Bat Habitat Assessment
Each NRTG course includes free, lifetime admission. Enrol once – come back anytime.
Description
Bat Habitat Assessment is an applied, two-day, online course with student-led field and data analysis assignments. This course focuses on the step-by-step approach to identifying and documenting bat habitat in the field and utilizing industry standard acoustic monitoring techniques to confirm habitat use by species.
Program Outcomes
Upon successful completion, participants will be able to:
- Identify key bat species in Canada and the Northern United States.
- Determine whether potentially suitable bat habitat is present at a site through both desktop and field assessments.
- Conduct a field-based assessment to confirm habitat suitability for key bat species in Canada.
- Design a field survey to confirm habitat use.
- Analyze and interpret basic acoustic data from field surveys.
Prerequisites
There are no formal prerequisites. Knowledge and experience with basic field skills such as map reading, compass, and GPS is recommended, along with some familiarity with vegetation and plant identification methods.
Certification
To successfully complete the bat course, participants must attend the full course and complete desktop and field exercises. If a participant has barriers to completing the field exercise, alternative options may be approved by the instructor.
Who attends?
Recent graduates looking for hands-on training, field ecologists, biologists, or technicians.
How do I attend?
This course is available for individual registration via our website schedule, or by contract to community groups or organizations as a private delivery. To schedule a private delivery, please contact us well in advance of your preferred start date.
What should I bring or supply?
You will need:
- Computer
- Stable internet access
- Pen and paper
Please note that each afternoon features a student-led field component. See the recommended equipment list for these sessions below. If a participant does not have the equipment, alternatives can be arranged with the instructor.
Appropriate clothing for field work, including suitable all-weather boots
- Field notebook
- Camera (phone camera is acceptable)
- Compass (phone app is acceptable)
- GPS (phone app is acceptable)
- Field guides to local trees
- Measuring tape or Diameter at Breast Height (DBH) tape
- Binoculars
- Google Earth Pro (free download)
- Smart phone or printer for reviewing air photos
Instructor Profiles
Matt Dil
Ecologist
Matt Dil is an Ecologist with over 13 years of experience working in the environmental sector and has developed a specialization in bats and other wildlife ecology. Matt has experience with a wide variety of wildlife survey protocols including agency-recommended protocols for bat maternity roost assessments, acoustic monitoring and data analysis, visual emergence surveys (treed habitats and anthropogenic structures), Breeding Bird Surveys and targeted Species at Risk (SAR) surveys (e.g., Bank Swallow, Jefferson Salamander, Western Chorus Frog). Prior to being an ecology consultant in Ontario, he gained international experience as an avian biologist in Texas, and also conducted surveys for owls, ptarmigan and other wildlife on Vancouver Island, BC.
Maggie Pugh, M.Sc
Ecologist
Maggie Pugh is an Ecologist with more than 18 years specializing in ecosystem assessment. She completed graduate research in Canada’s northern wetlands and has worked as an ecologist in the private sector for more that 15 years. She is a seasoned field biologist with expertise in Species at Risk screenings and permitting, flora and fauna inventories, seasonal wildlife surveys, significant wildlife habitat assessment, rare species monitoring programs, wetland and vegetation community assessments, sediment/ erosion control and environmental monitoring. Maggie is an Ontario Wetland Evaluation System (OWES) evaluator, Butternut Health Assessor, and is certified in Ecological Land Classification (ELC).