Upcoming Events and News

Annual Meeting

You can still register in person the day of!

BRING YOUR OWN WATER BOTTLE AND COFFEE MUG

Pre-meeting Social:  November 21, 7:00 - 9:00 PM Central Time

TailGate Brewery (210 Stones River Mall Blvd, Murfreesboro) 

Bundle up because we may be hanging on their patio!

Meeting Date: November 22, 2024 

Meeting Agenda:

Agenda (Times are Central):

8:30  Registration, instructions for student judges, hang posters, load presentations, social time

9:30  Welcome – Ash Cable

9:50  Bat-inspired music demonstration – Robbie Hunsinger

10:15 Bat Blitz Results – Dustin Thames

10:30 Break

10:45 20 Years of the Tennessee Bat Working Group – Steve Samoray 

11:00 Bat Rehab in Tennessee– Bettina Bowers and Devon Blackburn

11:30 Business Meeting, nominations from the floor for board members, explaining voting (Board    members, Charter, best time to have Bat Blitz) – Sara Samoray

12:00 Lunch

1:45  Welcome back

2:00  Annual update on white-nose syndrome in Tennessee –Dustin Thames

2:15  MOTUS update – Cory Holliday

2:30  Activities of the Tennessee Valley Authority – Rob Stinson

2:45  Break and Poster Session I

Student Presentations

3:00  Cattle Regenerative Grazing Effects on Bat Foraging Activity in Southern Appalachia – Seth Morelock, East Tennessee State University

3:15  Bat Use of Fields in Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area – Caroline Abramowitz, Clemson University

3:30  Break, return judging forms, and Poster Session II

3:45  Group discussion: Bat conservation topics, updated summer survey guidance, needs of the TNBWG, etc.

4:00  Closing Remarks, election results, student awards, group photo – Ash Cable

Location:  UT Extension Office, 315 John R Rice Blvd, Murfreesboro, TN

Hotel Suggestion: There are many hotels around the venue including the Holiday Inn (1453 Silohill Lane, Murfreesboro, Tennessee, 37129)

Cost: Registration cost is $10 for professionals and free for the public and students. 

Presentation guidelines:

Oral presentations:

Oral presentations could be results from research, monitoring, rehab, conservation, regulatory, or management activities, overviews of bat conservation issues or topics in the state or other areas. We are open to creative ideas!

• Presentations will be limited to 15 minutes (~12 minutes for the presentation and 3 minutes for questions)

• PowerPoint presentation or another format (reach out to us if you plan to use something other than PowerPoint)

Poster guidelines:

Follow the guidelines below for preparing posters

● Overall size of the poster should be no larger than 36 x 48 inches
● Should be readable from a distance of 2 m
● Title should be capitalized with lettering in 72-point font
● Authors and affiliations should be in upper- and lower-case in 42-point font
● Text lettering should be at least 18-point font
● Most posters should include the following sections: Abstract, Introduction,
Materials and Methods, Results and Discussion, Conclusions, Literature Cited. Other headings could be used if more appropriate.
● Keep written text to a minimum. “Bullets” and short phrases are most effective

Awards: The Tennessee Bat Working Group will award $100 to the best student oral presentation and $100 to the best student poster presentation. These awards make great lines on resumes! Presentations will be graded based on organization, delivery, visual aids, and content. 

• Not on our email list to receive announcements? Email tennbwg@gmail.com to be added!