Youssef Benhiba

I’ve graduated in 2021 with a Master's degree Diploma specializing in engineering in ecology and biodiversity management from the University Abdelmalek Essaâdi, Morocco. The M.Sc. thesis that provided new data on the geographic distribution of Rhinolophus hipposideros in Morocco via the monitoring of a colony of this species along the years 2020 and 2021, complemented with a note updating the knowledge about chiropterans in Morocco.

I am currently a Ph.D. student at the University Abdelmalek Essaâdi doing a research thesis entitled Atlas of the Bats of Northern Morocco. The thesis has three main objectives, all centered in Northern Morocco: 1) evaluate potential changes in species composition on roosts, trying to identify areas where changes have been stronger and which bat species might have suffered greater roost losses; 2) quantify habitat use and identify the most relevant habitats sustaining bat populations, trough mist-netting sessions and ultra-sonic sampling; 3) monitor of Rinolophus hipposideros roosts and identify the environmental drivers of bat colony size at each roost.