Nia Toshkova

(Assistant)

phone: (+359 89) 4069084; e-mail:

Born on: 10 March 1992 in Sofia.

Education: Sofia Unversity 'St. Kliment Ohridski', student in master’s programs 'Animal Physiology' and 'Algology and Mycology'; Bachelor of Science in Ecology.

Research interests

Biology and distribution of the cave fungus Pseudogymnoascus destructans, distribution, biology and ecology of bats, biospeleology, science communication.

Research experience

University of Bern, Switzerland — 2012

Visiting scientist; Advisor: Prof. Raphaël Arlettaz. Carrying out some passive listening experiments on Barbastella barbastellus in captivity.

Max Plank Institute for Ornithology, Sensory Ecology Group — 2013

Assistant; Advisor: Dr Klemen Koselj. Field assistant, looking after captive bats and helping with behavioural tests.

Current projects

Distribution of Pseudogymnoascus destructans in caves, important bat roosts in Bulgaria

'Hidden wonders of the underground world' — a project aiming to evaluate the underground biodiversity of Godech municipality and popularise biospeleology in the broader society

Monitoring of bat populations in Bulgaria

Teaching kids at vacation schools in the museum

Representing the museum at the Sofia Science Festival and other science-communication events

Organising a students’ Journal Club in the museum

Expeditions

National cave expedition 'Tenengebirge', Austria — 2014

National cave expedition 'Radoina', Albania — 2013

National cave expedition 'Maya Arapit', Albania — 2010

International cave expedition in Ukraine — 2008

Numerous cave expeditions in Bulgaria

Diploma thesis

Research projects on distribution of Pseudogymnoascus destructans in Bulgarian cave and effects on bats. For the work I won a student grant from the Bulgarian Biodiversity Foundation and we successfully found the pathogen for the first time in Bulgaria.

Most recent publications

Zhelyazkova, V., Tičar, J., Deleva, S., Ivanov, A., Toshkova, N., Puechmaille, S., 2025. Cavers’ knowledge of biosecurity and its influence on the prevention of white-nose disease. — Subterranean Biology, 52: 45—68.

Toshkova, N., Zhelayzkova, V., Koseva, K., Dimitrova, K., Elshaer, F., Lacombe, R. V., …, Dimitrov, J. D., 2025. An integrative approach for profiling antibody responses in bats to human pathogens. — EMI: Animal & Environment: 1—25.

Toshkova, N., Zhelayzkova, V., Reyes-Ruiz, A., Haerens, E., de Castro Deus, M., Lacombe, R. V., …, Dimitrov, J. D., 2024. Temperature sensitivity of bat antibodies links metabolic state of bats with antigen-recognition diversity. — Nature Communications, 15 (1): 5878.

Kolev, M., Acosta-Pankov, I., Toshkova, N., Deleva, S., 2024. Acoustic study of urban bat diversity in Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria. — Historia naturalis bulgarica, 46 (10): 273—284. https://doi.org/10.48027/hnb.46.103

Toshkova, N., Dimitrova, K., Langourov, M., Zlatkov, B., Bekchiev, R., Ljubomirov, T., Zielke, E., Angelova, R., Parvanova, R., Simeonov, Tz., Simov, N., 2023. Snacking during hibernation? Winter bat diet and prey availabilities, a case study from Iskar Gorge, Bulgaria. — Historia naturalis bulgarica, 45: 125—142. [PDF] https://doi.org/10.48027/hnb.45.053

Toshkova, N., Zlatkov, B., Fakirova, A., Zhelyazkova, V., Simov, N., 2022. First record of Psorergatoides Fain, 1959 (Acari, Cheyletoidea, Psorergatidae) for the Balkan Peninsula with description of the cutaneous lesions on the wing membrane of its hosts Myotis myotis (Borkhausen, 1797) and Myotis blythii (Tomes, 1857)(Chiroptera, Vespertilionidae). — Biodiversity Data Journal, 10: e89514.

Toshkova, N, Zhelyazkova, V, Justesen, S, Dimitrov, J., 2022. Conservative pattern of interaction of bat and human IgG antibodies with FcRn. — Developmental & Comparative Immunology, 139: 104579.

Zhelyazkova, V., Hubancheva, A., Radoslavov, G., Toshkova, N., Puechmaille, S. J., 2020. Did you wash your caving suit? Cavers’ role in the potential spread of Pseudogymnoascus destructans, the causative agent of White-Nose Disease. — International Journal of Speleology, 49 (2): 149—159.

Franziska Günter, F., Beaulieu, M., Freiberg, K. F., Welzel, I., Toshkova, N., Žagar, A., Simčič, T., Fischer, K., 2020. Genotype-environment interactions rule the response of a widespread butterfly to temperature variation. — Journal of Evolutionary Biology. https://doi.org/10.1111/JEB.13623

Zhelyazkova, V., Toshkova, N., Dool, S., Bonaccorso, F., Pinzari, C., Montoya-Aiona, K., Puechmaille, S., 2019. Screening and biosecurity for White-nose fungus (Pseudogymnoascus destructans) in Hawaii. — Pacific Science, 73 (3): 357—365. https://doi.org/10.2984/73.3.4

→ More complete list of publications