Announcing Our 2026 Scholarship Award Recipients

By combining experimental plots, bioacoustic monitoring, and DNA-based diet analysis, she will assess how bats influence insect pest abundance and crop damage. Projects like this help demonstrate the clear economic and ecological value of bats, shifting perceptions and strengthening the case for conserving bat habitats. 

Thanks to support from several generous donors, including Anne, Julie, and Brittany Johnson; we were able to award five additional applicants $5,000 each in support for their outstanding research.

• Amanda Vilchez (Peru) will investigate the traditional use of vampire bat guano in maize farming in the Sacred Valley (Cusco), where Indigenous communities coat seeds with guano to protect against fungal and bacterial pathogens. By evaluating its effectiveness as a natural pest protectant and fertilizer, her project highlights a unique ecosystem service and aims to improve perceptions of a species linked only to human–livestock conflict. This work may reshape negative narratives around vampire bats — benefiting broader bat conservation efforts. Please feel free to watch this video to learn more about Amanda’s project.
• Luiggi Carrasco-Escudero (Peru) will study the vulnerable smoky bat (Amorphochilus schnablii) in the mangroves of San Pedro de Vice (Piura), where a key colony occupies a unique mosaic of mangrove, dry forest, and riparian habitat. His project will evaluate the species’ ecological role — particularly its potential to regulate insect populations, including disease vectors like mosquitoes — using acoustic monitoring and DNA metabarcoding fecal analysis to assess diet and habitat use across vegetation types. By generating critical data in a rapidly threatened landscape, this work will inform conservation strategies, strengthen the link between biodiversity and public health, and support future reassessments of the species’ conservation status.
• Sarah Ciarrachi (United States) will investigate how essential dietary nutrients influence prey selection and habitat use in reproductive female bats in Grand Canyon National Park. Because these nutrients are far more abundant in aquatic insects than in terrestrial ones, this project explores whether these bats actively seek out nutrient-rich prey and how this varies across habitats and reproductive stages. The findings will prove useful in the education of millions who visit Grand Canyon National Park. They can also inform targeted conservation strategies by identifying the most important habitats and prey for supporting reproductive bats, while also advancing public understanding of bat ecology and the importance of protecting their ecosystems.
• Sreehari Raman (India) will study the roosting behavior and activity patterns of the rarely seen bamboo bat (Tylonycteris pachypus aurex) in the bamboo-rich Western Ghats of southern India. Although bamboo is promoted as an eco-friendly alternative to wood, rising demand and unsustainable harvesting are degrading these habitats, likely reducing suitable roosting sites for bamboo bats. This research will address key ecological gaps by examining structural factors influencing roost selection, documenting fine-scale activity patterns, and developing science-based conservation strategies for cavity-roosting bats. By identifying critical habitat features and threats from unsustainable bamboo harvest, the study aims to inform targeted conservation actions and community engagement to protect this highly specialized species.
• Wongani Sibande (Malawi) will expand research on epauletted fruit bats — the most widespread genus of fruit bats on the African continent, endemic to sub-saharan Africa, and representing six of Malawi’s ten recorded fruit bat species. Threatened by habitat loss, deforestation, and negative perceptions, these bats remain poorly understood despite their important role in seed dispersal and forest regeneration. Building on prior roost surveys in Mangochi District, Wongani will expand monitoring to better assess species diversity, roost ecology, and diet — also hoping to overcome challenges in species identification. In addition, he will work directly with local communities to plant seeds dispersed by bats — collected from fruits they drop or pass — helping restore forests while demonstrating these bats’ vital ecological role. This project aims to strengthen conservation efforts and improve local attitudes toward these essential ecosystem engineers.