Born in Quito, Ecuador, Prof. Tellkamp is an ornithologist with a broad background in zooarchaeology, paleontology, ecology, physiology and molecular biology. He obtained his undergraduate degree at the University of Victoria in Biology and Environmental Studies (double major), his masters at the University of Florida in Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, and his doctoral degree at the University of Florida in Zoology. Naturally drawn to the biodiversity of Ecuador, he studied the effect of habitat fragmentation on a cloud forest bird community and the historical biogeography of birds during the Holocene. During a post-doc at the Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy, Prof. Tellkamp examined molecular interactions of the Atg9 protein, a transmembrane protein important in regulating the movement of autophagosomes during autophagy.

Prof. Tellkamp has since teamed up with Dr. Brian McNab (University of Florida) to study the comparative energetics of cloud forest birds in the Andes, as well as with a group of zooarchaeologists led by Dr. Karen Stothert and Dr. Peter Stahl to identify the faunal remains of the avian and herpetological fauna from the Early Holocene site of Las Vegas on the Peninsula of Santa Elena. In addition, while a faculty member at Millsaps College (Jackson, Mississippi), Prof. Tellkamp headed the biology programs at the Kaxil Kiuic Biocultural Reserve. During this time he developed and directed (and still directs) the Puuc Jaguar Conservation initiative with colleagues from the non-for-profit Kaxil Kiuic A.C. He is the only non-Mexican member of Alianza Jaguar, a group dedicated to the conservation of jaguars in Mexico.

More recently, Prof. Tellkamp has joined forces with Dr. Lilian Spencer to study malaria in birds of the Ecuadorian Andes. He also is a member of the technical committee of the newly created Yachay Botanical Garden, where he is designing and building the pollination exhibit, and is faculty leader of the Yachay Biodiversity Club. Outside of university, Prof. Tellkamp is scientific director of the Mindo Cloudforest Foundation, working towards the conservation of several reserves in the Mindo area.

Summary of interests
Zooarchaeology and Paleontology
Comparative energetics of birds.
Population dynamics of jaguars and their prey.
Avian malaria