BATS IN INTERN ATION AL
FO R E S T R Y S C H O L A RS
2007~08
Winners of BCI/U.S. Forest Service scholarships
for the 2007–08 academic year include:
Diverse & Threatened
Bats, with more than 1,100 species, are
remarkably diverse. They provide critical
services to the ecosystems of every continent except Antarctica. Yet bat populations
are threatened worldwide. Habitat loss and
environmental pollution are major problems, but so, too, is wanton destruction by
humans – often because of fears built on
myths and misinformation. Some bat
species form the largest colonies of any
mammal, so damage to their caves can kill
vast numbers and put entire species at risk.
The loss of bats jeopardizes ecosystems
and biodiversity around the world.
Knowledge is the key to conservation.
Radosoa Andrianaivoarivelo: Madagascar
Malagasy fruit bats and Litchi crops
Julio Bracamonte: Argentina
Bats distribution patterns in a cloud forest
Tania Gonzalez: Mexico
Conservation and habitat use of the banana bat
Amyot Kofoky: Madagascar
Diet and roosting ecology of sucker-footed bats
Leonardo Lopez Damian: Mexico
Corn crops and insect control by free-tailed bats
Tammy Mildenstein: Philippines
Impacts of bat-habitat loss on agriculture
Maria Pereira: Brazil
Food, flooding and Amazonian bat assemblages
Sandra Peters: Brazil
Bat community structures and forests corridors
Phansamai Phommexay: Thailand
Bat diversity and activity at rubber plantations
BATS IN INTERNATIONAL
FO R E S T R Y S C H O L A R S H I P S
A partnership of
the U.S. Forest Service
International Programs &
Bat Conservation International
Supporting original research that
documents the ecological and economic
value and conservation needs of bats
in developing
countries.
www.fs.fed.us/global/
T h e B a ts i n
Inter national Forestr y
Scholarship Fund
The U.S. Forest Service International
Programs and Bat Conservation International are awarding appoximately 10
Bats in International Forestry Scholarships
to support research conducted in developing countries.
Projects should be focused on the
roles bats play in maintaining healthy
ecosystems and/or on habitat requirements that are critical to conservation.
The Forest Service has a particular interest in supporting work in Brazil,
Madagascar, Mexico, Panama and Peru,
although projects in other developing
countries will be considered.
Field assistant Manjoazy prepares a bat detector to record echolocation calls as part of
Most awards will be for $2,500, but
the research program in Madagascar by BCI Scholar Laura Bambini of the University of
some may be as high as $5,000.
Exeter in the United Kingdom.
Marian Cabrera of Nariño University carefully
removes a bat captured in a mist net during her
research in Colombia. With support from a BCI/U.S.
Forest Service International Programs Scholarship,
Cabrera documented the role of nectar-feeding bats
as pollinators in Colombian cloud forests.
A sampling of previous BCI
Student R esearch Scholarships:
• Radosoa Andrianaivoarivelo, University of Aberdeen
(Madagascar): Do Malagasy fruit bats cause significant damage to Litchi crops?
• Tammy Mildenstein, University of Montana (Philippines): Impacts of agriculture through habitat loss and
subsidy on threatened native species.
• Leonardo Lopez Damian (Universidad Nacional
Autonoma de Mexico) Mexico: Diet of Tadarida
brasiliensis in northeast and southern Mexico with
special reference to corn insect pests.
Appl y f o r a S c h o l a r s h i p
For information about a Bats in International Forestry
Scholarship or any other BCI Student Research
Scholarship, visit www.batcon.org or contact
grants@batcon.org. The application deadline is
December 15.
Bat Conser v ation
Inter national
Student R esear ch
Scholarships
Bat Conservation International’s
Student Research Scholarship Funds have
been supporting young scientists around
the world since 1990. BCI has awarded a
total of $550,770 to 237 students for
research in 51 countries. Many BCI
Scholars have become international leaders in bat research and conservation.
Scholarships of up to $5,000 each per
academic year are available for research
that is relevant to bat conservation in any
country. These awards typically provide
opportunities for matching grants from
other conservation organizations, government agencies and private foundations.
Students enrolled in any college or
university worldwide are eligible to apply. Applications
for all Bat Conservation International Scholarships are
competitive. Proposals are reviewed by an international
panel of leading bat biologists.
BCI Scholar Cullen Geiselman of Columbia University
measures the forearm of a bat during her study of
resource partitioning by bats in the rainforest of French
Guiana.