Austin Peay University Students conduct important Research on the Bats at Dunbar Cave
July 3, 2012
Clarksville, TN – On a muggy evening in late June, several Austin Peay State University graduate and undergraduate students hiked up to the mouth of Dunbar Cave in the hopes of finding a few bats.
The group brought with them a large Harp trap, consisting of a metal frame inset with rows of thin fishing line, and three high-frequency microphones and computerized recording units. After setting up their equipment, they sat in the cool dark of the cave opening and waited.
APSU graduate student Veronica Mullen and former APSU graduate student Josh Schulte prepare for a night of monitoring bats at Dunbar Cave.
Forest Service Taps APSU Center of Excellence for Field Biology to Study Bat Population at LBL
August 15, 2010
On a muggy summer night, while cicadas and crickets screeched in the woods at the Land Between The Lakes Recreational Area, a couple of Austin Peay State University graduate students attached a small microphone to the top of a van. Once it was set, they drove slowly through the wooded natural area, collecting sounds they couldn’t hear with the naked ear.
“The microphone records bat calls – high frequency sounds we don’t hear generally,” graduate student Seth McCormick said. “It records and makes a document of it, so we’re able to see the pattern of each bat call. That way we can determine what species of bats are present.”
McCormick and APSU grad student Morgan Kurz have made names for themselves within the scientific community in recent years because of their in-depth bat research. Their expertise led the U.S. Forest Service to contract with the APSU Center of Excellence in Field Biology this summer to monitor bat species in the 300-plus acre natural area. [Read more]
