Molly June Bechtel
Address: School of Informatics, Computing and Cyber Systems 1295 Knoles Dr, Flagstaff, AZ 86011
Email: molly.bechtel@nau.edu
EDUCATION
2022
PhD
Dissertation: Ticks and tick-borne pathogens of the Mojave desert tortoise
Biological Sciences
Northern Arizona University
2012
Masters Degree (M.Sc.)
Thesis: A study assessing forage quality and desert bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensisnelsoni) diet in central Nevada using microhistology and molecular analysis
Animal Science
University of Nevada, Reno
2009
Bachelors Degree (B.Sc.)
Animal Science
University of Nevada, Reno
DISSERTATION
My PhD research examined the interaction between desert tortoises and ticks and tick-borne pathogens. My work focused on molecular epidemiology of tick-borne vectors and interactions between ticks and wildlife hosts. I used techniques in molecular ecology, field biology and infection kinetics to understand the relationship between tick-borne pathogens and wildlife. My work examined the prevalence of tick-borne pathogens in desert tortoise habitat and aimed to better understand the dynamic of ticks, tick-borne pathogens and the Mojave desert tortoise and how these interactions may relate to public health.
EMPLOYMENT HISTORY
August 2016 – present
PhD Student, Graduate Teaching Assistant
In addition to my research, I taught BIO 202L, Anatomy and Physiology Laboratory to university undergraduate students, with particular focus on endocrine system, blood and blood typing, cardiovascular system, vascular system, lymphatic system, respiratory system, urinary and digestive systems, and male and female reproductive systems. I also taught BIO 182L, Unity of Life II Laboratory, and BIO 223L, Vertebrate Zoology Laboratory. BIO 182L provided an overview of the major plant and animal groups and an introduction on plant and animal structure, life functions, taxonomy and ecological backgrounds. BIO 223L focused on cladistics and introducing students to life zones of Arizona and evolutionary biology concepts. Duties for these labs included preparing lectures and exams weekly, leading lab activities, guiding students through experiments and dissections and helping them interpret histology slides. For these labs I managed undergrad teaching assistants, and graded weekly review questions, exams, and student notebooks.
June 2015 – August 2016
Desert Tortoise Research Technician and Crew Leader
United States Geological Survey, Western Ecological Research Station
Duties included tracking tortoises using radio telemetry on a daily basis, collecting tissue samples, including blood, nasal and oral swabs. Collected tissue samples were processed for analysis. Removed and installed hardware, such as radio transmitters and GPS loggers, for data collection on wild tortoises. Handheld Trimbles and Garmin GPS used regularly in the field for data collection. Inputted raw data and helped manage and QC the department data base (File Maker). Used R to run statistics on collected data for various projects. This work required the ability to maintain several projects simultaneously as well as managing a crew of three field technicians, organizing field schedules and maintaining field equipment. All field work was conducted in harsh conditions, including severe heat (>100 degrees F), wind, rain and snow.
March 2015 – June 2015
Biological Wildlife Technician (Owl Crew)
Bureau of Land Management, Grants Pass Office
Duties included monitoring spotted owls and barred owls at night on difficult to navigate logging roads. Conducted habitat surveys and nest visits during the day to determine nesting status of owls. Also surveyed for peregrine falcons and bald eagles throughout the season. Field work was conducted mostly at night for long hours, in the cold, rain and snow.
May 2014 – March 2015
Environmental Technician
United States Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Services
Contracted
Duties included conducting national resource inventory per ARS protocol (collecting and identifying plants, soils and rangeland health condition), writing wildlife community summaries within ecological site interpretations and reviewing ESIS edits.
Jan 2013 – May 2014
Instructor
University of Nevada, Reno
Department of Animal Nutrition and Veterinary Sciences
Reno, Nevada
Taught two sections of the AGSC 400 undergraduate seminar, which involved student presentations and discussion of topics of interest in animal and veterinary sciences and related fields. Students learned how to search for peer reviewed papers as well as how to choose a scientific topic and develop an outline, prepare an abstract and present scientific topics professionally. Students were required to do two research projects: a poster and a seminar presentation on topics related to their major field of study.
Aug 2012 – November 2013
Field and Laboratory Assistant 1
University of Nevada, Reno
Department of Biology
Reno, Nevada
Duties included handling and processing desert tortoises in the field. Backpacking, hiking and camping throughout the Sonoran and Mojave deserts in harsh conditions. As well as processing collected blood and nasal lavage samples for histological and qPCR analyses in the field as well as qPCR analyses on collected nasal lavage samples in the lab. Duties also included measuring, photographing and swabbing two species of toads (Bufo boreas and Bufo nelsoni) for Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis in field sites in southern Nevada. Worked with field crews to collect toads and scout appropriate field sites
Sep 2012 – Jun 2013
Laboratory Assistant 1
University of Nevada, Reno
Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences
Reno, Nevada
Duties include processing and analyzing Neotoma fuscipes and Neotoma macrotis fecal samples for parasites.
