​Physiological and Evolutionary Ecology of Small Mammals
I am an physiological ecologist interested in how small mammals allocate resources towards reproduction in terms of time and energy as well as mating decisions.   As reproduction and nutrition are intertwined my research also often includes consideration of animal diets as well as their microbiota. 

​In January, 2020 I joined the Department of Biology at  New Mexico State University.

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We are the BEBOP Lab:
Behavioral Ecology and Bat Organismal Physiology.

Given the number of inquiries and promising applicants I am not currently accepting students until the academic year of 2023.  Please reach out at a later date if you are interested in starting in 2023. For more information click HERE.
NEWS

December 2021
  • Theresa Lukitsch is graduating this semester!  Congrats T!
  • Lauren MacDonald and Dr. Orr are preparing for SICB 2022 in Austin!
  • We survived another COVID-19 semester!  Stay safe everyone!
November 2021August 2021
  • Clarissa Rascon has been hired for a position at Los Alamos National Labs!  Congrats Clare!
  • Caitlin Curtis and Janetta Kelly joined the Orr/Mabry Labs!  Welcome to you both!
  • The Orr lab was awarded a U54 Pilot grant to initiate a collaboration with the Malik Lab at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
Early summer 2021
  • Danny Ibanez accepted an REU at UC Berkeley
  • Chance Jaramillo did an internship with BNSF
  • Theresa Lukitsch joined the NISE summer program to learn about bioinformatics
  • Clarissa Rascon graduated!  Congrats!
  • Lauren MacDonald was awarded an ASM grants-in-aid
  • Diego Ruiz and Nikki Coomes joined the BEBOP lab!
  • Diego Ruiz was awarded an AMP summer research opportunity  https://nmamp.nmsu.edu/

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​What I spend my time thinking about....

Evolutionary Physiological Ecology

• What constitutes a reproductive delay and why might this physiology evolve?
• What is female sperm storage and how did it evolve?
• What are the costs and trade-offs associated with reproduction?
• Why might reproductive delays have evolved?
• What are the consequences of specialised reproductive modes (delays)?

Sexual
​Selection

• How do female reproductive physiologies impact sexual selection?
• Do bats exhibit sexual conflict?
• Do males co-evolve in the context of female reproductive strategies?
•What evidence of sexual selection do we see in bat genitalia?

Nutritional
Ecology and Microbiota

​• What do animals eat in extreme environments?
• How does the microbiome differ across ecologically and evolutionary relevant scales?
• How do animals navigate toxins in their foods?
• How does diet change in relation to reproduction?
•How does ecology impact the composition of milk in different mammals?​

Mentoring
Future ​Biologists

•What is the role of reproductive pigmentation?  (Jen Delmore-Silva- published 2018)
•How does creosote tolerance differ between woodrat populations? (KayLene Yamada)
•How do specialist kangaroo rats shift their diets with range land encroachment?  (Sydney Stephens- published 2019)
• Do females evolve morphologies to defray the costs of harmful male genitalia?  (Jennifer Wen)
• What do lactating and pregnant frugivorous bats eat?  (Caitlin Sanchez)

To see the answers to some of these questions click on my CV or the images below.

contact me at: TeriOrr (at) nmsu (dot) edu
“If I had my life to live over again, I would have made a rule to read some poetry and listen to some music at least once every week.” 
― Charles Darwin, The Autobiography of Charles Darwin, 1809–82