Helping build the next generation of collaborative international bat researchers!

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GBatNet’s student and early career scholars from around the world, including Ashraf and Abby, gathered in Tempe, Arizona, for our first-ever in-person student-only workshop on developing multidisciplinary, international research collaborations. Part of PI Tigga Kingston’s broader Global Union of Bat Diversity Networks, these students and recent grads were mentored in grant writing and project development by co-PIs Nancy Simmons and Susan Tsang, and former lab member Iroro Tanshi. Three very full days and a fantastic field trip to catch bats at a Macrotis californicus roost later (thank you Arizona Department of Fish and Game!), everyone walked away having written four collaborative grant proposals.

We look forward to seeing where these projects go!

Bats and Taquilla in Guadalajara, NASBR 2024 was a blast!

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Lots of familiar faces of past and present lab members at NASBR 2024! Despite some technical difficulties, Ben presented his talk “Taste, Influence, and Availability: the Key Factors driving Bat Meat Consumption”. Ben’s talk showed that bat meat consumption is driven by an interplay of multiple socio-cultural factors rather than just economics.  These findings underscore the importance of structuring conservation and public health interventions to more integratively target all drivers of behavior concern. Abby won the Luis F. Bacardi Bat Conservation Award for her talk “Bat Hunting in Sub-Saharan Africa: Mapping the Distribution of a Conservation-Relevant Human Behavior Using Hypothesis-Driven Models”, which was full of stats, bats, and maps (three of her favorite things!). Former lab post doc Maria Sagot encouraged her fellow bat scientists to join EchoMap, a collaborative global effort to increase capacity-building for bat acoustic monitoring resources. Learn more about EchoMap here. And of course, everyone had a great time at the banquet!

From the Bat Cave – Integrative Disease Ecology Research for Undergraduates

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Do you have an interest in bats, ecology, and viromes?
Are you looking for an opportunity to conduct field research?
Are you ready to sink your teeth into cutting-edge research?

We are seeking self-motivated, curious, and collaborative students for an exciting 7-week paid National Science Foundation (NSF) research experience investigating environment-host-virome dynamics within wild Egyptian fruit bats (Rousettus aegyptiacus). This interactive learning and research opportunity introduces undergraduates to integrative disease research, including fieldwork in Puerto Rico! Students will receive guided mentorship, attend daily group meetings, and get hands-on training in fieldwork, data analysis, coding, and science communication!

Eligible participants must be US citizens, US nationals, or US permanent residents and current students or recent college graduates. Selected undergraduates will devote five weeks to online training and group activities and 10 days to in-person field ecology training in Puerto Rico. All travel and accommodation expenses to Puerto Rico will be covered. Undergraduates will also receive a stipend of $5,000 for the 7 weeks. We particularly encourage students from underrepresented minorities to apply. Don’t let this NSF funded opportunity fly by! Apply now to join this Bat Cave for Summer 2025!

Application deadline is October 31, 2024. For more information and application instructions, please visit the link: https://lmdavalos.github.io/post/24-09-18-batcave/

Touseef Awarded Travel Grant to Present at the 8th World One Health Congress in South Africa!

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AMR is a growing One Health concern, and understanding the role of wildlife, especially species like flying foxes, in spreading resistant bacteria is crucial for the health of humans, animals, and the environment.

Touseef’s research focuses on an important, yet often overlooked, driver of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) – environmental temperature and relative humidity. These factors indirectly affect wildlife behaviors, which can increase the risk of encountering antimicrobial residues and pathogenic Extended Spectrum β-Lactamase (ESBL) producing E. coli.  

Proposed Environmental Antimicrobial Resistance Propagation Pathways by Pteropus medius

Research Key Highlights:

  • Resistance was found against last resort Reserve class antibiotics such as aztreonam (16%) and imipenem (2%).
  • 46% of isolates showed multi-drug resistance.
  • 37% were ESBL producers, with the blaTEM gene present in over 90% of isolates, particularly in winter samples.
  • Environmental and land use factors like human settlement and water bodies were found to influence the isolation of resistant genes.

