2024 Workshops
To register for any of the workshops, click on the workshop title and add the desired item to your cart!
Wednesday afternoon (1-5pm)
Organizer: Mallory Davies, Daniel Milton, and Kathryn Stoner
Price: 75 USD (this includes the materials so you build one)
Scholarships available
First thing, if you want to apply for a scholarship, please DO NOT purchase the workshop right away. We will offer FIVE scholarships for this workshop. Please fill out this form if you are interested in applying to one of these spots.
In this hands-on workshop, participants will learn how to build a low-cost RFID PIT tag reader system specifically designed for hummingbird feeders. The goal is to provide bat researchers with an accessible and effective tool for tracking nectar bats that can also be adapted for other bat movement studies, such as detecting roosting bats in bat houses.
Aims and Expected Outcomes:
1. Teach participants how to assemble and calibrate an affordable RFID PIT tag reader that they can easily take home with them.
2. Provide knowledge on integrating the system with hummingbird feeders and its potential uses for bat studies.
3. Empower researchers to conduct low-cost wildlife tracking, expanding research opportunities in bat biology and conservation.
Sunday Morning (9am-1pm)
Organizers: Kyle George, Rodrigo Medellín, and Daniel Ramos Huapaya
Price: 5 USD
Update: We have reduced the price of this workshop; if you paid the full price, we will issue you a refund in GDL.
This workshop will foster common understanding of disease epidemiology, surveillance strategies, sampling techniques, diagnostic interpretation, and biosecurity recommendations for WNS and Pd through didactic lectures followed by hands-on training. We aim to share current information about the disease ecology and management of white-nose syndrome (WNS) and its causative fungus, Pseudogymnoascus destructans (Pd), and to provide detailed training on field sample collection techniques for WNS/Pd surveillance. Technical training will include simulations for collecting bat skin swabs, wing punch biopsies, environmental samples, and pooled guano samples as well as conducting UV screening and decontamination of field gear. The target audience is field biologists, scientists, resource managers, and students that may be participating in surveillance efforts for Pd in the environment and on bats, particularly for work being conducted in Mexico and other Latin American countries. With the continued spread of the fungus into southern Texas and New Mexico, along the Mexico-U.S. border, there is an increasing need to conduct WNS/Pd surveillance in Mexico.
Organizers: Sonja Vernes
Price: 5 USD
Update: We have reduced the price of this workshop; if you paid the full price, we will issue you a refund in GDL.
The Bat1K Project is an initiative to sequence the genomes of all living bat species. Within the ranks of Chiroptera are found some of the rarest mammalian adaptations including self-powered flight, echolocation, exceptional longevity, vocal learning, unique immune systems and contracted genomes. Given the range of extraordinary characteristics possessed by bats, together with their importance for the environment, studying bats is of broad interest and high priority. Complete genomic information is crucial to understand how genomes can build complex organisms, the biological bases of phenotypic traits, the evolution of traits and organisms, their susceptibility to threats, and how to combat disease. The main goal of this consortium is to uncover the genes and genetic mechanisms behind the unusual adaptations of bats, essentially mine the bat genome to uncover their secrets. Using the newest of our genetic tools, we will deep sequence the blueprint and genetic code of every species of bat in the world and make these genomes publicly available.
To truly unlock the potential of bats, it is crucial that we understand the genetic building blocks of these different species, by sequencing and annotating their genomes and couple this with an understanding of their ecology and evolutionary history. This project is only possible by the mobilization of bat researchers, volunteers, students and bat lovers throughout the globe. Initiating this mobilization and bringing bat researchers, field biologists, grass-roots conservation organizations and lay people together from across the globe will allow us to identify and locate all species of bat, so that we can uncover their secrets.
We will present current strategies and progress, as well as ongoing efforts to involve the community of researchers, bat rehab centers and museum partners in the project. In 2020, the Bat1K consortium published its pilot phase (Jebb et al, Nature, 2020), representing the first 6 reference quality bat genomes. Now, Bat1K approaches completion of Phase 1, with genomes sequenced representing all 21 bat families. Alongside these family representatives we have ~100 reference quality bat genomes sequenced and a further ~150 genomes underway, putting us well on the way towards Phase 2, in which a representative for all bat genera will be sequenced. These unprecedented numbers of bat genomes is actively facilitating a range of cutting edge research across phylogenetics, evolution, morphology, communication and echolocation, immunology and virology, metabolism, health and aging. This workshop will be an opportunity to get an update on the work of Bat1K, hear from Bat1K members employing these genomes in their research, and get involved with the research projects of the consortium.
In particular we will hold round table discussions based on established Bat1K themes in which projects will be discussed to facilitate interaction between people who are, or who want to be involved in projects and upcoming papers. Thus this workshop will couple presentations with vibrant, participant-led discussions to drive forward bat research, share resources, and find new opportunities to collaborate. This is a great networking opportunity for established Bat1K members with ongoing projects, but also for new members and early career researchers who want to get involved for the first time and form networks with fellow members. It will be an open and welcoming forum for all individuals interested in participating in Bat1K and related projects.
Preliminary program:
-Opening presentation: The Bat1K Project - current status and directions for the future (~30 mins)
-Bat Biology Foundation: Partnering with Bat1K to support fieldwork and genome sequencing (~5 mins)
-Project Presentations: ~8 selected projects from Bat1K (~5 mins each)
-Q&A/open discussion (15 mins)
-Coffee Break (30 mins)
-Round Table Discussions: Guided discussions in round table breakout groups based on project themes (60 mins)
- Whole Group Discussion: Feedback from breakout groups and where next for Bat1K