Congratulations to the 2025 Beingolea Raptor Research Grant winner!

13 December, 2025

Laura Casalins, 2025 Oscar Beingolea Raptor Research Grant winner. Photo courtesy of Laura Casalins.

IBCP is delighted to join the Raptor Research Foundation in congratulating Laura Casalins on winning the 2025 Oscar Beingolea Raptor Research Grant! Beingolea Grants are awarded every autumn by the Raptor Research Foundationfollowing an annual competition for projects advancing raptor research and/or conservation in Latin America. Laura is a postdoctoral researcher with CONICET in Argentina, whose work focuses on raptor conservation and wildlife toxicology. Laura’s project, “Anticoagulant Rodenticides in Patagonia: A Growing Threat to Wildlife,” will investigate the emerging threat of anticoagulant rodenticides to raptors in forested and urban-edge habitats of northern Patagonia, Argentina.

Short-eared Owl (Asio flammeus). Photo by Dario Sanches from São Paulo, Brazil, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

This project was prompted by a 2020 mortality event involving dozens of owls from three species—Tyto furcata, Asio flammeus, and Strix rufipes—and some diurnal raptors, where lethal exposure was suspected following widespread rodenticide use during a major rodent outbreak. Due to limited regional diagnostic capacity in Argentina, confirmatory analyses have been delayed, while new suspected rodenticide poisoning cases involving species of conservation concern continue to arise. The goal is to build local capacity for anticoagulant rodenticide testing in Patagonia, beginning with the analysis of stored raptor specimens. This will be the first study of its kind fully developed in Latin America. The results will help raise awareness, inform policy, and support further research on this underrecognized environmental hazard in the Global South.

American Barn Owl (Tyto furcata). Photo by Bill Bouton from San Luis Obispo, CA, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

A raptor specialist with experience in necropsy and toxicology as well as education and advocacy, Laura is deeply committed to advancing raptor conservation in Latin America. Laura will use the Beingolea Grant will go towards supporting toxicological screening of >60 stored raptor samples to assess baseline exposure, develop standardized protocols for rodenticide testing at the CITAAC Toxicology Lab in Patagonia, and support environmental education and pest management policy efforts, together with her Biology and Ecology of Patagonian Wildlife team members involved in raptor protection and public outreach. We are delighted that Laura will continue Oscar Beingolea’s legacy of rigorous field research and community engagement.

Rufous-legged Owl (Strix rufipes). Photo by Gabriel Barrera Maffioletti, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.