This research sheds light on the complex relationship between environmental factors, land use, and AMR propagation via P. medius, emphasizing the need for an integrated One Health approach to combat AMR.

Kingston lab talks about Malaysian bats and their prey in Long Beach!

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Our Malaysian bat project team (Isham, Hendra and Rahul) represented the Kingston lab at the 109th annual meeting of the Ecological Society of America in Long Beach, California from August 4 to 8, 2024. Isham’s brilliant presentation showed how the expected environmental filtering and niche packing for insectivorous bats were significant in continuous forests but not in the fragmented patches, highlighting the role of stochastic processes in fragmented landscapes. Hendra gave a data-rich yet engrossing talk on optimizing methods for metabarcoding insects from bulk samples captured using light traps. He demonstrated that four subsamples of 100μL each recovered 90% Operational Taxonomic Units (OTU; equivalent to species) from these homogenized samples of potential bat prey. Rahul’s presentation carried Hendra’s research forward by identifying forest characteristics that influenced insect alpha diversity. Additionally, his work showed that dietary diversity of insectivorous bats was not linked to prey diversity and there was limited overlap between OTUs recovered from light traps and those from bat feces.   

In addition to the super-insightful plenary sessions, our team had a great time dashing from room to room catching up on much cool science being presented simultaneously! With over 3500 attendees, plenty of exhibitions and dedicated career counselling sessions, they benefitted immensely in terms of networking opportunities.  

Nigeria Field Update 2024: Integrative Disease Ecology Field Season Successfully Completed!

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Our second field season in Nigeria wrapped up this summer after an intensive seven months of bat surveys and sampling (November 2023 – June 2024). Ben led a field team of 15 to survey 17 caves across two sites in southern Nigeria sampling 1266 bats. This work is part of our larger collaborative effort to understand how human disturbance affects the complex relationships between bats, their environment, and their host viruses – critical knowledge for predicting and preventing viral spillover events. While focusing on the ever-cute Egyptian fruit bat (Rousettus aegyptiacus), the team also sampled other 17 bat species including the beautiful Otomops martiensseni, a new country record for Nigeria!

The team collecting samples
Caving is fun!
Ben installing an air sampler to trial a new e-sampling technique in a cave

Perhaps most importantly, this field season significantly strengthened the local capacity for bat research in Nigeria. Tigga and Dr. Simon Anthony were there to train field team on biosafety, sampling techniques etc.

Tigga demonstrates the use of calipers

The field season came with its fair share of challenges—maintaining cold chains for sample preservation was no cakewalk, with liquid nitrogen sources a bone-rattling 10-hour drive away. Add that to the logistical hurdles of hauling a 15L liquid nitrogen-charged dry shipper up and down a steep mountain, requiring a grueling 9-hour hike each way. But the dedication of the field team, especially our Nigerian colleagues, made it all fun.

Ben and Tigga took time to visit the Conservator of Park, Cross River State National Park
When you have a 9-hour hike on your hands, it’s hard not to stop every now and then for snacks and photos!
You need an army of enthusiastic porters all the time

GBatNet meeting 2024: building a sustainable future for bats

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To promote a shared vision of sustainable bat diversity in a changing world, the Global Union of Bat Diversity Networks (GBatNet) organized a meeting in Houston, Texas, from May 21–23, 2024. The event united 79 participants, including 19 vibrant student representatives, among them were Abby, Ashraf, and Touseef from Kingston Lab, showcasing the lab’s leadership in global conservation efforts. Fifteen working groups shared updates on their projects and set actionable goals for the next 1–3 years. Student representatives actively engaged with the working groups, exploring opportunities and contributing their energy and ideas.

Participants of GBatNet 2024 united for a sustainable future in bat diversity

From Green Canopies to Golden Fields: Ashraf Presents the Odyssey of Bangladeshi Bats to Texan Audiences

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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.

Bat Nerds on the March Again at the Annual Texas Tech Biological Sciences Symposium

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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 Bangladesh
Amir 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 Malaysia
Touseef (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!