White Nose Syndrome in Bats

Talk Overview

Collaboration with Science in the Classroom

This talk is a supplement to the annotated primary literature paper found in the American Association for the Advancement of Science’s (AAAS) Science in the Classroom Project.

A horrific fungal disease called White Nose Syndrome began to cause massive mortality of small brown bats in the Northeastern United States in 2006. Dr. Frick explains that she and her colleagues used historical data from bat censuses and recent mortality data to model possible outcomes for bat populations in this region. Sadly, their data indicate almost certain regional extinction for the bats unless this disease can be stopped. This work was done in Dr. Thomas Kunz’s lab at Boston University. Dr. Frick is currently an Assistant Adjunct Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

Speaker Bio

Winifred Frick

Winifred is an assistant adjunct professor in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at UC Santa Cruz. My research is broadly focused on exploring how populations respond to anthropogenic and natural stressors. Much of my research focuses on bats, although my interests in ecology and conservation transcend my mono-taxophilic research habit. I believe good science combines natural… Continue Reading