Talking Bat

Jon Hall is a mammal watcher extraordinaire, having travelled the world to see many mammals in their natural environments. During this interview we explore his background, his passion for mammal watching, the launch of the mammal watching website & their own podcast, & also a few tails along the way (nope - that's not a typo!). 

In June 2021 Anne Youngman spoke to Neil about her upcoming marathon in aid of The Bat Conservation Trust. Anne had previously been the first Scottish Bat Officer for BCT (2002 - 2017) & is extremely well known & highly respected within the bat world. During the interview we mention the 'Just Giving' facility for her marathon, which unfortunately is no longer available. You can however still donate to BCT if you so wish, via the following link: https://www.bats.org.uk/donate/pledge

We also mention the BaTML project a few times during out chat:

Al Milano is internationally recognised as a reviewer of bat detecting equipment, with his own website containing countless reviews. He is also a regular contributor to BatAbility Club. This interview, carried out before his association with Club, was the first time that he & Neil had ever spoken directly to each other. It's a very interesting insight into Al's background & thoughts, with quite a few non-bat-related surprises pleasantly creeping in :-) 

Al Milano on Twitter: @batdetectors

Bat Detector Review Website 

^o^ Something just for our podcast audience.

Sometimes light-hearted, occasionally a little more serious! Here are some random thoughts from your Talking Bat host, Neil Middleton :-)

Merlin Tuttle has been involved with bat-related work for >60 years, & is arguably one of the most significant contributors to bat conservation worldwide, & the founder of Bat Conservation International, an organisation he retired from some years ago. He now continues to inspire bat conservation worldwide through Merlin Tuttle's Bat Conservation 

Read the books:

Excellent interview with Dr Volker Runkel talking about his early research, setting up the business ecoObs (including products & services available), as well as us getting into some depth about the challenges of species ID when working with bat acoustic data.

Rachael Cooper-Bohannon was brought up in South Africa, & eventually ended up in Scotland where she founded the Bats Without Borders charity in 2013. Here we are delighted to be talking to Rachael about her life journey, including her academic work, her role within the 'Species On The Edge' project, & of course the Bats Without Borders story, an organisation which is contributing heavily to capacity building & bat conservation within Africa.

During this episode the table was turned on Neil Middleton (who is usually on the other side of the mic!). Julia Lock (Wildcare Ecology Supplies) asked to do an interview for Wildcare's website/blog & at the same time it would appear on Talking Bat. Neil is the owner of BatAbility Courses & Tuition, & was asked lots about his background & non-bat-related subjects, including The Effective Ecologist book which he authored.

Nigel Massen is the man behind Pelagic Publishing, an organisation that has enabled the production of so many important books (>100) that have helped to inform & shape the ecology sector. During this interview we look in detail at Nigel's background, including university life, his time at NHBS Ltd, as well as his current roles with Pelagic Publishing, University of Exeter Press & the World Land Trust.

David King is well known & respected for developing/providing bat detectors over a long period of time, commencing at a point when technology was at the early stages of helping to enable our understanding of bat behaviour beyond what had been  available previously. Initially through Stage Electronics, & then BatBox Ltd, David developed 8 bat detectors, a software program (BatScan) & co-authored a book (The Bat Detective). However, there is a lot of things you may not know about him, & here we also take a good look at his wider background.