Rick Adams

Professor

  • Ph.D.: University of Colorado - Boulder
  • M.A.: University of Colorado - Boulder
  • B.A.: University of Colorado - Boulder

Contact information

Courses Taught

  • BIO 101 (Biological Perspectives)
  • BIO 110 (Principles of Biology)
  • BIO 265 (Life Science Concepts)
  • BIO 360 (Ecology)
  • BIO 512 (TA Development Seminar)
  • BIO 570 (Coevolution)
  • BIO 682 (Problems in Teaching College Biology)

Back to top
Research Interests and Professional Activities

My research is in the field of mammalian ecology. Specifically, I study the ecology and evolution of bats Current research involves the relationship of water resources to population and community ecology of Coloradan bats. In addition, I study the development and evolution of flight in bats based upon investigations of bone development in prenatal fetuses and in juveniles as they learn to fly. A third area of research involves natural disasters (hurricanes and volcanoes) and their effect on island bat populations.

Back to top
Recent academic awards and professional honors

Recent external grant awards

  • 2006 -- NSF-STEP, $750,000. Strategies to enhance recruitment and retention of Biology majors at the University of Northern Colorado. Gardiner, Adams, DeKrey, and Reinsvold
  • 2006 -- Lois Webster Foundation, $1,100. Bats and calcium: testing the water hole hypothesis.
  • 2006 -- Boulder County Nature Association, $800. Bats and calcium: testing the water hole hypothesis.
  • 2006 -- Boulder County Parks and Open Space, $5,000. Forest thinning and bat foraging patterns.
  • 2006 -- Dr. Scholl Foundation: $26,000, $5K University Match. Planning and Design: Living Systems Learning and Research Complex at UNC.

Back to top
Recent internal grant awards

  • 2006 -- SPARC Summer Faculty Research Grant, $5,000. Bats and calcium: testing the water hole hypothesis.
  • 2006 -- UNC-Graduate Assistant Competitive Grant, $7,000. Support for two graduate student's summer salary.
  • 2006 -- SPARC-FRPB Award, $2,500. Development of flight in two species of fruit bats.

Back to top
Recently published books and book chapters

Book chapters

  • Pedersen, S. C., G. G. Kwiecinski, P. A. Larsen, M. N. Morton, R. A. Adams, H. G. Genoways and V. J. Swier (in press) Bats of Montserrat - population fluctuations in response to hurricanes and volcanoes: 1978-2005. Pp. in Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation of Island Bats (T. H. Fleming and P. Racey, eds.) University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
  • Adams, R. A. and T. H. Kunz (in press) Techniques for the study of growth and development in the Chiroptera. Pp. in Ecological and Behavioral Methods in the Study of Bats, 2nd Edition. (T. H. Kunz and S. Parsons, eds.). Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore.

Back to top
Recenly published peer-reviewed journal articles

  • Adams, R. A., and M. A. Hayes (In press) Water availability and successful lactation by bats as related to climate change in arid regions of western North America. Journal of Animal Ecology.
  • Adams, R. A. (2008) Morphogenesis in bat wings: evolutionary and ecological implications. Cells, Organs, and Tissues, 187: 13-23.
  • Wyant, K., and R. A. Adams (2007) Prenatal growth and development in the Angolan free- tailed bat, Mos condylura (Chiroptera: Molossidae). Journal of Mammalogy, 88: 1248-1251.
  • Adams, R. A. (2007) Bats and human interactions. Encyclopedia of animal/human interactions (M. Bekoff, ed.). Greenwood Publishing Group, New York.
  • Adams, R. A., and K. M. Thibault (2006) Temporal partitioning by bats at water holes. Journal of Zoology, London, 270:466-472.
  • Armstrong, D.M., Adams, R.A., and K.E. Taylor (2006) New records of the eastern Pipistrelle (Pipistrellus subflavus) in Colorado. Western North American Naturalist 66(2):268-269.
  • Pedersen, S. C., H. H. Genoways, M. N. Morton, V. J. Swier, P. A. Larsen, K. C. Lindsay, R. A. Adams, and J. D. Appino (2006) Bats of Antigua, Northern Lesser Antilles Occasional Papers 249: 1-18, Museum of Texas Tech University, Lubbock.

Back to top
Recent juried research presentations

  • 2006 -- Adams, R. A., and M. A. Hayes. How much do juvenile bats drive their mothers to drink: an innovative method of assessment. 36th North American Symposium on Bat Research, Wilmington, NC.
  • 2006 -- Kiser, J. K., and R. A. Adams. A comparison of changes in wing loading associated with pregnancy in Myotis evotis and M. volans. 36th North American Symposium on Bat Research, Wilmington, NC.
  • 2006 -- Hayes, M. A., K. W. Navo, R. A. Schorr, and R. A. Adams. Selection of abandoned mines as hibernacula by Townsend's big-eared bat (Corynorhinus townsendii) in southewestern Colorado. 36th North American Symposium on Bat Research, Wilmington, NC.
  • 2006 -- Pelton, B., J. Kiser, and R. A. Adams. Dietary analysis of Myotis evotis, M. thysanodes, and M. volans. 36th North American Symposium on Bat Research, Wilmington, NC.

Back to top
Publication PDFs

Follow this link: http://asstudents.unco.edu/faculty/radams/2008WebSites/PDFpublications2.htm

 

Cells