This Month in Conservation Science: August 2026
Despite the heat, our team spent July outside on site visits and meadow walks with partners as well as conducting our research!
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VWL Barn Owl Research
This season, VWL Research Fellow Allison Huysman led our barn owl research team in GPS tracking. For this research, adult male and female barn owls are captured and outfitted with GPS tags for approximately 3-4 weeks while they are raising their young. Each tag allows us to obtain nearly 2,000 GPS locations during a period when the parents at their maximum hunting rate to meet the energetic needs of their growing babies. These data help us better understand where barn owls hunt and brings us one step closer to understanding what they need to thrive.
This research is in partnership with the University of Maryland, the National Zoo’s Center for Conservation Genomics, Smithsonian-Mason School of Conservation and local biologist Alan Williams.
Bat Conservation Outreach
VWL Program Manager Erin Shibley has been sharing information about bats in Virginia and how we can help conserve them! In July alone, she presented at the National Geographic Museum of Exploration as part of a 250th celebration highlighting American Keystones Species. Erin and the team also presented at an event hosted by Seven Bends State Park and another at Piedmont Memorial Overlook hosted by the Piedmont Environmental Council. If you want to learn from Erin and the team, be sure to check out the next event, hosted by the Clifton Institute on August 13th!
