Maria Sagot

Maria Sagot is an Associate Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at the State University of New York at Oswego (SUNY Oswego), affiliated with the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Her research focuses on behavioral ecology, particularly the role of communication in social behavior, foraging ecology of mammals in seasonal environments, and urban bat ecology. She holds a Ph.D. in Biological Sciences from Louisiana State University and a B.S. in Biology from the Universidad de Costa Rica.

Her work emphasizes understanding how communication promotes social interactions in bats, with studies on roost defense, vocal coordination during roost finding, and the energetics of social signaling. She has published extensively on bat vocal behavior, landscape genetics, and the impact of human-modified habitats on bat populations. Her lab integrates fieldwork, acoustic monitoring, and predictive modeling to study animal adaptation in changing environments.

• Research Interests: Bat communication systems, social behavior evolution, foraging strategies, urban wildlife ecology, and the interplay between environment and behavior.
• Lab Activities: Sagot Lab at SUNY Oswego explores vocal coordination, roosting dynamics, and habitat use in tropical and temperate systems, with projects on acoustic disruption in urban areas and collective decision-making in bat groups.

Sagot advises undergraduate researchers and collaborates internationally, contributing to conservation genetics and community ecology studies. Her work highlights the importance of bats in ecosystem processes and the challenges of urbanization on wildlife.