Aug 2009 – Aug 2012
Graduate Research Assistant
University of Nevada, Reno
Department of Animal Biotechnology
Reno, Nevada
Duties included field work related to my research collecting fecal samples from desert bighorn sheep as well as conducting quarterly plant transects throughout the Clan Alpine mountain range. Backpacking, hiking and camping required. Work was done independently. I also led groups of undergraduate students in the field that wished to attain more field experience and instructed them in proper collection methods.
Jul 2009- Aug 2009
Classified Employee (non-student field technician)
University of Nevada, Reno
Reno, Nevada
Conducted field work in mountain ranges in central Nevada. Conducted visual surveys of desert bighorn sheep and collected bighorn sheep fecal samples. Compiled and identified photos of various animal species captured by trail cameras at numerous study sites.
Jun 2008 – Jul 2009
Scientific Coordinator
Charles River Laboratories, Preclinical Services
Reno, Nevada
Provided protocol, report, and data support to study directors on pharmaceutical safety studies required by the FDA for new drug registration. Assisted with management of audits and assured necessary corrections and follow-ups were completed. Required a thorough understanding of FDA, European, and Japanese Good Laboratory Practices (GLP) regulations. Insured all data was correct per FDA and GLP regulations.
Jan 2005 – Jun 2008
Scientific Assistant
Charles River Laboratories, Preclinical Services
Reno, Nevada
Provided scientific assistance to assigned Study Directors. Assisted with Toxicology Report assembly and data management. Assisted with audits and ensured necessary corrections and follow-up procedures were maintained. Responded to day-today Sponsor requests.
TEACHING
Jan 2020 - May 2020
BIO 223L, Vertebrate Zoology - As an instructor for BIO 223L, I teach evolution, systematics, distribution, ecology, and primary adaptations of the major vertebrate groups to undergraduate students. I use hands on experiences, including field trips to sites throughout Arizona, so students have the opportunity to observe the vertebrate groups we discuss in lab in their natural habitats.
Aug 2018 - present
BIO 698, Implicit Bias and Women in STEM Fields
Northern Arizona University, Department of Biological Sciences
I developed and co-teach this graduate-level seminar with the goal to bring awareness to biases against women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields by discussing peer-reviewed articles analyzing the interactions and views of women working in male-dominated STEM fields. The goal of this seminar is for STEM graduate students to better understand and question this standard in order for future scientists to help change it. This seminar prepares early career scientist (graduate students) to have open discussions about implicit bias towards women in STEM and create awareness of the bias towards women in STEM fields.
Aug 2018 - Aug 2019
BIO 182L, Unity of Life II Lab
Northern Arizona University, Department of Biological Sciences
As an instructor for BIO 182L, I provide an overview to the major plant and animal groups and an introduction on plant and animal structure, life functions, taxonomy and ecological background. I provide information and evidence of evolutionary history and relationships of these groups through lecture and hands-on experiments. Through experiences in lab exercises involving observation, manipulation, taking notes, drawing of preserved and living specimens, dissections and examining microscope slides my goals is to teach students proper scientific method as well as how to question the world around them.
Aug 2016 - present
BIO 202L, Anatomy and Physiology Laboratory
Northern Arizona University, Department of Biological Sciences
As an instructor for BIO202 lab, I introduce students to human anatomy & physiology. This hands-on lab emphasizes the major human organ systems, structures, and functions. As a teaching assistant for BIO 202, I provide a working knowledge of the different tissues and anatomical terminology of the endocrine, cardiovascular, circulatory, lymphatic, respiratory, digestive, urinary, and reproductive systems through lectures, dissections, histology and diagnostic activities. My goal as an instructor for 202L is to teach students how physiological systems interact with each other and how what we do in our everyday lives can affect our systems and anatomical function.
Jan 2013 – May 2014
AGSC 400, Undergraduate Seminar
University of Nevada, Reno, Department of Animal Nutrition and Veterinary Sciences
As an instructor for AGSC 400, I guided students through student-lead presentations and discussion of topics of interest in animal and veterinary sciences and related fields. Students learned how to search for peer reviewed papers as well as how to choose a scientific topic and develop an outline, prepare an abstract and present scientific topics professionally. Students were required to do two research projects: a poster and a seminar presentation on topics related to their major field of study.
VOLUNTEER and OUTREACH EXPERIENCE
Aug 2018 - May 2019
College of Engineering, Forestry and Natural Sciences Graduate Student Representative
As an elected graduate student government representative, I serve a one-year term working to represent my fellow graduate students of the College of Engineering, Forestry and Natural Sciences. Among other duties, I bring attention to graduate student needs, working with administration as a liaison to ensure to those needs are met. I also serve on two committees a semester and organize graduate student centered events.
