Ricardo Sánchez-Calderón, AKA “Mapache”, is a biologist interested in plant-animal interactions. He studied biology at the University of Costa Rica and completed his Master´s degree in 2023. He has been working with mammals for over 7 years, primarily bats. His current interests include the ecology of tent-making bats and their role in seed dispersal, their tent building behavior and temporal and spatial distribution of tents and plant species selection along altitudinal gradients. He recently started collaborating with the team at @leafarchitectproject – their goal is to increase the body of knowledge regarding tent-roosting bats in understudied parts of Latin America.

From 2020 to 2024, he was the coordinator of the Costa Rican Bat Conservation Program where he created opportunities for students to learn about bats, as well as workshops for communities to change their negative perceptions about this group and eradicate myths and false information. Now, he wants to replicate this effort in Peru.

Mapache was academic assistant at the SFS Costa Rica Center for 3 years but is now ready for inspiring students through his classes as the Tropical Ecology professor for the Center for Amazon Studies in Peru. Mapache hopes to provide SFS students with an enriching, compelling, and culturally gratifying educational experience.