Welcome!
The Global Union of Bat Diversity Networks (GBatNet) is a network of bat diversity and conservation networks (and affiliated organizations) that are committed to understanding the diversity of bats and how to secure their future in a changing world.
GBatNet Vision: Sustainable diversity in a changing world
GBatNet Mission: To integrate bat research and conservation networks across diverse disciplines and geographies to achieve the following goals:
1. Decode the "Rules of Life"
We study how bats have evolved their unique traits--from flight to immunity--to understand the fundamental principles that allowed them to diversity and thrive.
2. Predictive Modelling
We use our research to build early-warning systems that identify which bat species are most at risk from human activities and climate change.
3. Design for Resilience
We use our predictive frameworks to prepare conservation strategies to slow and reverse the rapid decline of bat populations and protect the world's bat diversity.
4. Safeguard Our Shared Future
Bats are vital to human survival, providing billions of dollars in natural pest suppression, pollination, and seed dispersal. We work to secure these benefits while proactively managing public health risks to ensure humans and bats can thrive together.
5. Empower a New Generation of Leaders
We don't just do the science: we build the scientists. We training, empowering, and connecting a diverse new generation of US and international scientists to lead the charge in bat conservation.
You can learn more by checking out our Strategic Directions.
What We Do
Collaborative Projects
We have 15 working groups that address key questions that relate to our goals. Members are drawn from across the networks and integrate different perspectives, skills, and knowledge.
You can learn more on our interdisciplinary projects page.
Communicate
GBatNet networks hold a great diversity of expertise, but if we are to work together, we need to understand each other’s disciplines. We host monthly “My Field For Dummies” webinars, organize workshops for facilitating interdisciplinary collaborations, vet outreach and educational materials from across the globe in multiple languages, and more.
Train and Empower
We develop the next generation of bat scientists by supporting our 18 GBatNet graduate student and postdoctoral scholars through a series of professional development and skill-building activities along wth expert mentorship that prepare them to successfully execute GBatNet goals and student research projects. Students gain leadership experience through their participation in leadership roles in GBatNet member networks, working groups, integrative projects, and student-led projects.
Events
GBatNet supports networks by co-hosting scientific conferences or attending events in biodiversity hotspots. We work with member networks to identify priority needs and host workshops that address skill or knowledge gaps and provide continuing expert support where necessary.
Our Team
Spearheading this effort are:
Dr. Tigga Kingston is a Professor of Biology at Texas Tech University. Her research on conservation ecology uses an integrative approach that combines studies of functional, reproductive, landscape, community, and microbial ecology to understand community assembly and disassembly in response to anthropogenic changes to habitats. She is the Founder of the SEABCRU, Co-Chair of the IUCN BSG and BOHRN, on the Steering Committee of BCA and Scientific Advisory Board of WABNet, and a member of the GBTWG.
Dr. Nancy Simmons is Curator-in-charge of the Department of Mammalogy at the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH), and a Professor in the museum's Richard Gilder Graduate School. Her research focuses on morphology, evolution, and systematics of bats, and she collaborates with specialists in other fields on studies of bat community structure, parasites, microbiomes, and pathogens. She is Chair of the GBTWG, and a member of the IUCN BSG, BPEN, SEABCRU, and Bat1K, and on the Board of Directors of BCI.
Dr. Liliana Dávalos is a Professor of Ecology and Evolution at SUNY Stony Brook. Her research focuses on the biotic and abiotic mechanisms that produce species and trait diversity, and how growing human activities affect the old-growth forests where diversity concentrates. These questions are integrated across two disparate scales to analyze how past extinction events caused by humans can help conserve extant species; one uses phylogenetics and comparative analyses to answer questions about diversification in deep time, and the other applies remote sensing and spatial statistics to probe recent human history. She is on the Board of Directors of Bat1K, and Scientific Advisory Board of BCI.
Dr. Susan Tsang is a Research Associate at AMNH and National Museum of the Philippines, and Research Collaborator at the National Museum of Natural History--Smithsonian Institution. Her research focuses on the evolution, biogeography, and conservation of Old World fruit bats, and she collaborates with other specialists to study aspects of bat-borne pathogens and functional genomics. Her scientific consultancy through her company, Biodiversitas Global, focuses on trafficking, sustainability, and capacity building. She is on the Steering Committee of SEABCRU, the Regional Chair for Oceania in Bat1K, and a member of the IUCN BSG, GBTWG, and BOHRN.
Steering Committee
GBatNet is also advised by a Steering Committee of bat scientists from all around the world and a variety of backgrounds.
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Dr. Cullen Geiselman -
Dr. Ian Mendenhall -
Dr. Iroro Tanshi -
Dr. Liam McGuire -
Dr. Luis Aguirre -
Dr. Paul Webala -
Dr. Suzanne Hand -
Dr. Winifred Frick
Student Representatives
GBatNet Student Representatives are the next generation of global leaders in research and conservation, ensuring that we include a plurality of voices and viewpoints from different regions, disciplines, and career stages as part of our networking and capacity building activities. GBatNet Students are selected through a competitive process from a global pool of motivated students with a passion for bat research and conservation. Learn more about the selection process here.
Click on each of the images to learn more about each GBatNet student representative!
 Abby Rutrough |
 Nor Amira Abdul Rahman |
 Cecilia Montauban |
 Dana Green |
 Gloria González de Weston |
 Gwenddolen Kettenburg |
 Thongthai Thavornwatanayong |
 Lexi Frank |
 Cheyenne Graham |
 Andrea Bernal-Rivera |
 Robin Rowland |
 Sophio Maglakelidze |
 Beatriz Dybas da Natividade |
 Chiara Scaramella |
 Franck Meyo |
 Md Ashraf Ul Hasan |
 Pedro Monico |
 Thiombiano Palamanga Parfait |
 Touseef Ahmed |
 Nathaly Nicole Camargo Quiroga |
Our Sponsors
GBatNet is supported by a US National Science Foundation AccelNet grant.
- AccelNet: Accelerating Research through International Network-to-Network Collaborations
- The program designed to support global networks of networks to "accelerate the process of scientific discovery and prepare the next generation of U.S. researchers for multiteam international collaborations."
- AccelNet award numbers: 2020577, 2020595, 2020565.
- Learn more about the AccelNet grant here
