Bringing bat science to life: Inspiring--and being inspired by--a budding biologist

Today you're hearing from Ann Froschauer, national white-nose syndrome communications coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

A few months ago, I was reading my daily news alerts about bats and white-nose syndrome, and I came across a story 
about a little girl who was in love with bats, and desperate to do something about white-nose syndrome. Miri, a seven year-old at the time, had been a bat lover since she was just a few years old, and had recently learned about WNS and research that the Boston University bat lab was doing to try to combat the disease. Miri wrote to Santa Claus last year, asking for his 
help in saving the bats, and decided that she wants to be a bat biologist when she grows up.

My heart melted- a mini-me! Although my interest in bats didn't really get going until I was a teenager, I felt like we might have a real window of opportunity to connect Miri to
 the thing she loved, and really inspire her to stay interested in science and bats. I immedately contacted my friend Nate 
Fuller in the BU bat lab and said "we have to get Miri out to see some bats and keep her excited about this!" Read the rest.

Students take pride in contributing to turtle conservation

Today, wildlife biologist Stephanie Koch and four high school students share their reflections on raising and releasing rare Blanding’s turtles as part of an experimental head-starting program.

BLANDING'S TURTLE

This medium-sized freshwater turtle inhabits wetlands in parts of the upper Midwest, New York, New England and southern Canada. Throughout the Northeast, populations appear to be declining. More

Bristol County Agricultural High School students have partnered with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and others to help nurture Blanding’s turtles, considered threatened in Massachusetts, and later release them with a greater likelihood of survival at Assabet River National Wildlife Refuge in Sudbury, Mass.

The program, intended to establish a new population at the refuge, involves collecting hatchlings in the wild, raising them in captivity and releasing them back in the wild when the turtles are large enough to survive most predation. Head-start programs are one of many tools that the Service considers in the conservation of species like the Blanding's turtle.

Over the last three years, Bristol Aggie teacher Brian Bastarache and Stephanie have led students in releasing more than 150 turtles. This year's release was on May 23.