Welcome to the lab!
Our lab is interested in the behaviour and ecology of temperate insect eating bats and nocturnal insectivorous birds called goatsuckers. My students and I study how these organisms cope with environmental constraints (e.g., cold, drought, loss of habitat). This includes addressing questions about prey selection, prey detection abilities, the influence of moonlight, habitat selection and the nature of torpor use. There are obvious natural comparisons between goatsuckers and bats. Students in my lab are currently working on diverse projects including torpor use, roost site selection, niche and diet overlap and response to distress calls by bats, impacts of grazing on grassland birds and the nature of wildlife use of urban areas, |
Lab News
July 2024
Emma Blanken successful defended her MSc thesis.
Mark is on sabbatical for a year. He will be spending time with Anne at Rhodes University in South Africa working with Ben Smit again. This will be followed by some time back in Canada with family before spending time working with Zen Czenze and Fritz Geiser at the University of New England in Armidale, Australia. The goal for the year is to write up manuscripts from unpublished theses.

June 2024
Congratulations to April DeJong who has agreed to come on board as a new MSc student in September.
Congratulations to April DeJong who has agreed to come on board as a new MSc student in September.
May 2024
Congratulations to Dana Green and Hannah Wilson for successfully defending their PhD and MSc theses respectively!
Congratulations to Dana Green and Hannah Wilson for successfully defending their PhD and MSc theses respectively!