Workshops and Symposia History

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SYMPOSIUM ON CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT OF BIG-EARED BATS IN THE EASTERN UNITED STATES
March 9-10, 2010
Athens, GA

Georgia Center for Continuing
	              Education at the University of Georgia, Athens, GA
Georgia Center for Continuing
	              Education at the University of Georgia, Athens, GA

The Symposium on Conservation and Management of Big-eared Bats in the Eastern United States was held at the Georgia Center for Continuing Education at the University of Georgia, Athens, GA on March 9-10, 2010. The event was hosted by the Southeastern Bat Diversity Network and the Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources at the University of Georgia. The sponsors were the U.S. Forest Service, Bat Conservation International and NCASI. Forty-two people attended the day and a half symposium which consisted of presentations on the life history, conservation, and management of big-eared bats found in the eastern United States.

Photos: Top - Georgia Center for Continuing Education at the University of Georgia; left - Steven Castleberry, host of the symposium; bottom - symposium audience.

Georgia Center for Continuing
	              Education at the University of Georgia, Athens, GA

The symposium began with two sessions of plenary presentations covering the biology and ecology of eastern big-eared bats, and the efforts directed towards their conservation and management. The remaining sessions consisted of biologists and managers presenting data from field studies and monitoring efforts. The symposium ended with a panel discussion focusing on conservation priorities and future research needs. A publication based on the information presented at the symposium is currently in progress and is expected to be available in April 2011.

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2ND BATS AND FORESTS SYMPOSIUM AND WORKSHOP
March 9-12, 2004
Hot Springs, Arkansas

Symposium book cover

The Southeastern Bat Diversity Network hosted the symposium organized by Bat Conservation International. Funding sponsors were the Southern Research Station of the USDA Forest Service, USDI Bureau of Land Management, National Council for Air and Stream Improvement, Weyerhaeuser Company, East Kentucky Power Cooperative, and American Forest and Paper Association.

lecture crowd

One-hundred seventy people from numerous state and federal agencies, industry, colleges and universities attended the symposium. The objectives of the symposium were to synthesize current knowledge on the ecology of forest bats and to present information on how forest management can be used to conserve bats. The objectives were met in four ways. On the first night, two lectures entitled "Bats 101" and "Silviculture 101" were presented to make sure that bat biologists and forest managers all had the same basic level of knowledge and understanding of the system. For the next day and a half, a series of invited talks synthesized much of the literature about day roosting ecology, night roosting, foraging ecology, migration, monitoring, and effects of silviculture on bats.

lecture crowd

These talks were interspersed with presentations of empirical studies which illustrated many of the themes presented in the synthesis papers. On Thursday afternoon, eight concurrent workshops were conducted with the intent of presenting specific tools and techniques for managing bats. Finally, on Friday, 54 people participated in a day-long field trip to the Winona District of the Ouachita National Forest and Weyerhaeuser Company lands to see examples of various forest management practices and how they can be used in bat conservation.

Needless to say, the meeting was not all work. The Tuesday night social and Wednesday evening Lake Hamilton River Boat Dinner and Dance Cruise as well as many informal gatherings provided time for relaxation, social interactions, and further discussions of past, current, and future bat research and management activities. The symposium concluded with a session to discuss future needs and plan to reconvene in several more years with updates on our progress.

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