Keynote Speaker Jennifer Redell

“Hanging Out with Wisconsin Bats”

With 1500 species documented, bats make up 20% of earth’s mammal diversity! Bats benefit us, share our neighborhoods and occasionally our homes, but in recent years have faced a grave threat. White-nose Syndrome is a disease that has led to precipitous bat population declines in N. America; but now Wisconsin’s most important hibernation sites and summer roosts are showing promising signs of recovery. Join Jennifer Redell, conservation biologist and cave & mine specialist with the WI DNR’s Bat Program for an engaging presentation about the masters of night flight. Learn how they are studied locally and across the state.

Not only a dedicated Bat Biologist, Jennifer Redell is also the adventurous Cave & Mine Specialist at the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR). She can often be found crawling through muddy caves, paddling water-filled mines, or rappelling into dark crevices in search of Wisconsin’s threatened cave bat population. Redell has worked in caves since 2001 and with bats since 2009. She and her colleagues work statewide to monitor and assess bat population trends through acoustic surveys, hibernacula surveys, and summer roost monitoring. The Wisconsin DNR’s Bat Program has collaborated closely with researchers across North America to wage a critical battle with White-nose Syndrome (WNS), a fungal disease devastating hibernating bat populations. In 2023 Redell started the Wisconsin Bat Ambassador project to train and inspire educators to teach others about bats across the state.