Ep. 34: Bat Ecology with Dr. Dana Green, Part I

Bat expert Dr. Dana Green is known online as The Eyepatch Biologist.

As a science communicator, a pun connoisseur, and a woman who knows a good joke when it's staring her in the face, Dana says of herself, "What a wonderful bat advocate to go half blind."

In Dana's interview with Sean, she tells us about her master's degree studying grasshopper mice (predatory, solitary, highly aggressive mice that howl) and her PhD in bat ecology, which she completed at the University of Regina in Saskatchewan. We learn about echolocation and other bat chatter, fact check Hank Green's viral video (Do we know where bats go in winter? Not entirely...) and learn about bat species in Canada. We assuage some fears about bats carrying disease, explore the challenges of tracking bat migration, exclaim over the mysteries of bat reproduction, and celebrate their benefits in the garden. The episode is as wide-ranging as these fascinating mammals are, but we spend time especially on the lives of hoary bats, pallid bats, New Zealand's flightless bats, and the Mexican free-tailed bat...or at least their smell! 

Craving even more bat facts? Then you're in luck! Part two of this interview will be posted next week.

Learn More

Dana's website: https://www.danagreeneco.com/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@theeyepatchbiologist
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eyepatchbiologist/

Sean and Dana drop a lot of names in this conversation. Here are the experts they mention: 

• Hank Green, science communicator: https://hankgreen.com/ 

• Dr. Brock Fenton, bat researcher and mentor of bat researchers: https://letstalkscience.ca/careers/brock-fenton 

• Mark Brigham, Dana's supervisor at the University of Regina: https://www.uregina.ca/science/biology/directory/academic-staff-and-adjuncts/mark-brigham.html  

• Robert Barclay, bat researcher: https://profiles.ucalgary.ca/robert-barclay 

• Ted Weller, migratory hoary bat researcher: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Theodore-Weller

• Sophiane, aka @honkifurhoary, science communicator: https://www.instagram.com/honkifurhoary/

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Citations

Bat Reproduction Fact Check
H, T. (2020, October 16). BAT Reproduction – Illinois BAT Conservation program. https://www.illinoisbats.org/bat-reproduction 

Credits

Website Design and Illustration by Sophia Alladin

Intro and Outro Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!): https://uppbeat.io/t/soundroll/when-my-ukulele-plays
License code: GWOIMMBAS15FG6PH

Timestamps

00:12 Introducing Dr. Dana Green
01:36 Bats, Grasshopper Mice, and Going Feral: Dana's Education Journey
04:55 Sound Bite: Grasshopper Mouse
05:01 Can You Hear Echolocation? 
05:30 Sound Bite: Echolocation
07:25 Dana's Retinal Detachment
15:40 Dana Caused Sean's First TikTok Violation
16:53 Bat Species in Canada
19:00 The Bat Research Community
21:30 Do We Know Where Bats Go In Winter?
25:53 Bats' Unique Relationship with Disease
28:47 Tangent: Funding Rant
31:00 Back to Bat Tracking
34:45 Ted Weller, Bat Pregnancy, and Pups
41:36 The Pallid Bat, Potential Pollinator and Centipede Eater
44:00 Bats as Garden Friends
47:33 Outdoor Cats are Ecological Disasters
51:42 Bats' Horrendous Smell
53:46 Conclusion and Contact Us