Kristen Lear, PhD
Bat Conservationist & Science Communicator
National Geographic Explorer
AAAS IF/THEN Ambassador
© E. Hammond, Athens, Georgia, 2019
Bat House Projects
Bat houses are a great way to provide critical roosting sites for bats, particularly in areas where natural roosting habitat is lacking. Bat houses are also a great way to engage the public in bat conservation, since anyone can make them! Below are some of the bat house projects in which I have been involved.
Bulldogs for Bats
Athens, Georgia
In late 2019 we launched the "Bulldogs for Bats" initiative at the University of Georgia. Our goal was to raise $5000 to: build and install bat houses at locations around campus and Athens; plant night pollinator gardens to provide foraging habitat to local bat species; and enhance bat education opportunities for Athens residents. We met our fundraising goal and have installed bat houses at the State Botanical Garden of Georgia and are planting pollinator gardens around the houses (these gardens will attract nocturnal insects that local bats can feed on). We are continuing our bat conservation and education work to make Bulldogs for Bats and the Athens Bat Connection a long-term initiative and to make Athens a "bat city"!
© K. Morales, Athens, Georgia, 2019
© E. Hammond, Athens, Georgia, 2019
© E. Hammond, Athens, Georgia, 2019
Athens, Georgia
Through a Wildlife Viewing Grant from the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, we built and installed bat houses in several local parks in Athens, Georgia, including Dudley Park and along the Athens Greenway trail. These bat houses have already attracted a small colony of Evening bats (Nycticeius humeralis). We are also planting night pollinator gardens around these houses, and leading evening public bat walks on a regular basis. Check out the Athens Bat Connection website for a story map showcasing our bat houses around town, a brochure about gardening for bats in Georgia, and more!
© K. Lear, Athens, Georgia, 2019
© K. Lear, Athens, Georgia, 2019
© K. Lear, Athens, Georgia, 2019
University of Georgia Campus Sustainability Grant
2018, Athens, Georgia
Our project team, including members of the Hepinstall-Cymerman lab at UGA, received a Campus Sustainability Grant to build and install bat houses at the University of Georgia. We hosted two bat house building workshops (with local Girl Scout troops and the UGA chapter of The Wildlife Society) and installed 13 houses at five locations around campus. Each location included two types of bat houses: standard bat houses (kits bought from Habitat for Bats) and rocket boxes to provide roosting habitat for different bat species. The houses will provide long-term educational and research opportunities for UGA students and the public.
© K. Lear, Athens, Georgia, 2018
© J. Hepinstall-Cymerman, Athens, Georgia, 2019
© T. Prebyl, Athens, Georgia, 2018
Undergraduate Honors Bat House Project
2010, San Saba, Texas
For my undergraduate Honors research at Ohio Wesleyan University, I built and installed 18 bat houses of two different designs (4-chamber nursery houses and rocket boxes (find blueprints here and here) and installed them in pecan orchards in central Texas. The houses attracted colonies (including a maternity colony!) of Evening bats (Nycticeius humeralis) and Mexican free-tailed bats (Tadarida brasiliensis), and are still fully occupied as of summer 2019.
© K. Lear, Cincinnati, Ohio, 2000
Girl Scout Silver Award Project
2000, Cincinnati, Ohio
My first bat project was in 6th grade, when I built and put up four bat houses in a local park in Cincinnati, Ohio for my Girl Scout Silver Award project. I already had a passion for bats from my troop's night hikes and reading the books "Stellaluna" as a young kid, so I used my Silver Award project to contribute to bat conservation. While the bat houses I built were not the best design and unfortunately they were vandalized after being installed, the project sparked my interest in pursuing bat conservation as a career, and now I can use my skills to help younger students with their own bat house projects!
© K. Lear, San Saba, Texas, 2010
© K. Lear, San Saba, Texas, 2010
© K. Lear, San Saba, Texas, 2010