RESEARCH
To support and promote scientific research in the fields of history, geography, archaeology, and ecology.
Discover some of the research projects we support below!
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Wormsloe Institute Bat Ecology Initiative
The Wormsloe Institute Bat Ecology Initiative (WIBEI) is a long-term bat monitoring program established in November 2024. Through consistently studying bats in the same geographic area, WIBEI is contributing to our understanding of bats in coastal Georgia by collecting baseline information on population stability as well as shifts in bat community composition over time. The Initiative provides opportunities for partnerships with academics, government agencies, and independent researchers. Within WIBEI, we have short-term projects that address specific research questions. Our efforts supplement work accomplished by state and federal bat biologists and, through partnerships with the Georgia Department of Naturalist Resources and US Fish and Wildlife Service, we provide detailed information of coastal bat habits to the agencies responsible for approving bat conservation measures. In this way, our work helps shape coastal bat conservation.
Let us know if you would like to schedule a presentation on bats for your group.
Contact Lydia Moore at lydiamoore@wormsloeinstitute.org to learn more.
Tracking Nightly Bat Movements
Bats are notoriously difficult to study, and it is especially complicated to document their localized movements while foraging. Bats have erratic flight and are active at night, when we cannot see them to make visual observations of their movements. Additionally, their echolocation calls are above our range of hearing, meaning we cannot make auditory observations. This makes it extremely tough to observe their movements while they fly
throughout the landscape. Serendipitously, the Rushing Ecology Lab at the University of Georgia established a grid of receivers for a new kind of transmitter that can be attached to both birds and bats. Through funding from Kennesaw State University, we were able to purchase CTT transmitters to attach to bats for a trial phase of this technology at Wormsloe. When the tagged bats fly over the receiver grid, it will document their location and let us see patterns in foraging space. This will give us information in foraging site fidelity, time spent foraging in open areas in relation to lunar illumination and cloud cover, and efficacy of the receiver grid for studying this sort of behavior in bats. If this initial attempt is successful, we may expand this project to a larger area at Wormsloe.
If you would like to support this endeavor, consider making a donation to the WIEH!