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

Nov 2023
Pictured on the right; Mark and Jennifer Psyllakis at Canadian Association of Grad studies meeting where they gave a joint talk on mentorship. Jennifer is Exec. Director, Wildlife, Habitat and Species recovery for the Ministry of Water, Land, and Resource stewardship in British Columbia and a lab graduate (Msc 2001)!
The Oops award for 2023 has been awarded to Emma, Luisa, Siobhan, and Isabelle AKA the "Cypress Ladies" for fun with a bull. Other nominations included a touching ode to the futility of lab trucks
Former PhD student and Post-Doctoral Fellow, Brandon and Erin Baerwald won an award for best beer in the Country!
Pictured on the right; Mark and Jennifer Psyllakis at Canadian Association of Grad studies meeting where they gave a joint talk on mentorship. Jennifer is Exec. Director, Wildlife, Habitat and Species recovery for the Ministry of Water, Land, and Resource stewardship in British Columbia and a lab graduate (Msc 2001)!
The Oops award for 2023 has been awarded to Emma, Luisa, Siobhan, and Isabelle AKA the "Cypress Ladies" for fun with a bull. Other nominations included a touching ode to the futility of lab trucks
Former PhD student and Post-Doctoral Fellow, Brandon and Erin Baerwald won an award for best beer in the Country!
Oct 2023
Lab trip to NASBR (North American Symposium of Bat Research)! Congratulations to everyone who presented and a special congratulations to Dana Green on winning an award for her presentation on intra- and interspecific cortisol levels in bats!!!
Lab trip to NASBR (North American Symposium of Bat Research)! Congratulations to everyone who presented and a special congratulations to Dana Green on winning an award for her presentation on intra- and interspecific cortisol levels in bats!!!
Sept 2023
We welcomed to three undergraduate students to the lab (Kendal, Nathan and Siobhan) to begin their Honors/Independent Research projects
Start of a new academic year! Congratulations to Hannah and Emma on finishing their MSc field work.
We welcomed to three undergraduate students to the lab (Kendal, Nathan and Siobhan) to begin their Honors/Independent Research projects
Start of a new academic year! Congratulations to Hannah and Emma on finishing their MSc field work.