WHEN: Wednesday-Saturday, Oct. 8-11 (general public session, 7:30 p.m., Oct. 9)
WHERE: Cornhusker Hotel Burnham Yates Conference Center, 333 S. 13th St.
Lincoln, Neb., Sept. 29, 2003 -- As many as 200 researchers, educators, students, conservationists and enthusiasts are expected to attend the 33rd annual North American Symposium on Bat Research scheduled Oct. 8-11 in Lincoln.
The conference is hosted by Patricia Freeman, professor in the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's School of Natural Resources and the NU State Museum.
"This conference attracts the biggest names in bat biology," Freeman said. "The world's bat experts will be here."
Bats are among the most abundant mammals, Freeman said. Of the approximately 4,000 distinct species of mammals, about 1,000 are bats. Although it's difficult to count bats, their worldwide population is in the millions. One cave in Texas may hold as many as 50 million bats in July and August, Freeman said.
Most symposium events are geared toward a scientific audience, Freeman said. But this year, symposium organizers are holding a public session.
This discussion session, titled "Rabies and Bats: Concerns for Conservation and Public Health," will be free and open to the public from 7:30-9:30 p.m. Oct. 9. That session, like all others, will occur at the Cornhusker Hotel's Burnham Yates Conference Center. Featured speakers are Charles Rupprecht, a research veterinarian associated with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, and Gary McCracken, a professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.
All other sessions require preregistration of $175 for professionals or $145 for students ($250 and $225 respectively after Sept. 30).
The symposium, which was also conducted in Lincoln in 1990, features more than 75 oral presentations and nearly 150 poster sessions on all aspects of bat biology.
In addition, the symposium offers a special Oct. 11 workshop for teachers in Nebraska. This workshop is a community service offered only in the towns of each symposium site. The workshop, which runs from 7:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the Cornhusker, is limited to 35 participants and pre-registration is required. Among activities are a talk on the bats found in Nebraska, ways to use a museum teaching collection to augment classroom learning and a session on building houses to attract bats.
For information on this workshop, contact Sara Toren with Lincoln Public Schools "Zoo" School at storen@lps.org.
The teacher workshop is funded by the North American Symposium on Bat Research, Bat Conservation International, Bat Research News, LUBEE Foundation, Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, the Organization for Bat Conservation, Speleobooks, and Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.
Additional information on the conference is available at two Web sites, (www.nasbr.org/Lincoln/NASBR_Lincoln.html) and (www.nasbr.org).
CONTACT: Trish Freeman, Professor, Natural Resource Sciences, NU State Museum, (402) 472-6606
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Posted by Tom Simons, Office of University Communications
Phone: (402) 472-8514, Fax: (402) 472-7825