Volunteers

Our volunteers are what makes our project a success. They are as diverse as the bats we study: cave explorers, mine explorers, bat aficionados, bat researchers and, well, everybody else! Here are a few photos of our volunteers in action across BC and Alberta. If you are a volunteer and would like to contribute pictures to this page, please send them along. Thanks!

Want to volunteer?

Check out our Get Involved page.                                                                       

 

Our invaluable volunteers:

Robin Beech
Trent Blair
Doug Burles   
Andrea Corlett
Charlene Forrest
Ryles Forrest   
Kathleen Graham
Stuart de Haas, University of Victoria Caving Club
Dave Hobson
Mike Kelly
Diana Kirkwood
Jason Lavigne
Tanya Luszcz
Chris Manahan
Colin Massey
Batgirl Omura
Kirk Safford
Frank Schlichting
Kevin Stanway
Dayon Traynor
Nicholas Vieira
Chelsea Power
Peter Curtis
Felix Martinez
Simon Amero
Matt Neuwirth
Chuck Priestley
Adriana Suarez
Dave Hobson
Christian Stenner
Alisa Vanderberg
Diana Kirkwood
Jules Paulson
Tristan Crosby
Aimee Mitchell
Chris Currie
Erin Low


Protect Bats

Bats are very sensitive to disturbance while hibernating. If you see hibernating bats, leave the area immediately.

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Clean Gear

Decontaminating your gear between caving trips can prevent the spread of WNS.



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Find Bats

Install a bat monitoring device in a cave or mine when you go caving.



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Updates

DECONTAMINATION FOR CAVERS AND MINE EXPLORERS

The BatCaver program has released a video (see below) demonstrating one easy method of decontaminating caving equipment after exiting a cave or mine. Our BC coordinator walks the viewer step-by-step through one of his common decon procedures: immersing his caving equipment in 60-degree Celsius water for at least 20 minutes. The video is intended to help increase the likelihood that more people will follow recommended procedures by simplifying the procedure that reduces the risks of inadvertently transporting White-nose Syndrome (Pd) spores from one region to another.


White-nose Syndrome has continued spreading westward through Manitoba. It has also been found in Washington State since 2016.  As this highly transmissible and fatal disease of bats continues its spread, adherence to proper decontamination protocol is increasingly important, especially among anyone who may enter multiple caves or mines in a wide geographic range, and anyone operating in the Fraser Valley and US border regions.

 

Additional decontamination procedures can be found under the decontamination protocol link on the BatCaver Resources page. A map of WNS affected areas of North America (2019) is found on the Threats tab.


Video

White-nose Syndrome (WNS) is a fungal disease that has caused up to 100% bat mortality in cave hibernacula in Eastern Canada and United States. Follow these simple and critical decontamination protocols to keep bats safe as you explore. 

DECONTAMINATION OF CAVING GEAR AND EQUIPMENT

DECONTAMINATION PROTOCOLS FOR VISITING BAT HIBERNACULA

Watch this video in French.

© 2020 Wildlife Conservation Society