Location: Edmonton, AB, Canada
NAIT Campus
10504 Princess Elizabeth Ave NW, Edmonton AB
Instruction by: Dr. Cori Lausen, Wildlife Conservation Society Canada
Course Cost: Cost is $1500 CND/person.
Dates:
Starts 9:00 am Monday, 4 June.
Ends 5:00 pm Friday, 8 June.
For questions, please email Heather Gates at hgates@wcs.org
Course Overview:
This course is a well-rounded 5 day course that starts with the basics of bat acoustics, walks you through how to use, program and properly deploy bat detectors, select appropriate sites for passive deployment, finally how to analyze bat calls, including species identification and integrating auto-identification software with manual vetting. There will be 2 field nights of practice recording, weather-dependent. Instruction on species identification will be for all North American species, with hands on practice recording and identifying northwestern species.
The analysis component of this course includes practice of workflow patterns, starting with raw file management, using auto-identification software, and manually vetting. Focus will be on 2 main software packages: KaleidoscopePro (auto-ID), Sonobat (auto-ID), and Analook to efficiently identify files to species and species-groups, ending with quick and easy pivot-tables and histogram creation in Excel for reporting. Because of its location in northern Alberta where bat species are those also found in eastern North America, there will also be an introduction to Bat Call Identification (BCID), another auto-identification software package.
This course will provide a foundation for those participating in the North American Bat Monitoring Program, conducting environmental assessments, monitoring at wind energy developments and more. There will be an overview of all major types of bat detectors with focus on Wildlife Acoustics and Titley Scientific products.
General Schedule: TENTATIVE
Day 1 - Introduction to ultrasound, bat acoustics, and bat detectors. Classroom instruction from 9:00 am - approximately 7 pm. Breaks for lunch and supper. Evening recording in the field: active recording of bats starts at around 8:00 pm and will continue for approximately 2 hours (weather dependent).
Day 2 - "Ecology of Echolocation" -- clutter continuum in a species-specific context. Introduction to species identification. Understanding bat detectors - passive units, driving transects and specifics of active units for hands-on in field. Classroom instruction 9:00 am - approximately 7:00 pm. Breaks for lunch and supper. Evening recording in field: - active recording of bats - starts at around 8:00 pm and will continue for approximately 2 hours (weather dependent).
Day 3 - Detailed species identification, with hands-on practice. Introduction to software with focus on KaleidoscopePro and Analook. Intro to site selection, study design. Classroom instruction 9:00 am - approximately 6:00 pm. Breaks for lunch and supper.
Day 4 - Completion of species identification, site selection and study design. Hands-on practice with analysis of files and species identification. 9:00 am - 9:00 pm classroom (with option to deploy passive detectors over supper break. Breaks for lunch (on your own) and supper (provided).
Day 5 - Advanced analysis and workflow. Hands-on practice. 9:00 am - 5:00 pm classroom.
Downloads For The Course:
Software downloads will be required. You will ideally have a PC-based laptop to bring to class. Not all software will run on MAC. You will need to install some programs ahead of time. You will need Excel.
If you are bringing any of the iOS devices listed below, download the free Echo Meter Touch app onto your device to field-trial this device at the course.
An email will go out ahead of the class, but the following is a list to get started:
- Kaleidoscope Pro can be found at http://www.wildlifeacoustics.com/products/kaleidoscope-software/download. Note that you will be issued a Kaleidoscope license at the class which will unlock the autoID component of this software.
- All Wildlife Acoustics configuration utilities used to program their detectors can be found on their website at http://www.wildlifeacoustics.com/support/download-software. Scroll to the bottom of the Download Page and download the utility that you will need for the model of detector you will use (if applicable).
- Analook software and CFCRead can be downloaded at http://users.lmi.net/corben/Beta/. Just download and unzip the first and 6th programs on this list. Do not copy these files to your desktop and do not place them in My Documents folder. Instead, place it as high as you can in the directory tree of your laptop such as in the C: drive. No installation is required.
Acoustic Detector Equipment:
Course participants are encouraged to bring their own detectors to the class for hands on practice, and programming of their own field units. There will also be some classroom units available. In-class instruction of EMTouch and Anabat-Walkabout will enable active monitoring on field evenings. Classroom overview will include: SM3BAT, SM4Bat, EM Touch, Anabat Express, Anabat Swift, and Walkabout. If you would like to receive supplemental materials for any of these additional bat detectors, please contact Heather Gates (hgates@wcs.org) with the request and we will do our best to provide these materials. If you have an ipad (4th generation or Air; lightning port), ipad mini (lightning port and retina display), or iphone 5 (or newer) device, bring these as there will be some EMTouch modules available to try.
Accommodation and Meals:
Attendees are responsible for their own accommodations. A couple of options for accommodations are the Chateau Nova Kingsway or the Edmonton Inn and Conference Centre. (Please note that parking is often a challenge, though there are some new parkades. Be advised that parking at the mall often results in parking tickets.)
Supper will be provided on Day 4 (7 June). Please email Heather Gates (hgates@wcs.org) with any special dietary restrictions.
Tea, Coffee, and snacks will be provided; participants are encouraged to bring their own mug.
Nearest Airport:
Edmonton International Airport
Cancellation:
Cancellation with full refund is available until 4 May, 2018.
WCSC reserves the right to cancel the course up to 30 days before the start date.
Other Equipment To Bring:
- Earbuds/earphones
- Headlamp
- Optional: Card reader (SD and CF cards) there will be a few readers available to borrow
