Ashraf was telling a bat story, keeping the audiences hanging on every word
At the 42nd annual Texas Society of Mammalogists meeting in February 2024, Ashraf presented a poster on how bat assemblages are responding to land-use change in Bangladesh. During his two-year adventure in the world of bats, he documented 16 bat species across 5 families and 4 feeding guilds, employing a combination of mist nets and harp traps. His research illustrates that bat species diversity is greater in forests compared to degraded land-use within the protected areas. In addition, Ashraf demonstrated that bat species composition varies across study sites, emphasizing that forested areas are home to specialist bat species, in contrast to degraded sites. Remarkably, Ashraf’s study pioneered the use of the harp trap as a successful method for capturing forest understory bats in Bangladesh, representing a substantial leap forward in the country’s bat research.
Just like in any other lab, it’s a time-honored tradition for Kingston’s lab members to attend the annual TTABSS. This year, four members showcased parts of their PhD dissertation work. Abby snagged the Best Oral Presentation in Ecology award! Hurray!
Abby in action presenting her award-winning talk!
Isham, Ashraf, and Touseef also did their part in keeping this tradition alive, presenting on community ecology in fragmented habitats, species responses to land-use change, and bat responses to heat stress.
Ashraf explains the his research into the understudied bat species of BangladeshAmir standing proudly with his masterpiece!
But let’s not forget our recent undergraduate bat scientists who had their chance to shine at TTABSS! This year, we’ve got Amir Batrice stepping up to present his work on “Measuring Asian Social Media Sentiments Towards Bat Exploitation”.
Isham (and his coffee!) presenting on species assemblages in MalaysiaTouseef (and his professional looking title slide)
We’re aiming to bring home even more awards for the lab in the future. You BAT that’s right! We’re keeping our eyes peeled for more conferences to hit up!
Want to know more about modeling human behavior for conservation research? Look no further! Abby’s got you covered in her GBatNet “My Field for Dummies” webinar, available now on YouTube (jargon optional).
Touseef and co-authors conducted a comparative analysis of abstracts presented at the 1st (2011) and 6th (2020) World One Health Congresses (WOHC) to examine the evolution and current state of One Health research, focusing on demographic, disciplinary scope, and geographical representation.
Key findings include:
Disease Surveillance remained the most represented research category at both congresses, indicating a consistent priority within One Health research.
Environmental and Ecological Issues and Sustainable Food Systems were among the least represented categories, despite the growing global emphasis on sustainable development challenges.
A significant increase in Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) research, from 1% of abstracts in 2011 to 13% in 2020, highlights evolving research priorities.
Authors from Very High Human Development index countries tended to focus on Public Policy, whereas those from Medium and Low Human Development countries prioritized Disease Surveillance, indicating potential regional differences in One Health research priorities.
International collaboration is instrumental in enhancing participation from countries with lower human development indexes, although discrepancies remain in the representation of global regions and the alignment between funding recipients and research subjects.
The plight of large fruit bats on paleotropical islands was flagged over half a century ago. Despite this, species of Pteropus, Acerodon, and related genera of Large Old World Fruit Bats (herein, LOWFB) remain among the most endangered bat groups globally. Naturally, Tigga stepped up collaborating with esteemed bat scientists F.B. Vincent Florens and Christian E. Vincenot to explore this pressing issue. They utilized the IUCN Red List assessments and information from the literature to uncover why these bats are in trouble. No surprise here – habitat loss, hunting, climate change, and persecution (Let’s dub them the BIG FOUR) pose significant threats to the LOWFB. These poor bats are built differently, with biological and ecological attributes that make them even more vulnerable to these threats, accelerating their population decline.
Viewer discretion is advised!😔 Sourced: Social media.
So why should we care? Well, because they’re keystone species! Losing these skypuppies could set off a domino effect throughout native ecosystems. Check out the publication to discover more about the proposed conservation strategies aimed at halting the decline of these critical bats, especially in island habitats.
It is another super fine day when we hear of another success from the lab. Dr. Obitte has gone and defended his PhD today! His hard work on identifying the socio-ecological drivers and consequences of bat hunting in the Afrotropics has paid off! Hats off to Ben! We want to give a big Thank You to his fellow committee members and all the other folks who have been involved, both directly and indirectly, throughout his PhD journey.
Abby presenting her talkTigga explaining “What is GBatNet”
This September Tigga and Abby joined bat researchers from across Africa and around the world at the IUCN African bats Red List workshop and 14th African Small Mammal Symposium in Swakopmund Namibia. While there, Tigga led an evening workshop on grant writing, and Abby, along with fellow GBatNet student representative Cecilia Montauban, led one for students on writing applications.
