Our Team

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Our Team
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Global ChallengePreserving Biodiversity
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Preservation of Bats in New England
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Bats are important to humans
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Worldwide Populations of Bats are Declining

• Loss of habitat due to deforestation and
  commercial development.
• Human destruction of bats and their habitat.
• Overuse of pesticides resulting in decrease food
  supply.
• According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,
  around 40 to 50 percent of bats in the United
  States are considered endangered.

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Our Solutions to Preserving the Bat Population in
New England

• Educate the urban public of the Greater Hartford
  area as to the benefits of bats
• Promote the installation of bat houses
• Fund Research into White Nose Syndrome, the
  affliction decimating New England bats.

http//volusia.org/environmental/natural_resources
/animals/bats/Bat_box_5.jpg
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Innovative and Unique

• The idea of promoting bat houses in urban areas
  is fairly unique.
• Bat education programs in city schools are not
  common.
• The Research Project that we chose to fund is
  investigating, among other things, immune
  response during different stages of hibernation
  and arousal which hasnt been previously
  investigated in bats.

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White Nose Syndrome

• First seen in New York caves in 2006
• Has since spread to caves (hibernacula) in 9 New
  England states
• Characterized by whitish fungus on the nose,
  ears, and wings.

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White Nose Syndrome
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Whats known so far

• WNS does not appear to be caused by a virus,
  bacteria or parasite
• Almost all affected bats have the Geomyces fungus
  on them
• Uncharacteristic hibernation behaviors, such as,
  frequent arousal, daytime flying out of cave,
  staying near cave openings
• All affected bats have severely depleted fat
  stores.

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Our Grant Proposal

• After examining all current research into
  understanding WNS, we chose to fund the on-going
  research of Marianne Moore and Thomas Kunz of
  Boston University. (Marianne Moore is on our
  Advisory Board)

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How is Immunocompetence Related to White Nose
Syndrome in Bats?

• They are collecting data on immunocompetence in
  affected and unaffected bats and determining the
  relationship to WNS

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Field Studies

• Also, measuring immune response during different
  stages of arousal.

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Green Solution

• Our solution is green because we are funding a
  non-chemical approach to mitigating white nose
  syndrome in bats.
• By preserving the biodiversity of bats, we are
  preserving natures delicate balance,
  specifically within the ecosystems to which bats
  belong.
• Because bats are natures insecticide, we
  decreasing the potential overuse of pesticides.

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Time Line

• The research we are choosing to fund has been
  going on since November 2008.
• With the additional funding from our grant, the
  research will continue through December 2009.
• Additional, more sensitive measures of immune
  response will be possible with the additional
  funding.
• The educational and promotional aspect of our
  solution will continue through the 2009-2010
  school year.

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Budget

• Bat house materials, assembly, installation, and
  distribution - 5000
• Printing of educational materials - 500
• Additional funding of Moores research-
• approximately 160,000

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Ethical, Social, Cultural Issues

• Many people have misconceptions about bats
• All bats have rabies
• Bats will bite you in your sleep
• All bats suck blood
• Bats fly into your hair and get stuck

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Obstacles to Preservation

• People may not care if bats are dying
• People may not be willing to set up bat houses on
  their property
• People may continue to vandalize bat roosting
  areas and hibernacula.

http//www.wsl.ch/land/biodiversity/bats/cave.html
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Our Team
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Our Advisory

• Special thanks to our Advisory Board!