We were blown away by the volume and quality of the grant applications that we received in this past quarter for our first Wildlife Acoustics Product Grant application cycle. We received over 80 applications from all over the world. There were projects about koalas, penguins, and even crocodiles!
A handful of WA staff volunteered our time to diligently read the applications and make the tough decision of which to choose. In the end, we were happy to be able to provide Wildlife Acoustics gear to two projects this quarter.
Project: Investigation of Eumops floridanus on the Florida Panther Wildlife Refuge
Danaher and his team will use the awarded Wildlife Acoustics products to study the location and behavior of one of the rarest mammals in the US, the Florida bonneted bat. Only two natural roosts have been documented for the species in the past 35 years, one of which was Florida Panther refuge, where this study will be conducted. Observations made about the behavior of the bat are crucial to informing land management decisions for this species, which is thought to have the most limited geographic distribution of any bat in the country.
To find out more about Friends of FL Panther Refuge, click here
Project: Bioacoustic monitoring of koala populations
The aim of this project is to test the use of bioacoustics as a reliable method of assessing koala population sizes. The researchers will record male breeding season bellows with the Song Meter SM3 acoustic recorders and assess the effectiveness of bioacoustics in koala surveys. If recording these bellows is an accurate indicator of population location and density, bioacoustics could replace traditional methods as a more efficient and affordable option for future koala surveys.
For more information about this project, click here
We will be keep in touch with these projects and will post updates when we can! Stay tuned, and don’t forget to send in your applications for the Q4 grant by November 15th, 2015.
Good Luck! We look forward to reading the next round of applications!
Wildlife Acoustics, Inc.
3 Mill and Main Place, Suite 110
Maynard, MA 01754-2657 USA
+1 (978) 369-5225
+1 (888) 733-0200