National Bat Conference

National Bat Conference 2019 is taking place 6-8 September 2019!

The National Bat Conference is the biggest event in the bat calendar and booking is now open! A weekend of exciting talks, workshops and a conference dinner (with ceilidh!) on the Saturday evening. The conference is an opportunity to learn about the new discoveries in the world of bat conservation, catch up with old friends and meet new ones.

Booking is open - click here to secure your place! NB Booking extended to Monday 19 August - don't miss out!

We are delighted to announce that Professor Emma Teeling (University College Dublin) will give the Keynote this year and are really excited to hear all our speakers.

Below is a draft programme - please note it is still subject to change

Workshops include:

Saturday afternoon

• Introducing Bat Recording Manager (Justin Hall)
• Talking to young children about bats (Maggie Brown)
• Consultant's Forum (BCT)
• Efficiency and Effectiveness - tips to increase your productivity (Lisa Worledge)
• The Song Meter family has a new arrival. (Sherwood Snyder)
• Bats and Lighting – latest research and guidance (Jo Ferguson)
• Getting the most from your detectors and software (Titley Scientific)
• Surveying trees (Rich Flight)
• Introduction to SonoBat 4 (UK Version) (Martyn Cooke)
  
• Acoustic lures and trapping techniques (Daniel Hargreaves)
  
• Basic bat ID (Colin Morris)
• Visualising and presenting all that bat data; the world beyond the spreadsheet. (Steve Markham)
• Thermal imaging surveys (Kayleigh Fawcett Williams)
• Getting the most from Batsound (Dean Waters)
• Finding bat roosts using infant bat calls and adult social calls (Maggie Andrews and Milly Hodnett)

Sunday morning

• Finding bat roosts using infant bat calls and adult social calls (Maggie Andrews and Milly Hodnett)
• Consultant's Forum (BCT)
• Bearing witness for wildlife (Pete Charleston)
• Mitigation guidelines (CIEEM)
• Bats in Art and Culture (Tom McOwat)
• Understanding social media – which platform(s) to use and how to engage your audience (Andreia Correia da Costa)
• Is that a bat? (Neil Middleton)
• Introduction to Kaleidoscope Viewer and Pro bat analysis software. (Paul Howden-Leach) 60 minutes
• Bat Photography (Daniel Hargreaves)
• Pom-pom bats (BCT)
• Introduction to SonoBat 4 (UK Version) (Martyn Cooke)
• Bat identification photo quiz (Daniel Whitby)
• Surveying buildings (Chris Vine)
• iRecord for bat recording (Martin Harvey)
• GPS for bat detectors without GPS (Dean Waters)

Booking is open - book soon, some workshops fill up fast!

- Combined tickets with Conservation and Technology Conference available. A limited number of double rooms for couples are available, please email nwebster@bats.org.uk for how to book

Stay updated with news online by following #NatBatConf

Venue: University of Nottingham, Jubilee Campus, Wollaton Road, Nottingham NG8 1BB

How to get there

If you are interested in displaying a poster at the conference, contact the Training and Conferences Manager.

We are grateful to the conference co-sponsors Petterson Elektronik and Wildlife Acoustics. There are additional co-sponsorship packages still available. Contact the Training and Conferences Manager for more details.

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Additional Events

The BCT AGM also took place on Saturday 8 September at the University of Nottingham and the Bat Worker's Forum took place on Friday 7 September.

The Consultant's Forum took place each day during the workshop sessions - an opportunity for consultant ecologists to come together to hear updates and discuss issues with their peers and BCT.

Awards

During the conference programme we also presented two awards:

• The Vincent Weir Scientific Award - This is awarded annually to a student at a UK-based institution who has made a significant contribution to research on the conservation biology of bats.
• The Pete Guest Award - This award goes to an individual who has made an outstanding practical contribution to bat conservation

We also heard from the Winner of the Kate Barlow Award which aims to encourage postgraduate students to conduct a substantive bat research project and to honour the late Dr Kate Barlow's contribution to bat conservation.

Any queries about the conference, please email nwebster@bats.org.uk

Bursaries

For details of the National Bat Conference Bursaries, please contact Colin Morris by emailing cmorris@bats.org.uk