Dr. Jenna Kohles

IMPRS Alumni
Postdoc
Department for the Ecology of Animal Societies
Department of Migration
Research Group Dechmann
    • Radolfzell
    Publication References

    Main Focus

    Uncertainty permeates the lives of both human and nonhuman animals and has pervasive influence on how animals behave. Do social connections help animals deal with the stress of uncertainty? Using biologging technology, quantification of prey landscapes, and biomarkers for energetic stress, I am exploring how sociality mitigates uncertainty in animal societies.

    During my PhD at the MPIAB in the Department of Migration, I investigated how resource distribution and the social environment influence foraging behavior for insectivorous bats in Panama and for fruit bats on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus. For my postdoc with the Department for the Ecology of Animal Societies and Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama, I will use a long-term study system of two neotropical bat species specialized on ephemeral prey, in which both prey distribution and social structure can be quantified and experimentally manipulated, to test whether social stability increases with increasing environmental uncertainty in wild animal populations.

    Curriculum Vitae

    Aug 2024 – present: Postdoc at Max Planck Institute for Animal Behavior, Germany and Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama

    Jan 2019–July 2024: PhD student at the MPIAB and the University of Konstanz in the International Max Planck Research School for Quantitative Behaviour, Ecology, and Evolution from Lab to Field under the supervision of Dina Dechmann; Thesis: The ecology of social foraging behavior in bats

    Jan 2019–Dec 2023: PhD Fellow at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) in Gamboa, Panama

    Oct 2016–Nov 2018: Master student in Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior at the University of Konstanz, Germany; Master thesis at the MPIAB: “The communicative potential of echolocation to coordinate group hunting behavior in the velvety free-tailed bat (Molossus molossus)”

    Jan–May 2016 : Research assistant in the lab of Rachel Page studying heterospecific social learning at STRI in Gamboa, Panama

    Aug–Nov 2015: Research assistant in the lab of Walt Koenig studying seed dispersal by western scrub jays with the Cornell Lab of Ornithology in Carmel Valley, CA, USA

    Aug 2011–May 2015: Bachelor student in Wildlife Biology at Clemson University, SC, USA; Honors thesis: “The effect of coyote (Canis latrans) scent on foraging behavior of mammalian species native to the southeastern U.S.”

    May–Jul 2014: Research assistant in the lab of Dina Dechmann studying behavior of tent-making bats at STRI in Gamboa, Panama

    May–Aug 2013: Wildlife technician conducting surveys for endangered bats with Ecological Solutions Environmental Consulting Company, GA, USA


    Publications

    1. Curk Te, Rast W, Portas R, Kohles JE, Shatumbu G, Cloete C, Curk Ti, Radchuk V, Aschenborn O, Melzheimer J. 2025. Advantages and disadvantages of using social information for carcass detection -- a case study using white-backed vultures. Ecological Modeling, 499, 110941. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2024.110941
    2. Wild TA, Wilbs G, Dechmann DKN, Kohles JE, Linek N, Mattingly S, Richter N, Sfenthourakis S, Nicolaou H, Erotokritou E, Wikelski M. 2024. Optimising bio-loggers to measure time with miliseconds-precision. Movement Ecology, 12(71). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40462-024-00512-7
    3. Halat Z, Dechmann DKN, Kranstauber B, Zegarek M, Kohles JE, Muturi M, Calderón-Capote MC, Ruczynski I. 2024. Foraging male parti-coloured bats use local enhancement and group facilitation during spermatogenesis. Animal Behaviour, 217, 123-131. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2024.08.020
    4. Kohles JE, Page RA, Wikelski M, Dechmann DKN. 2024. Seasonal shifts in tropical insect ephemerality drive bat foraging effort. Current Biology, 34, 1-8. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2024.05.074 
    5. Dietzer MT*, Keicher L*, Kohles JE*, Hurme ER, Ruczynski I, Borowik T, Zegarek M, Choinski M, Dechmann DKN. 2024. High temporal resolution data reveal low bat and insect activity over managed meadows in central Europe. Scientific Reports, 14, 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-57915-0. *shared first authorship
    6. Kohles JE and Dechmann DKN. 2023. 'Social foraging and information transfer', in Fenton B & Russo D (eds) A Natural History of Bat Foraging. Elsevier. pp. 123-138.
    7. Choinski M, Zegarek M, Halat Z, Borowik T, Kohles JE, Dietzer M, Eldegard K, McKay AIR, Johns SE, Ruczynski I. 2023. 'Insect detection on high-resolution images using Deep Learning', in Saeed K, Dvorsky J, Nishiuchi N & Fukumoto M (eds) Proceedings of the 22nd International Computer Information Systems and Industrial Management Conference, Tokyo. Springer Nature Switzerland AG, pp. 225-239. 
    8. Kohles JE, O’Mara MT, Dechmann DKN. 2022. A conceptual framework to predict social information use based on food ephemerality and individual resource requirements. Biological Reviews, 97(6), 2039-2056. https://doi.org/10.1111/brv.12881.
    9. Kohles JE, Carter GG, Page RA, Dechmann DKN. 2020. Socially foraging bats discriminate between group members based on search-phase calls. Behavioral Ecology, 31(5), 1103-1112. https://doi.org/10.1093/beeheco/araa056.  Media coverage: Scientific American 60-Second Science Podcast, ETHOlogisch
    10. Kohles JE, Dechmann DKN, Page RA, & O’Mara MT. 2018. Rapid behavioral changes during early development in Peters’ tent-making bat (Uroderma bilobatum). PLoS ONE, 13(10), 1-17. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0205351.  Media coverage: Smithsonian Magazine, National Geographic España
    11. Patriquin KJ, Kohles JE, Page RA, & Ratcliffe, JM. 2018. Bats without borders: Predators learn novel prey cues from other predatory species. Science Advances, 4(3), eaaq0579. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aaq0579.  Media coverage: The Washington Post, The Wildlife Society 


    Fellowships and Grants

    2024            Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute-NOMIS Postdoctoral Fellowship

    2024            CASCB Travel Grant

    2024            DAAD PRIME Postdoctoral Fellowship

    2023            National Geographic Society Level I Grant    

    2022            Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes PhD Travel Grant

    2021            Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour Small Project Grant

    2019-22       Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes PhD Fellowship

    2018            STRI Short-term Research Fellowship

    2017-18       DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service) Graduate Fellowship

    2016-17       Fulbright Research Fellowship

    2014            STRI Undergraduate Research Fellowship

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