Join us in kicking off October as we welco me three Smithsonian-affiliated scientists to teach us about the remarkabl e world of tropical bats!
\nFor decades\, scientists at the Smithson ian Tropical Research Institute have studied the remarkable biodiversity o f bats on Barro Colorado Island in Panama\, where an astonishing seventy-s ix species coexist. Now\, for the first time\, Smithsonian scientists&rsqu o\; expertise pairs with the stunning photography of \;National Geogra phic \;contributor Christian Ziegler for a captivating visual journey into the fascinating world of these elusive night creatures\, to bring you the book \;Bat Island: A Rare Journey into the Hidden World of Tropic al Bats.
\nBats are unique among mammals: they have acquired true fl ight\, they provide essential ecosystem services\, and represent the ecolo gically most diverse group of mammals worldwide. Synthesizing decades-wort h of intensive study\, Drs. Rachel Page\, Dina Dechmann\, Teague O&rsquo\; Mara\, and Marco Tschapka provide authoritative insight alongside 150 phot ographs that showcase bats&rsquo\; extraordinary environmental adaptations and rich natural history.
\nThis presentation will cover topics fro m the book\, such as the \;diverse sensory abilities of bats\, their f oraging strategies\, roosting ecologies\, and social systems. \;Bat Is land \;presents decades of study of the hyper diverse bat population o n Barro Colorado Island in addition to the most comprehensive and long-ter m datasets on tropical bats. The book and this presentation highlights how bats are threatened by habitat fragmentation and land degradation\, and c ommunicate the initiatives needed to ensure the survival of these animals\ , which are critical to maintaining healthy\, balanced ecosystems.
\nAnd let&rsquo\;s not forget\, the award-winning photojournalist Christian Ziegler&rsquo\;s photography as the images within the book illuminate the unique beauty and allure of bats and the tropical rainforest in Panama. R egister now for this rare look into \;Bat Island!
\n\;
\ nAbout the Presenters
\n\;Dr. Rachel A. Page \;is a staf f scientist at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama\, whe re she leads the Smithsonian Bat Lab (www.noseleaf.org). She is broadly in terested in animal behavior\, but her focus is understanding the sensory a nd cognitive tools bats use to navigate their worlds and interact with eac h other. After completing a BA at Columbia University and a PhD at the Uni versity of Texas at Austin\, Page conducted postdoctoral research as an Al exander von Humboldt fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology in Seewiesen\, Germany. Page has studied bats on Barro Colorado Island and t he surrounding areas for over two decades. She has a passion for understan ding rich\, tropical ecosystems and the myriad species interactions they e ncompass. In addition to conducting her own research\, Page mentors a larg e group of students. Page lives at the edge of the rainforest in Gamboa\, Panama. \;
\nDr. Dina K. N. Dechmann \;is a group leader at the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior (www.ab.mpg.de/dechmann) and a research associate at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. An evo lutionary ecologist by training\, her main research interest is how animal s adapt to fluctuations in the resources upon which they depend. She is fa scinated by how tiny mammals with fast metabolisms\, such as bats and shre ws\, adapt their morphology\, physiology\, and behavior to deal with the b ottlenecks created by changes in the food landscape. She works in ecosyste ms across the world\, but since her first visit to BCI in 2000\, she has b een struck by the diversity of the tropical bat community\, which remains a cornerstone of her research. She received her master&rsquo\;s degree at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich followed by a Ph D at the University of Zurich and was a postdoctoral fellow at the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research in Berlin. Since she was hired by Max Planck in 2009\, she has had the good fortune to supervise a group of brilliant young minds\, several of whom now run their own projects in Pan ama. Dechmann lives in the medieval town of Stein am Rhein in Switzerland. \;
\nDr. M. Teague O&rsquo\;Mara \;is the Director of Conse rvation Evidence at Bat Conservation International\, where he works on dat a-driven strategies for the conservation of global bat populations. O&rsqu o\;Mara has studied animal behavior\, movement\, and physiology across the globe\, with an emphasis on bats in Panama. He is a research associate at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior\, and an adjunct professor at Southeastern Louisiana Un iversity. He received his PhD from Arizona State University studying lemur development and social behavior\, and then switched to research with bats during postdoctoral work at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute\, the University of Konstanz\, and the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behav ior in Germany. He lives in Baton Rouge\, Louisiana.
\nFree access t o The Steve Redan Memorial Author Series is made possible through the supp ort and generosity of the Redan family.
\nRegister online or by call ing the library at (973) 584-2400.
\nhttps://roxburylibrary.libnet.info /event/11510859 URL;VALUE=URI:https://roxburylibrary.libnet.info/event/11510859 ATTACH:https://static.libnet.info/images/events/roxburylibrary/smithsonian batisland.jpg END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR