Join the Nightlife: 2024 Recap
October 31, 2024
Thanks to all the Join the Nightlife: Bats and Agriculture attendees who joined us out in the field this year! Guests got hands-on experience with
The BatThai Team www.batthai.com drove us out of Bangkok in their plush minivan on a 5-hr. journey to Northeast Thailand. Daniel Hargreaves from the UK is leading us on this trip to the Painted Bat Village. It’s in this “sticky rice” growing area that four generations of the Peung family are doing whatever they can to protect one of the world’s most beautiful bats: Kerivoula picta, commonly known as the butterfly or painted bat.
P’ Yai Sachitt, 68 years of age, remembers a time, in his childhood when painted bats lived in the forest. Now very little of the forest remains, having been cleared for rice paddies. The bats apparently adapted by roosting in dead banana leaves of plants grown on the perimeter of rice paddies. Typically a family of three bats, a male, female and pup, live together under cover of a single dead leaf. One of the ways these farmers help the bats is by pinching the mid ribs of banana leaves so the outer part of the leaf dies. And that’s where the bats roost.
Chasing dogs, chickens and ducks out of the way in order to set up our photo studio was an adventure for my next report.
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Thanks to all the Join the Nightlife: Bats and Agriculture attendees who joined us out in the field this year! Guests got hands-on experience with
Supporter and friend of MTBC, Australian conservation and animal welfare photojournalist Doug Gimesy, had his images recognized in two categories at the recent Siena International
Fieldwork requires a lot of equipment, but photography requires even more! During our June 2024 photography workshop, we transported over 100 lbs. of equipment —
Within the dim limestone passageways of Caverna Santa Catalina, the air came alive with bats. I stood in awed silence, taking in the rush of
2024 © Merlin Tuttle’s Bat Conservation. All rights reserved.
Madelline Mathis has a degree in environmental studies from Rollins College and a passion for wildlife conservation. She is an outstanding nature photographer who has worked extensively with Merlin and other MTBC staff studying and photographing bats in Mozambique, Cuba, Costa Rica, and Texas. Following college graduation, she was employed as an environmental specialist for the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. She subsequently founded the Florida chapter of the International DarkSky Association and currently serves on the board of DarkSky Texas. She also serves on the board of Houston Wilderness and was appointed to the Austin Water Resource Community Planning Task Force.
Michael Lazari Karapetian has over twenty years of investment management experience. He has a degree in business management, is a certified NBA agent, and gained early experience as a money manager for the Bank of America where he established model portfolios for high-net-worth clients. In 2003 he founded Lazari Capital Management, Inc. and Lazari Asset Management, Inc. He is President and CIO of both and manages over a half a billion in assets. In his personal time he champions philanthropic causes. He serves on the board of Moravian College and has a strong affinity for wildlife, both funding and volunteering on behalf of endangered species.