Canadian Wildlife Health Cooperative Annual National Bat Health Report
The Canadian Wildlife Health Cooperative (CWHC) recently released their Annual National Bat Health Report. The national bat health program uses a holistic approach to consider the interaction of biological, social, and environmental factors that may impact at-risk bat populations because bat health, like all wildlife health, is influenced by the cumulative effects of multiple stressors or threats. The national plan will lay out strategic priorities central to understanding and managing bat health and organize a multi-disciplinary team dedicated to improving and ensuring the health of bats in Canada. The CWHC will continue to provide ongoing health guidance to those with the responsibility for managing Canadian bat species and highlight opportunities for maintaining or improving the health of bat populations.
To read the Annual National Bat Health Report and learn more about the CWHC's national plan to coordinate the management of bat health in Canada, click here.
Biden-Harris Administration Announces Offshore Wind Lease Sale in Central Atlantic
The Department of the Interior announced that it would hold an offshore wind energy lease sale in the Central Atlantic. The areas to be auctioned on August 14, 2024, by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management could generate up to 6.3 gigawatts of clean, renewable energy and power up to 2.2 million homes. This announcement is one of many steps the Department is taking to expand offshore wind energy opportunities, building on investments made by the President’s Investing in America agenda and creating good-paying jobs for American workers.
Biden-Harris Administration Approves Ninth Offshore Wind Project
The Department of the Interior announced its approval of the Atlantic Shores South offshore wind energy project – the nation’s ninth commercial-scale, offshore wind energy project approved under President Biden’s leadership. With this approval, the Department has approved more than 13 gigawatts of clean energy from offshore wind energy projects – enough to power nearly five million homes.
Community of Practice Calls
NABat Community of Practice Calls are on an annual summer hiatus. We will reconvene in September 2024.
If you want to be added to the distribution list for NABat CoP calls, you can sign up here.
Conferences
July 16-19, 2024: State of the Science on Offshore Wind Energy, Wildlife, and Fisheries, Long Island, New York, USA
September 8-11, 2024: Northeastern Transportation & Wildlife Conference, Mystic, Connecticut, USA
September 22-25, 2024: Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies Annual Meeting, Madison, Wisconsin, USA
October 23-26, 2024: Annual North American Symposium for Bat Research, Guadalajara, Jalisco, MX
Check out the NABat Events page for a complete list of training webinars, meeting links, and all other upcoming events!
Bat Biologist
EDR is seeking an experienced, versatile, team-oriented Bat Biologist to join our Environmental Services group. A qualified Bat Biologist will have at least 5 years of experience in bat research and studies including mist netting and handling of captured bats, acoustic monitoring, radio telemetry surveys, literature review, and report preparation. Successful candidates must be knowledgeable of bat biology/natural history, the Endangered Species Act, and state and federal guidance regarding bat study protocols. Candidates should also be experienced in agency consultation and state/federal permitting (e.g., preparation of net conservation benefit plans, habitat conservation plans, incidental take permits). This position requires an ability to identify bat species found throughout the midwestern, mid-Atlantic and northeastern United States, and experience with GPS, GIS, and data analysis/processing. The ability to obtain bat handling permits from state and federal wildlife agencies is also desired. Preference will be given to candidates with the corresponding strong office skills such as impact analysis, technical writing, effective research, efficient and professional communication, and problem-solving. The minimum education required is a bachelor’s degree in wildlife biology, environmental science, ecology, or related field; master’s degree preferred. This role would be a full-time position based out of an EDR office in New York, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, or Ohio.
To learn more about this position, click here.
White-nose Syndrome Research Scientist
Bat Conservation International is seeking a White-nose Syndrome Research Scientist. The Research Scientist will join a dynamic organization and a highly progressive team of conservation scientists, reporting directly to the Director of White-nose Syndrome (WNS) Research. The WNS Research Scientist will work closely with the Director of WNS Research to support ongoing research efforts in bat conservation with an emphasis on work related to WNS. The Research Scientist will help lead rigorous scientific research, including analyzing existing datasets, writing scientific publications, submitting grant proposals, synthesizing knowledge to direct conservation strategies, and communicating research products with a diverse range of stakeholders via meetings and conferences. The WNS Research Scientist must be highly collaborative and enjoy working within an environment that is mission and results-driven, where they can bring their whole self to work and contribute to positive ecological and social change. This position is ideal for an early career scientist interested in applied data-driven conservation and working collaboratively to support research needs within the BCI science program.
To learn more about this position, click here.
Institutional Engagement Coordinator
Bat Conservation International is seeking an Institutional Engagement Coordinator. Reporting to the Director of Institutional Engagement, the Institutional Engagement Coordinator will contribute to the stewardship and growth of key relationships with existing and new foundations and corporate donors, resulting in financial support of BCI’s mission. An ideal candidate will have an understanding of the donor stewardship process, possess exceptional writing and organizational skills, be a team player, and have a drive to foster partnerships with foundations and corporate donors.
To learn more about this position, click here.
Transportation Liaison
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Asheville Field Office has an opening for a Transportation Liaison. The position will involve coordinating and consulting, primarily with NC Department of Transportation and Federal Highway Administration, under Section 7 of the ESA on transportation projects. Consultations involving bats are a large part of the position.
To learn more about this position, click here.
Don't Forget to Rename Your Generic Metadata File Names - AVOID using "meta.csv"
We are adding a periodic new feature to the newsletter that highlights common project management and data management errors to avoid and how to fix them. Some acoustic analysis software designates metadata files with a generic default name, such as 'meta.csv'. These files should be renamed prior to upload to the NABat Partner Portal -- failing to do so could result in overwriting your project data instead of adding to it. The NABat Partner Portal allows users to replace error-ridden data upload files with corrected files simply by loading and reprocessing the corrected file of the same name. In other words, when multiple files of the same name are uploaded, the most recent upload overwrites the data from all previous uploads of the same name. If files intended to represent distinct data uploads all have the same filename (e.g., ‘meta.csv’), only the data from the most recent upload with that filename will be pulled into the NABat database and viewable in the user’s project space. To avoid unintentionally replacing previous data uploads, make sure data upload files that represent unique batches of data intended for the database are provided unique filenames.
Featured Resource: Using mobile acoustic monitoring and false-positive N-mixture models to estimate bat abundance and population trends
U.S. Geological Survey staff with the North American Bat Monitoring Program (NABat) published summer abundance status and trends for three species in North America. The modeling approach integrated range-wide mobile acoustic data submitted to the NABat database to estimate relative abundance of each species at multiple spatial scales. This publication features the first relative abundance maps that present clear evidence of substantial declines in populations of tricolored bats (Perimyotis subflavus) and little brown bats (Myotis lucifugus).
Read the full publication here.
Still have questions? Users who need project guidance or assistance are encouraged to book an appointment or reach out to our Technical Monitoring team for consultation.
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