Kristen LEAR

Dr. Kristen Lear is an internationally recognized bat conservationist advancing bat conservation, large landscape-scale restoration, and connectivity conservation. With over 15 years of global experience in community-based conservation, interdisciplinary research, collaborative partnerships, and public engagement, she is currently Director of Bat Conservation International’s Agave Restoration Initiative. In this role, she leads bi-national efforts to restore habitat for threatened pollinating bats and strengthen sustainable rural livelihoods across the U.S. Southwest and Mexico, overseeing strategic planning, fundraising, and partnerships with 100 partners including NGOs, communities and private landowners, governments, companies, and universities, while pioneering novel conservation tools such as eDNA to guide species recovery.

Dr. Lear is Co-Founder of the Nivalis Conservation Network and co-led revision of the Mexican long-nosed bat Species Status Assessment and Recovery Plan. She also serves on the North American Pollinator Protection Campaign Steering Committee and the Human Dimensions of Bat Conservation Working Group (IUCN SSC Bat Specialist Group). She earned her B.A. in Zoology from Ohio Wesleyan University and Ph.D. in Integrative Conservation from the University of Georgia, where her research in northeast Mexico combined natural and social sciences to advance conservation of the endangered Mexican long-nosed bat while supporting rural livelihoods.

An award-winning science communicator, Dr. Lear is passionate about public outreach and has given over 230 presentations worldwide and appeared on National Geographic’s stage, CBS’s Mission Unstoppable TV show, and numerous podcasts and radio programs. She is also an IF/THEN Ambassador promoting women and girls in STEM and a Lifetime Girl Scout.