Holy Batblog Batgirl!: August 2008

Sunday, August 24, 2008

the beginning of the North American Bat Conservation Alliance

Last week a bit of history was made at the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum. A workshop was held to kick off an international effort on behalf of North American bat conservation. Sure, going out to do surveys and monitoring is important, but real progress is made when a group of people are all dedicated to a common goal. This marks the beginning of NABCA and of a more coordinated effort to make progress for bat conservation among state and federal wildlife agencies and our many partners across the continent.

Welcome

i have always loved wildlife. most significantly, i remember a family vacation at age 7. driving through oregon, the beauty of crater lake made an incredible impression on me. and at the gift store, my parents bought me a golden guide to mammals. afterward, it seems i had that guide with me wherever i went. i dreamed about making plaster casts of mammal tracks like the ones shown on the first couple pages. i wanted to know everything about wildlife.

twenty years later i got a job as a wildlife biologist for the arizona game and fish department. i've been privileged to work on a variety of projects including black-footed ferret reintroduction, mount graham red squirrel monitoring, habitat evaluation and planning, black-tailed prairie dog reintroduction, and bat conservation and management. in my current position, i focus on bat conservation full time. i love my job, it provides a daily connection with that obsessive enthusiasm i felt at the age of 7.