How Acoustic Monitoring is Helping to Save Bats

Going to Bat for Bioacoustics (April 24, 2024)

A Special Webinar with Bat Conservation International

For this webinar, we partnered with Bat Conservation International (BCI), a 501(c)(3) charitable nonprofit dedicated to conserving the world’s bats and their ecosystems for a healthy planet.

Researchers are using bioacoustics to help bats make a comeback in the face of white-nose syndrome, habitat loss, and climate change. But what exactly is acoustic monitoring helping folks in the field uncover, and how can it be scaled for success elsewhere? Tune in to find out!

Featuring:

Jon Flanders, PhD (Director, Research Coordination
Bat Conservation International):
Uncovering the Life History Traits of the Critically Endangered Hill’s Horseshoe Bat in Nyungwe National Park, Rwanda

Melquisedec Gamba-Rios, PhD (Regional Director, Latin America & Caribbean Initiatives Bat Conservation International): Using Acoustics to Identify Critical Habitat for the Endangered Florida Bonneted Bat in Southern Florida, United States

Amanda Adams, PhD (Director, Research Coordination, Bat Conservation International): Fat Bats at the Bug Buffet: Can Enhancement of Foraging Habitat Help Support Bats with White-Nose Syndrome?



From Arctic Coasts to Alpine Valleys

Cold-Weather Soundscapes (February 8th, 2024)

Researchers are using bioacoustics to study how animals in cold-weather environments hear & process sound, why they vocalise, & whether acoustic tools can help mitigate conflicts. Meanwhile, artists are documenting the impact of climate change, recording the sound of melting glacial ice to curate immersive exhibits.

Featuring:

Jeff Reed, PhD, CEO of Grizzly Systems: Cry Wolf Project: Bioacoustics & Carnivores in Yellowstone National Park

Adam Smith, PhD, University of Southern Denmark: Acoustic Sensory Ecology of Diving Alcid Seabirds & Potential Noise Impacts

Sergio Maggioni, Lead Artist (NEUNAU): Un Suono in Estinzione ( A Sound of Extinction)

The Music of the Night

Phantom of the Orthoptera (Oct 5th, 2023)

Like the Phantom of the Opera, Orthoptera enchant us with their mysterious music, singing boldly at night to attract love. Fortunately, scientists can monitor these fragile stridulators with bioacoustics. What have they learned? Find out in this FREE webinar.

Featuring:

Dr. Ming Kai Tan, PhD, National University of Singapore: D.U.S.K.: Discovery of Ultrasonic-Singing Katydids

Dr. Emilia Grzędzicka, PhD, Institute of Systematic & Evolution of Animals: Insect Signals: From Communication Between Individuals to Community Ecology in the Environment (and Why It Is Worth Being Prepared in the Field)

Dr. Camille Desjonquères, PhD, Université Grenoble Alpes: Hidden insect acoustics: monitoring underwater and plant-borne sounds

Monitoring Nocturnal Birds Using Bioacoustics

Sounds from the Dark Side (May 4th, 2023)

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...

(Actually, right now, right here on planet Earth.)

Declining in numbers from the pressures of climate change, habitat loss, fragmentation, and more, nocturnal birds are fighting the good fight. And researchers are joining in. Using the Force (ahem, bioacoustics) for good, scientists are monitoring every hoot, bark, scream, and whistle to ensure their conservation. How are they doing it?

Featuring:

Dr. Carlos Abrahams, BSc, PgC, MSc, MCIEEM, Baker Consultants: How to Stay Lazy: Surveying Nocturnal Birds While Staying in Bed

Karla Bloem, Executive Director, The International Owl Centre: Using Acoustic Monitoring to Detect Barn Owls in an Area of Range Expansion

Damon B. Lesmeister, PhD, US Forest Service: Passive Acoustic Monitoring of Northern Spotted Owls: This Is the Way

Amphibian Response to Wildfires, Windfarms, and More

Earth, Wind, & Fire (Feb 2nd, 2023)

What happens when earth, wind, and fire present formidable challenges to our amphibian friends? Learn how a citizen science project monitoring amphibian response to urban wetland fragmentation is leading to improved city planning; how the sound of wind turbines alters anuran nighttime chorusing; and how a team of university, museum, national park, and state forest workers took action to mitigate impacts to threatened species amidst Australian wildfires.

Featuring:

Tracy Lee, M.Sc. & Tyne Baker, M.Sc, P.Biol, R.P.Bio: Call of the Wetland: Bioacoustics and Community Effort for Urban Amphibian Monitoring

Michael Mahony AM, Honorary Professor, University of Newcastle: Measuring the Impact of Wildfire on Frogs in Eastern Australia

Cory Trowbridge, MSc., Wildlife Preservation Canada: How Wind Farms Alter Amphibian Community Diversity and Chorusing Behaviour

Silent Cities: A Global Soundscape Study During COVID-19

When COVID-19 hit in 2020, countries around the globe halted all travel, businesses shut down, kids stayed home from school, and, in some places, even walking outdoors was restricted. The unexpected result was that soundscapes everywhere changed dramatically. The richness of animal sounds in cities and suburban towns—previously masked by human activity—was suddenly revealed . . . and the result was extraordinary.

To document this unprecedented event, the Silent Cities Project began, rallying hundreds of contributors worldwide to build a global acoustic dataset unlike any other. Between March and September 2020, data from 319 sites in more than 37 countries was recorded, compiled, and analysed using acoustic diversity indices and machine learning.

