International Bat Research Conference 2025

Medellin, Colombia 2028!
#ibrc2028 #bats #batresearch

Eight bat researchers mostly from Asia and Africa refused entry into Australia to attend global scientific event Organisers say move will damage nation’s scientific standing as government refuses to comment on why group of scientists were refused entry

The unwarranted denial of travel visas for 8 respected international bat researchers was a shameful and embarrassing start to the International Bat Research Conference in Cairns. Well done to the ABS and Guardian for highlighting it

@ibrc2025.bsky.social

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Cecilia Montauban receiving an award for the best talk presentation at IBRC

Cecilia Montauban is taking the bat world by storm — a rising superstar with a brilliant future! @imperialcollegeldn.bsky.social @josephtobias.bsky.social @ibrc2025.bsky.social

Eight bat researchers mostly from Asia and Africa refused entry into Australia to attend global scientific event Organisers say move will damage nation’s scientific standing as government refuses to comment on why group of scientists were refused entry

IBRC delegates protest visa denials of 8 researchers from Africa and Asia.
#ibrc2025 #batresearch

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

It was incredible to meet so many old and new colleagues and friends and watching our PhD student, Sauhard Shrivastava give an excellent talk. Overall, we learnt lots and we are certainly returning with more ideas and inspiration. Thank you, #IBRC2025. #LZCI (2/2) @ibrc2025.bsky.social

I had an excellent time at #IBRC2025 hosting the comparative immunology sessions and co-presenting our work on bat antiviral immunity with Dr. Irving at the Bat1K symposium. (1/2)

Wow – what an intense and truly amazing 6 days at @ibrc2025.bsky.social! 🦇
Reconnected with old friends, made new ones, and had incredible conversations — all in the spirit of bat conservation and research.
Huge shoutout to the organizers for a perfectly run event! 🙌💙
#BatCommunity #Grateful

There were so many great talks at #IBRC2025 and so much going on that I’ve been too busy to post! The conference ended on a high with an inspiring presentation by Tigga Kingston on the mission and achievements of @gbatnet.bsky.social.

Can’t wait til #IBRC2028 in Columbia!

@ibrc2025.bsky.social

🦇Friday plenary speaker: Tigga Kingston
#ibrc2025

Just attended a very captivating and fun speed talk by Veli Monday Mdluli on bat education in South African schools 🦇📚 @ibrc2025.bsky.social
Inspiring work on breaking down prejudice through knowledge! 👏
#IBRC2025 #BatConservation #SciComm #EducationMatters

Afternoon of day 5 presentations 🦇
#ibrc2025

Kicking off the Education and Citizen Science symposium, Melissa Donnelly from Merlin Tuttle Bats talks about battling bat 🦇 misinformation & helping people make informed decisions @ibrc2025.bsky.social #ibrc2025

Pedro Aguilar 🇲🇽 talks about the relationship between a university 🏫 & bat 🦇 colony that lived there for past 60 years. Started monitoring bats with 3 different species identified with over 300 bats mostly males. Issues fighting building maintenance 🧑‍🔧 but outreach valuable 🤩 @ibrc2025.bsky.social

Tigga Kingston 🇺🇸 presents on behalf of Abby Rutrough about why people hunt bats 🦇 in Africa 🌍. Terrestrial protein 🥩 limited and human footprint 🏙️ in West Africa but aquatic protein 🐟 available in Madagascar 🇲🇬 but still hunt bats. More social surveys needed to find out why @ibrc2025.bsky.social

Celia Selem 🇲🇽 talks about outreach conservation in Mexico but also regional collaboration across other countries in Latin America. 18 countries now involved in their annual Christmas 🎄 bat 🦇 counts 🥰 @ibrc2025.bsky.social #ibrc2025

Veil Monday Mdluli from South Africa 🇿🇦 talks about finding out perceptions of bats in school students to battle misconceptions about bats 🦇
Need to communicate our science via education 🤩 @ibrc2025.bsky.social #ibrc2025

Our very own Kerry Borkin 🇳🇿 talks about engaging students at Pekapekarau School and what worked to change attitudes of bats 🦇 @ibrc2025.bsky.social #ibrc2025

Two super nice talks from @berlinbatlab.bsky.social today @ibrc2025.bsky.social! @RaffaellaCastiglione
introduced an amazing touchscreen setup for bat cognition studies; @MarisaTietge explored the social complexity of Vampyrum spectrum, the largest bat in the Americas 🤩🦇
#BatsRule #IBRC2025

Night 4 trivia supporting Bats and Trees Society of Cairns 🦇
Thank you Anna Langguth for the images!
#ibrc2025

After the break 🧁 Jessica Meade 🇦🇺 talks on movement of grey-headed flying foxes 🦇 and wind 💨 farms. Altitude measures show 84% of 🦇 flights are in rotor zone ⛔️. Mitigation could be wind speed, bat activity, or on-demand shutdowns. Weather radar could help show bat arrival 📈 @ibrc2025.bsky.social

@emmateeling.bsky.social at #IBRC2025. Healthy ageing and longevity. @ibrc2025.bsky.social

Next Stevie Florent 🇳🇿 looked to create benchmarks for detecting rates 🦇 and carcass persistence at wind 💨 farm in Australia 🇦🇺 . Dogs 🐕 much better at finding bats than humans! Cleared ground carcass last longer than non cleared. Not enough data 📉 on mortality in NZ @ibrc2025.bsky.social #ibrc2025

Danielle Eastick 🇦🇺 looked at long term data sets of bat 🦇 mortality in Australian wind 💨 farms. 42% White striped free tailed bat & 21% Gould’s Wattle bat. 78% found within 60m of turbine. Estimated mortality rate 9.9 bats/turbine/year. 24% in March 🍂 @ibrc2025.bsky.social #ibrc2025

Rohit Chakravarty 🇮🇳 @batcon.org reflects very difficult to get data from wind 💨 farm consultants in India so looked at bat 🦇 activity in areas with and without farms. He found no significant difference overall but depends on species. Seems to be higher collisions in monsoons @ibrc2025.bsky.social

Most entertaining talk so far at #IBRC2025 by Fauzan.