Nov 2016- present
President and founder - Northern Arizona Association for Women in STEM, 501(c)3
As president and founder of the non-profit Northern Arizona Association for Women in STEM, I work to provide community, support, role models & mentoring for STEM women. Further I work with outreach that raises awareness of women’s history in STEM, and help provide opportunities for early experience in STEM projects, as well as sharing research & tools to raise awareness of implicit biases & ways to disempower them. NAAWiSTEM is affiliated with graduate student organizations, but as a non-profit aims to support women in STEM throughout the community in Northern Arizona.
Oct 2015 – Mar 2016
Volunteer - Friends of Nevada Wilderness
I helped collect data for the Spring Monitoring Project in the Warm Springs Mountain Range. This work was in concert with the Springs Stewardship Institute in Flagstaff, Arizona. The data collected (including surveys of geomorphology, soils, geology, solar radiation, flora, fauna, water quality, flow, and site condition assessment) is used to help determine the health and functionality of springs, which is often interrelated with the general health of the surrounding ecosystem.
Sep 2015 – Feb 2016
Volunteer-Boys and Girls Club of Truckee Meadows
I taught children involved in the Boys and Girls Club after school program about the wildlife and ecosystems in their neighborhoods. I provided examples of wildlife by bringing in live animals as well as bones of native wildlife. I emphasized the importance of conserving natural resources and caring for native wildlife and encouraged students to appreciate and help conserve native wildlife.
PUBLICATIONS and PRESENTATIONS
Presentations
Bechtel, M.J., K.K. Drake, M.B. Teglas, T.C. Esque, N.C. Nieto. February 2020. Center for Disease Control Zoonoses & One Health Update Call Webinar. Ticks, Tortoises & Tick-borne Relapsing Fever in the Mojave Desert. [Video] https://www.cdc.gov/onehealth/zohu/2020/february.html
Bechtel, M.J., J.E. Lovich, T.E. Esque, K.K. Drake, M.B. Teglas, N.C. Nieto. September 2019. Relationships between ticks, desert tortoises and tick-borne relapsing fever. Oral presentation at the 15th Biennial Conference of Science & Management on the Colorado Plateau & Southwest Region.
Bechtel, M.J., K.K. Drake, M.B. Teglas, T.E. Esque, N.C. Nieto. March 2019. Evidence of tick-borne relapsing fever infection in people caused by Ornithodoros ticks in Mojave desert tortoise habitat. Oral presentation at the 3rd International Conference on Relapsing Fever.
Bechtel, M.J., T. Esque, J. Lovich, M.B. Teglas, N.C. Nieto. June 2018. Ticks and tick-borne pathogens of the Mojave desert tortoise. Poster presentation at Ecology and Evolution of Infection Disease, Glasgow, Scotland.
Hmood, Zahraa, M.J. Bechtel, N.C. Nieto. April 2018. Presence of Borrelia spp. and Anaplasma phagocytophilum in ticks collected from Catalina Island foxes. Poster presentation at UGRADS Symposium, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ
Bechtel, M.J., T. Esque, J. Lovich, M.B. Teglas, N.C. Nieto. April 2018. Ticks of the Mojave desert and Mojave desert tortoise. Oral presentation, invited speaker at Tortoise Group General Meeting, Las Vegas, Nevada.
Bechtel, M.J., T. Esque, J. Lovich, M.B. Teglas, N.C. Nieto. February 2018. Ticks and tick-borne pathogens of the Mojave desert tortoise. Oral Presentation at Desert Tortoise Council Symposium, Las Vegas, Nevada.
Bechtel, M.J., D.S. Thain, and N.C. Nieto. September 2011. PCR analysis and sequencing in assessing desert bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis nelsoni) diets in central Nevada. Poster presentation at Department of Agriculture, Nutrition and Veterinary Science Farm Day, Reno, Nevada.
Bechtel, M.J., D.S. Thain, and N.C. Nieto. June 2011. A comparison of microhistology and PCR anlaysis in assessing desert bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis nelsoni) diets in central Nevada. Poster presentation at the 91st Annual Meeting of the American Society of Mammalogists, Portland, Oregon.
Publications
Bechtel, M.J., M.B. Teglas., P.J. Murphy., and M.D. Matocq. January 2015. Parasite prevalence and community diversity in sympatric and allopatric populations of two woodrat species (sigmodontinae: Neotoma) in central California. Journal of Wildlife Disease. doi: 10.7589/2014-04-099
GRANTS and AWARDS
Grant or Award Funds Received
2020-2021 Pacific Southwest Center of Excellence in Vector-borne Disease
Training Grant $25000.00
2020-2021 Achievement Reward for College Scholars $8500.00
2019-2020 Commission on the Status of Women Project Award
2019-2020 Achievement Reward for College Scholars $8500.00
2018 Wildlife Disease Association Challenge Grant
(https://experiment.com/grants/wda) $6000.00
2018 Biological Sciences Graduate Student of the Year $600.00
2018 Desert Tortoise Council Glen R. Steward Student Travel Award $300.00
2010 Nevada Agriculture Foundation Award $500.00
