Decoding the Invisible: Studying Bat Ecology and Ecosystem Services Through Acoustics – with Dr. Kadambari Deshpande

​IEN Research Spotlights are community events hosted by the India Ecoacoustics Network (IEN), where we highlight researchers using acoustics to explore and understand their environments. These sessions are free and open to anyone interested in ecoacoustics and environmental research.

We invite you to the 12th IEN Research Spotlight featuring Dr. Kadambari Deshpande, currently a post-doctoral fellow at the Indian Institute for Human Settlements (IIHS), Bengaluru who studies insectivorous bats and their ecosystem services in forests, agroforestry, and peri-urban/urban systems. She has also co-led the innovation of the BatEchoMon, India's first automated bat detection and monitoring system.

In her talk, Kadambari will share her journey of research in bat acoustic studies and their applications for answering diverse questions in bat ecology and bat-generated ecosystem services. Since her M.Sc. (Genomics) dissertation on bat phonic types, she has been working on insectivorous bat ecology and bioacoustics in various biotopes of the Western Ghats and southern India, for 16 years. Her work through acoustics, across forests and plantations, provided insights on how vegetation management in plantations can be a key influence in supporting or reducing bat activity. One of her PhD research components carried out field estimation of bat predation rates on insects using acoustics, to assess the pest control potential of bats in agriculture. Her postdoctoral work on urban bats has led to some innovative approaches to study ecology of Indian bats more efficiently, which she will share briefly in this talk.  

Join us to hear more about Kadambari's work! To secure the Zoom link, and any resources, kindly register via this Luma page.
Please note: this talk will not be recorded at the speaker's request.