Winifred Frick
Building a community of bat researchers
Each year, BCI supports exceptionally talented students in their research through our Student Scholars program. Funded research projects contribute new knowledge to our understanding of bat ecology and conservation and help inform conservation strategies to protect bats locally and globally. Our Student Scholars program grows global capacity for bat conservation by supporting students and their research and building a connected community of bat researchers around the world.
Objectives
- Improve scientific knowledge to aid conservation on threatened and data-deficient bats
- Increase research capacity and efforts for bat conservation around the world
- Contribute evidence for conservation interventions to protect bat species
Program Details
Since its founding in 1982, BCI has supported hundreds of university students and aspiring conservationists in dozens of countries. Our annual Student Scholars program grows the global capacity for bat research by providing opportunities for M.Sc. and Ph.D. students to expand their bat research experience and professional network, emphasizing that research is key for evidence-based conservation.
Research by BCI Student Scholars is targeted to address these priorities:
- Investigate the impacts of human-caused environmental changes, such as land development or climate change on bats. Research topics can include, but are not limited to, impacts of land-use change, pollution, or drought.
- Test interventions to resolve bat and human conflicts, such as hunting, roost disturbance, and persecution.
- Answer behavioral or ecological questions that aid the protection of a bat species considered Vulnerable, Endangered, Critically Endangered, or Data Deficient.
Our Student Scholars live and work in countries around the globe including, but not limited to, Brazil, Cameroon, Costa Rica, India, New Guinea, Mexico, Mauritius, Malaysia, and Papua New Guinea.
Our Reach & Impact
- 70
- Countries served
- 460
- Student Scholars Funded
- $1.2
- Million Awarded Since the Program’s inception
Bat Conservation International
Growing the global capacity for bat research
- We offer financial support and guidance to students around the world working to further their educational and research goals.
- Student researchers share their findings on bat ecology with their local communities, which improves understanding of the vital role bats play in the ecosystem.
- We support students with their targeted research activities, reinforcing the need for evidence-based research in conservation.
- We encourage the study of bats in countries where critical information to support conservation is limited.
Stanimira Deleva
Distinct Honors
BCI bestows annual honors to Student Scholars with exemplary work and impacts. Each award includes an additional $500 to further support the honoree and their project. The annual awards are:
- Women in Science Honor for a female student from a developing country.
- Verne & Marion Read Bat Conservation Honor for a student that inspires community action to protect bats.
Student Projects
Click to learn more
United States
Student Scholar: Laura Nicholson
Impacts of hydrological restoration on the foraging habits of bats of South Florida
MoreAustralia
Student Scholar: Annabel Dorrestein
Batmobile: drone explores secret hideouts of flying-foxes
MoreBrazil
Student Scholar: Adriana Acero Murcia
Land-use change effects on bat communities in a karstic region of Brazilian cerrado
MoreBrazil
Student Scholar: Bruna Xavier
Commercial plantations in Amazonian savannahs: effects on bat taxonomic and functional diversity, and seed dispersal
MoreCambodia
Student Scholar: Hannah Shapiro
Stakeholder Attitudes, Knowledge, and Experiences with Bats in Cambodia
MoreIndia
Student Scholar: Baheerathan Murugavel
Bat nights with bulbs bright: Impact of anthropogenic-lighting on the Indian flying fox (Pteropus giganteus)
MoreIndonesia
Student Scholar: Ajib Diptyanusa
The role of bats in Japanese encephalitis dynamics in Indonesia: virus isolation and habitat conservation
MoreKenya
Student Scholar: Sospeter Kibiwot
Effects of forest degradation on bats at South and North Nandi Forests, western Kenya
MoreMadagascar
Student Scholar: Carme Tuneu-Corral
Bats and rice: human-bat conflict mitigation through bat boxes in Madagascar
MoreMalaysia
Student Scholar: Nur Izzati Abdullah
Ecosystem Services Provided by Bats in Ricefield Area
MoreMexico
Student Scholar: Rafael Léon-Madrazo
Spatio-temporal dynamics of a common vampire bat (Desmodus rotundus) population subject to extraction
MoreNicaragua
Student Scholar: Jose Martinez-Fonseca
Filling in a landscape: Quantifying diet and collecting occurrence data of bats in Nicaragua
MoreNigeria
Student Scholar: Temidayo Adeyanju
Assessing the impacts of landuse on bat species and activities in Omo Biosphere Reserve, Southwest
MoreUganda
Student Scholar: Howard Onyuth
Human-bat conflict management using ethno-bat repellent in threevillages in Queen Elizabeth Protected Area, Uganda
MoreWe grow capacity for bat conservation through student research scholarships
Student Scholars
How to apply
If you are interested in applying to become a BCI Student Scholar, please review the details below to confirm your eligibility. The Student Scholar program only accepts proposals during an annual autumn cycle that typically opens in early October. Proposals should address one of three priority categories:
Category #1: The project contributes to the understanding of the effects of human-caused environmental changes, such as land use and climate change, as threats to global bat biodiversity, including projects focusing on habitat destruction or degradation, wind energy development, pollution, impacts from drought or extreme weather, invasive species, etc.
Category #2: The project contributes to the understanding of bat/human conflicts, such as persecution, hunting, disturbance, bats and disease, etc.
Category #3: The project answers ecological or behavioral questions essential to the conservation of one or more bat species currently listed as Vulnerable, Endangered, Critically Endangered, or Data Deficient by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species or officially recognized on a national list of species of concern.
For general questions about BCI’s Student Scholar program, email us at scholarship@batcon.org.
BCI is an equal opportunity organization and strongly encourages applications from people of color, persons with disabilities, women, and LGBTQ applicants.
A long eared myotis in flightFunds are often the limiting factor for wildlife-related research, and despite having an extremely supportive network of partners, we would not be able to accomplish our objectives without outside funding sources. BCI’s support shows that this research is valued, and important to the larger bat conservation effort.
Former BCI student scholar
J Scott Altenbach