewide landscape genomics of the Yuma myotis bat (Myotis yumanensis). As a La Kretz Postdoctoral Fellow, Joey will continue to work with local agencies, including the city of Los Angeles, to translate his science into meaningful conservation actions and policy.
