Bats of the NC Arboretum with Mist Netting Demonstration
Bats of the NC Arboretum with Mist Netting Demonstration
with Megan Zeger and team
Friday, September 25 | 7 – 9pm
BRN – Elective
Register Here!
The NC Arboretum hosts a variety of bat species in our forests. Join a group of biologists for a presentation about the recent acoustic bat study they conducted on the Arboretum’s property this summer and which species they found. Then, once the presentation is over, join the crew out in the woods for a mist netting demonstration if weather allows. During this class, you will learn all about the different species of bats that call the NC Arboretum home, how biologists collect data about bat presence in a location using microphones, and even might have the chance to see live, wild bats up close and personal!
Participants will not be handling the bats, and the bats will only be handled by the trained biologists.
This program will take place outside and will follow easy trails and paved walkways. Dress for the weather and prepare to be outside for the entire program time.
Megan Zeger is a graduate student at Virginia Tech studying four imperiled bat species in the Asheville, NC area. She has been studying and working with wildlife in the southern Appalachians since 2018 when she started her undergraduate program in wildlife conservation. She has been working with bats since 2022 and has done research on various species in Maryland, North Carolina, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wyoming.
Jessica Davey is a wildlife biologist currently working for Virginia Tech’s Conservation and Management Institute. Having graduated from Lees-McRae College in 2021, she has since worked primarily as a bat researcher in six different states. Her experience ranges from Mist netting and acoustic surveys to conducting hibernacula and white-nose swabbing in the caves of Florida. She hopes to continue gaining as much knowledge as she can about the world’s only flying mammal.
Katie Kadkovsky is a recent Biology graduate from UNC-Chapel Hill. While there, she worked in molecular biology labs at Chapel Hill and Duke studying fungi. Katie was introduced to the bat world at UNC-CH via acoustic surveys of NC’s sky islands. Currently, she is a wildlife biologist with Virginia Tech CMI helping characterize the presence of tri-colored bats in the greater Asheville area to support conservation practices.
Liam Jawish is a recent graduate from Virginia Tech! He is currently working as a wildlife biologist surveying bats in Asheville, NC. He previously worked on Jaguar surveys in Belize, CA, and bear work in central Virginia.
Lucy Kraus is a wildlife biologist with the Conservation Management Institute at Virginia Tech. She graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill in 2026 with a degree in environmental science. In the past, she has worked in prescribed fire and environmental education.
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