Experts from around the world descend on Edmonton for bat symposium

A photo of a bat provided to CTV News Edmonton. (Cory Olson)

Experts from around the world have descended on downtown Edmonton to discuss issues and research surrounding bats.

The annual North American Symposium on Bat Research is being held at the JW Marriott Edmonton ICE District featuring speakers, workshops and special events.

Matina Kalcounis-Rueppell of the University of Alberta’s College of Natural and Applied Sciences said topics range from basic bat biology to brand-new discoveries.

“There are conversations about bats and White-nose syndrome, a threat that North American bats face. There are conversations about the kinds of habitats that are important for bats. Interactions with bats and the energy sector. Bats and how they echolocate,” she said in an interview with CTV News Edmonton.

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Kalcounis-Rueppell said there are six species of bats in Edmonton and they play a very important role in our ecosystem acting as “nature’s insecticide.”

“While we’re sleeping the bats are flying around in the city, out across the landscape, around our agriculture and they’re eating insects and those insects would otherwise be eating plants and things like crops,” she explained.

The North American Society for Bat Research is putting on this week’s symposium and while most participants are from North America, the event draws people from around the globe.

“There are people here from Malaysia, Mongolia, Cambodia, Peru, Poland, the U.K., Mexico. So we’re really delighted to welcome all these scientists and researchers from around the world to downtown Edmonton this week,” Kalcounis-Rueppell said.

The event wraps up with an awards ceremony and auction tomorrow night.