Kingston Lab past and presentWelwitschia!A good signSmall mammal tracksDunes as far as the eye can see
After the Red List workshop, they joined the African Small Mammal Symposium and presented work on modeling bat hunting in Sub-Saharan Africa and GBatNet. A mid-week field trip to the Gobabeb Training and Research Centre yielded some spectacular dunes and desert small mammal sightings!
Y’all know the quintessential activity for graduate students in the Kingston Bat Conservation Ecology lab – you guessed it: fieldwork!
One of the bats the team captured last summer. It quickly became a darling to the whole team!
Isham led another field season in the summer of 2023, and it gets better each passing year! The weather favored them, and they had successful nights of bat trappings. The team covered two sites throughout the summer, capturing over 500 bats and surveying approximately 200 vegetation plots. Whew, that’s a lot of plots!
Dr. Kingston standing in front of the grand Mersawa tree.
Things really picked up when Dr. Kingston jumped on board halfway through the summer to gather materials for the Broader Impacts component of the project. She spent countless hours each day capturing some fine videos of the forests, the bats, and all the other critters calling the forest their home.
Here’s one with the team from Malaysia National University (UKM) after we wrapped up processing the final bat for the summer!
At the moment, we’re gearing up to get some of our hard work published! One of our projects, which is part of Isham’s dissertation is to look into processes behind the disassembly of bat assemblages when faced with fragmentation. We’re working hard to get this one published, so y’all best stay tuned for some more bat science straight out of the Kingston lab!
Parabiologist Shafiq in action; collecting samples from bats captured in Krau Wildlife Reserve, Malaysia.
Love 🧬#GENETICS, love 🦠 #MICROBES, love 🦇 #BATS? Excited by integrative research? Tigga Kingston and Caleb Phillips at Texas Tech University are hiring an #integrative biology #postdoc to join us on an NSF-supported project that integrates bat genetics, molecular dietary analysis, and microbiome data from forest-dependent bats sampled across a habitat degradation gradient in Malaysia to quantify processes and relationships shaping microbiome communities.
Required Qualifications: Doctoral Degree (or foreign equivalent) that incorporated bioinformatic approaches to answer questions in ecology, evolution, genetics or closely related fields. Examples would include, but not be limited to, genomics, metagenomics, or microbial ecology. The degree should be completed by May 2023. Proven interests in integrative science crossing disciplines and enthusiasm for the integration of omics data and ecology.
Preferred Qualifications: Strong communication skills across disciplines as demonstrated by published or submitted peer-reviewed scientific manuscripts. Keen interest in or experience with high dimensional, integrative data analyses. Applicants should be willing to work as part of a diverse multidisciplinary and multicultural team and be excited about educational outreach and engagement.
Brief Description of Duties & Opportunities: Our goals are to determine how genetics, sociality, and diet influence the assembly of bat microbiomes and how assembly processes are disrupted by habitat degradation. The postdoctoral researcher (PDR) will work closely with Dr Phillips employing informatic approaches to answer these questions. As part of the project, the postdoctoral researcher will have ample opportunity to build on or acquire primary skill sets in metagenomic and genomic analyses, advanced statistics. The PDR will work closely with Dr Kingston on the development and implementation of a broader impact program that brings bat and microbiome diversity to 4th and 5th graders. Specifically, the PDR will:
Analyze and integrate molecular ecological data sets including ddRADseq, diet and environmental insect sampling (COI gene) and microbiome composition (16S).
Build on or acquire primary skill sets in bioinformatics and statistics (e.g., structural equation modeling) and secondary skill sets in fieldwork and integrative analyses.
Prepare manuscripts including writing, editing, and figure preparation. May also assist in grant writing.
Assist with developing and implementing an innovative active-learning experience called “The Malaysian Bat Education Adventure”.
Work in close collaboration with the two PIs and graduate students.
Presenting at Scientific Conferences and Meetings.
The position is funded for one year with the possibility of a second year.
Apply!
Application packages should include CV, contact information for three references, Research Statement, and three examples of the applicant’s published work. Please submit applications to caleb.phillips@ttu.edu with the subject line “Integrative Microbiome Assembly Postdoc”.
Isham and Ashraf set up harp traps to capture cool forest bats in Malaysia
Another day, another (student scholar) dollar! Congratulations to Isham for the 2023 Bat Conservation International student scholar award! Isham’s award will provide financial support to help his research on disentangling the processes structuring bat communities across a gradient of habitat degradation.
Kingston Lab 