Aspiring bat biologists to benefit
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 22, 2007
Aspiring bat biologists to benefit from Critter Catchers, Inc. business approach
Michigan-based wildlife and bat management firm offers Bat Conservation Scholarship
Terre Haute, Indiana. — Halloween’s traditional frightful pack — featuring black cats, goblins, witches astride broomsticks and more — could soon be losing a long-standing member of the scare crew, the greatly misunderstood bat. The Indiana State University Center for North American Bat Research (the Bat Center), in conjunction with the Michigan based Critter Catchers, Inc. is proud to offer the Critter Catchers, Inc. - Bat Conservation Scholarship encouraging a better understanding of the world’s sole mammal capable of actual flight. Information regarding the scholarship can be found at: # bats.
“There are so many misconceptions about bats, centered around the idea that they should be avoided or dispensed with. That’s not the case at all,” said John Whitaker Jr., professor, Ecology and Organismal Biology at Indiana State University and one of the co-authors of “Bats of Indiana” which is offered at the Bat Center. “Bats are the main predator against a wide range of insects at night, including those harmful to our agricultural crops. They really bring balance to nature. This scholarship – the first offered to the Bat Center – will be a big help in encouraging students to share a role within our research facility, which is probably staffed with the largest team of bat biologists in North America. Many people study bats, and we’re hoping to spread that message to a much larger audience.”
The annual scholarship opportunity is open to a worthy student, or students, enrolled at Indiana State University, and will be administered by the Indiana State University Foundation Inc., of Terre Haute. Recipients will be selected based upon meeting specified criteria, as well as the recommendations of a scholarship committee consisting of ISU Bat Center and Organization for Bat Conservation members.
The criteria:
· Recipients of the Bat Conservation Scholarship must be associated with the Bat Center, and be enrolled as full-time students in the Department of Ecological and Environmental Sciences.
· First preference will be given to graduate students.
· Undergraduate students may be considered, if the applicant is actively engaged with the ISU Bat Center, or has demonstrated a strong interest in the study of bats.
· Recipients must maintain a cumulative 3.0 grade point average, based on a 4.0 scale.
“Humans instinctively fear the things in our world that we don’t understand,” said David Kugler, president, Critter Catchers, Inc., the Michigan-based wildlife management firm. “And bats, unfortunately, seem to land at the top of that list, regardless of the many benefits they provide, like insect control around the home and garden. When the general public attempts to get bats out of their home, the natural reaction is to harm the bat with a tennis racket or a baseball bat. That approach is certainly going to damage lamps and picture frames, and it’s definitely not our suggested approach in dealing with an animal weighing ounces, not pounds.
Exuberance Communications, LLC.