Talking Bat

David Koller is the marketing & communications chap that many of ELEKON's customers will have come across either online, our in person at bat conferences.

Who are ELEKON? Well, they are the company behind numerous top quality bat detecting products (e.g. BatLogger M & M2), & the sound analysis software, BatExplorer. During this interview we explore David's back story, the history of ELEKON, & take a deep dive into their bat-related products, including the BatLogger M2 which had just been launched at the time. 

Kayleigh Fawcett Williams is well known in bat circles for being the 'go to' person for bats and thermal imaging (she wrote the Bat Conservation Trusts Thermal Imaging Guidelines for goodness sake!). Here we talk about this, but also dig deeper into her background and other work-related experiences.

Stuart Newson (@newsonstuart) is highly respected within the ecological sector, & has spent most of his career studying subjects relating to birds, bats, insects & small land-based terrestrial mammals. During this interview we chat about his early years, career progression, bird-related interests & studies (inc his PhD), the Norfolk Bat Survey, the work done on bats in southern Scotland, bush crickets, small mammals & the BTO Acoustic Pipeline. 

In 2019 Nils Bouillard was the first person to complete a Big Bat Year. During this interview (in 2020) we talk about his background & the lead up to the big year, as well as some of the experiences encountered whilst he travelled the globe in search of bats & documenting challenges in their conservation. We also chat about his initial thoughts on  doing a book all about it, which is now available: Big Bat Year - A Conservation Story 

Here we have the pleasure of Talking Bat with Sue Swift, the first person in the UK to carry out a Phd on bats. We talk about: some of her early research working with Prof Paul Racey (Aberdeen University); the work she did on timber treatment chemicals; foraging behaviour of Natterer's & Bechstein's bats; authoring the species monologue 'Long-eared Bats'; Rabies research; heated bat box research, and bat dropping analysis. And of course we also speak about her receiving the Bat Conservation Trust's 'Pete Guest Award' in 2009. 

In September 2020 we had the pleasure of talking with Lars Pettersson, highly respected throughout the world for the bat detecting solutions he has been providing since forming Pettersson Elektronik in 1983. As well as discussing products, it was great spending time exploring his background & interests outside of work.

Chris Corben is an Australian living in the USA, & internationally respected for his contributions towards our understanding & interpretation of bat-related sound. During this interview we talk about his life experiences, his involvement with the creation of AnaBat detectors (with Titley Scientific), as well as his software solution, AnaLookW. We also touch upon his thoughts about AutoID (automated classifiers), Zero Crossing analysis, bat 'social-echolocation' sounds, & debate why logarithmic scales are preferrable to linear (humans are logarithmic creatures afterall!). Visit Chris Corben's website here: www.hoarybat.com

Tracey Jolliffe is highly respected in the world of bats. During this interview we talk in depth about her journey into bats, bat rehabilitation, Rabies & Coronavirus (Covid 19).

Here we have Peter Flory founder of PeerSonic, a company that makes bat detectors, microphone testing equipment & ultrasonic speakers that can be used as lures or within a training environment. A really enjoyable & useful dive into Peter's background, experiences & products. 

Our very first Talking Bat interview took place in June 2020 with Dean Thompson (CEO of Titley Scientific). During the interview we cover the history of Titley Scientific, along with Dean's background. We also talk in some depth about the bat detectors and software that Titley provide around the world ^o^.