Our captive Hardwicke’s woolly bats (Kerivoula hardwickii) preferred pitchers of bat-adapted Nepenthes hemsleyana plants (see previous blogs), and all woolly bats radio-tracked by Michael and Caroline Schöner in their primary study area consistently returned to the preferred N. hemsleyana pitchers. However the Schöners also found woolly bats in other kinds of plants. Even in their […]
Heavy and unpredictable rains made field photography in Brunei difficult. It was a great relief when we were finally able to obtain mealworms so we could keep tiny woolly bats (Kerivoula hardwickii) in our studio. Weighing less than a US nickel, they had been considered too small to be kept in captivity longer than overnight. […]
Merlin and I arrived in the capital city of Brunei, Bandar seri Begawan, on August 10th with only four of our five checked bags of 350 pounds of gear and equipment. Caroline and Michael Schöner, our hosts, met us at the airport to take us to the house they had been renting on the Labi […]
Merlin and I will be leaving for the island of Borneo this Friday, flying, waiting in airports or traveling by car for approximately 40 hours to reach our destination in Brunei, one of the three countries that share Asia’s largest island. Our hosts, Caroline and Michael Schoner, have generously invited us to photograph one of […]
We are home in Austin after 22 hours of travel from Sofia, Bulgaria. Merlin took more than 7,000 photos of 13 European bat species. Of these, the 91 best images were donated for use in conservation and educational programs and materials, providing a strong basis for expanded conservation education in Europe with special emphasis on […]
Every field season, it’s a tradition for the field station to hold a barbecue and invite friends and local bat researchers like Teodora Ivanova (holding her baby) who, together with Bjorn Siemers from Germany, started the Tabachka Bat Research Center. Seated two seats back from Teo is one of Bulgaria’s very first bat researchers, Eberhart […]
These bats frequently roost in woodpecker holes. View more photos in our gallery!
The Siemer’s Bat Research team held a press conference at the Directorate of Ruse’s Nature Park about what we are doing here with Bulgaria’s bats. The program ran nationally and was reported to have a major impact on the public perception of bats in Bulgaria.
After several entire nights of near misses, our bats finally performed flawlessly. Both Dani and Toni worked long hours helping these bats overcome their fear so that they would perform naturally catching prey in front of a camera. Having finally gotten the pictures, we’ve released the bats and they are finally back home in their […]
Merlin needed lots of grasshoppers and crickets for the photographs he intended to get of bats catching prey, so he made a wager. He bet us that he could catch more grasshoppers/crickets than the three of us put together. Dani, Toni and I wanted to get out of the field station for the day […]
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Madelline Mathis has a degree in environmental studies from Rollins College and a passion for wildlife conservation. She is an outstanding nature photographer who has worked extensively with Merlin and other MTBC staff studying and photographing bats in Mozambique, Cuba, Costa Rica, and Texas. Following college graduation, she was employed as an environmental specialist for the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. She subsequently founded the Florida chapter of the International DarkSky Association and currently serves on the board of DarkSky Texas. She also serves on the board of Houston Wilderness and was appointed to the Austin Water Resource Community Planning Task Force.
Michael Lazari Karapetian has over twenty years of investment management experience. He has a degree in business management, is a certified NBA agent, and gained early experience as a money manager for the Bank of America where he established model portfolios for high-net-worth clients. In 2003 he founded Lazari Capital Management, Inc. and Lazari Asset Management, Inc. He is President and CIO of both and manages over a half a billion in assets. In his personal time he champions philanthropic causes. He serves on the board of Moravian College and has a strong affinity for wildlife, both funding and volunteering on behalf of endangered species.