This webinar tells the story of the Silent Cities Project, the resulting dataset (which will soon be available via open access), and the opportunities and challenges of an international project of this magnitude.


Bat Social Calls (April 28th, 2022)

With their rapid-fire ultrasound, the social calls of bats can be as complex and complicated as trying to decipher your teenager’s communication on social media. From female to infant communication (clean your room!), foraging success (dinner’s ready!), mating songs (ooh la la!) and roosting sites (be home by 10:00!), the social calls of bats are intriguing and absolutely fascinating!

Join our expert presenters as we decode and learn about the various social calls of bats, what they mean, and how they can help us learn more about our favorite flying mammal.

Featuring:

Neil Middleton, Managing Director, ACIEEM: Social Calls of Bats – Are We Really Listening Hard Enough?

Mirjam Knöernschild, Museum of Natural History Berlin: Bat song - Nighttime Serenades and Dawn Choruses

Brian Springhall, PhD, North Dakota State University: The In-Flight Social Calls of Big Brown & Evening Bats

Primates You May Have Missed (January 20th, 2022)

Often we think of bioacoustics research in conjunction with bats, birds, or marine life. These presenters will make you think twice! Focusing on bioacoustics research monitoring primates such as loris in Indonesia, gibbons in China, and chimpanzees in Africa, this free webinar highlights the Primates You May Have Missed.


Featuring:

Dr Emmanuel Dufourq, Lecturer at Stellenbosch University: The world’s rarest primate: A machine learning journey

Dr Anna Nekaris, Professor, Little Fireface Project: Ultrasonic communication to maintain social cohesion in the territorial and venomous Javan slow loris

Anne Sophie, PhD, Liverpool John Moores University: Acoustically assessing apes: chimpanzee conservation with passive acoustic monitoring.

How Sound Shines a Light on Creatures Active at Night

Creatures of the Night (October 7th, 2021)

As darkness falls, some animals are just beginning to stir and awaken. These creatures of the night have adapted to hunt, eat, wander and migrate under the comfort of darkness. Because of their elusive nature, bioacoustics can be one of the most effective ways to find and study them. In this webinar, you'll learn about what sound reveals about wolves, bats, and nocturnal birds… without necessarily having to stay up all night.

Featuring:

Dr. Arik Kershenbaum, PhD, University of Cambridge: Unlocking the Secrets of Wild Wolves: Using Acoustic Monitoring to Study Nocturnal Behaviours and Interactions

Christian Perez-Granados, Researcher, Alicante University: The nocturnal life of birds in the Brazilian Pantanal

Dr. Adria Lopez-Baucells, PhD, National Geographic Explorer: Bioacoustics to survey and monitor bats worldwide

Engaging Communities Through the Science of Bioacoustics

Superhear-os (July 22, 2021)

Join our free webinar with 3 brief presentations on successful case projects that incorporate bioacoustics into hands-on, fun, and educational ways to get people outside and involved, AND contributing to valuable scientific research!

Successful projects that demonstrate bioacoustics research at work don't always need to be done in a university setting. Incorporating bioacoustics into classrooms, volunteer and community engagement programs, or citizen science projects can be meaningful and have long-lasting impacts on those who participate. They can also curate a love for the outdoors and stewardship of the world around us- starting right outside their backdoor!

Featuring:

Tom Harten, CHESPAX, Calvert County Public Schools: Student Biodiversity Projects

Kathy Balman, Education Children Outdoors: Engaging Youth Through the Science of Bioacoustics

Marjon Savelsberg, Citizen Scientist: Studying & Observing Eurasian Eagle Owls

Deployment Webinar

Mission: Possible (May 13th, 2021)

Extreme temperatures, gnawing critters, gunshots, theft...deployment can be unpredictable. Learn some of the best practices from our expert presenters and take away the tools for your best deployment yet!

PRESENTATIONS

(Click here to learn more about our speakers)

Fiona Mathews: Monitoring Onshore Wind Farms & Bats

Laura Kloepper: Volcanoes, Echoes, Guano, and Cable-chewing Wildlife

Hedwig Lankau: Large Scale ARU Deployment in Northern Latitudes

Moacir Tinoco: Recording in Areas with Unpredictable Weather in Brazil

Luis Girón: Recording Insectivorous Bats in Mangroves

Dan Mennill: Using Wireless Microphone Arrays to Triangulate the Position of Animals

Three researchers use wildlife audio recorders and analysis software to find them

Endangered Birds and How to Find Them (January 28, 2021)

How does a small team monitor the presence of a highly mobile, endangered bird species in an area that covers more than 3,000 square kilometers? Have the only two endemic seabirds of Hawaii been secretly breeding on an island where they were assumed to be locally extinct? How do you find one of the critically endangered hard-to-survey frugivores on the island of Trinidad?

Hear how Dr. Kate Carstens, Cassie Carstens, Dr. Mark Hulme and Erika Dittmar are solving these dilemmas using wildlife audio recorders and analysis software.

The Authors of Acoustic Indices Discuss What Sound Can Reveal

New Frontiers in Soundscape Ecology (October 22, 2020)

Dr. Bryan Pijanowski, Dr. Michael Towsey and Dr. Amandine Gasc brought their expert knowledge on Soundscape Ecology and discussed how to use Acoustic Indices to see what sound can reveal about ecosystems and biodiversity.

In the spirit of reconciliation, Faunatech acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to Elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.