Local biologists are calling for “citizen scientists” to help them count and track bats in Southeast Alaska.
Biologists from the Southeast Alaska Acoustic Bat Monitoring Program will give a presentation at 6 p.m. Wednesday at the Valley Library to those interested in helping their efforts. The two wildlife biologists — Tory Rhoads and Steve Lewis — will offer a hands-on demonstration of using bat detectors, as well as a slideshow about bats in general.
[Tracking Juneau’s endangered bats]
The program runs from early April to early October, in an effort to learn more about bat patterns in the region. The process of recording bats takes about an hour, and is fairly easy. The “citizen scientist” drives an established route for about an hour, driving 20 miles per hour. The bat detector records bats in the area and a GPS device logs the route while recording the location of bats. This survey is done once a week or every other week.
Juneau is one of five communities in Southeast Alaska to be conducting the surveys. For more information on the program and how to get involved, those interested are encouraged to visit akcitizenscience.net.
