Current Research Projects

Since much of my research involves long-term data, all the work is ongoing.  In addition, I have made contacts with a number of other researchers in the Southeastern US, and I'm hoping to take advantage of their knowledge to learn about new species and get experience with other techniques.

I have worked with several CSU students on research projects.  While my research with these students often involved continuations of my graduate work, I've also worked with students on general questions in animal behavior and communication, and I'd be more than happy to talk to students who are interested in doing other types of projects where I could make a useful contribution - although why anyone wouldn't want to work with bats is beyond me! ;)  If you're interested in a project, contact me, and I'd be happy to discuss it with you and try to see if I'd be an appropriate advisor.  Click the link below to see some information about my previous research students.

One of my former students got so excited about bat research that she started up her own project with a local high school to try and get some bat houses built to provide us with a permanent bat population that we could study.  Click on the link below for more information about his project

Plans for 2007-2008

I am currently working on several different projects, and I'd like to find students who are willing to work on any of them.  Here is a brief description of what each project entails (these are not listed in any particular order, and I'm looking for students to work on all of them).

1. General animal behavior - I have recently had the opportunity to work with students who were studying different species of lemurs at various locations in the Southeastern US.  These studies have been observational due to the problems with invasive research on endangered animals, but there is a lot more that can be learned from these types of projects.  Similar sorts of projects could easily be carried out with other species with very little difficulty.  Video and audio recording would work well with this type of research and I have some equipment that would allow students to conduct this research fairly easily.

2. Bat surveys - prior work has included using bat detectors to try and find locations where bats are active and correlate those to variables like temperature, moonlight, rainfall, etc. to learn more about the habits of the bats and determine what are important factors affecting their activity levels.  As part of this, I will be using my computerized recording system to collect recordings for analysis.

3. Mistnetting - a mistnet is a net made of a special plastic mesh that is difficult for bats to detect, so they can be captured when they are flying.  This will allow us to gather more information from the bats, including species, sex, weight, estimated age, etc.  Any bats that are captured in this way will be recorded so their calls can be analyzed.

4. Computer analysis - bat echolocation calls are very short, some lasting less than a millisecond, so it is possible to collect several thousand calls in a few minutes.  To deal with this amount of data, I used special computer software to measure the variables describing the calls and then apply statistics to the resulting data.  The computer software includes routines written in Matlab as well as custom programs written in Visual Basic.  All of this software needs modification and updating, so a student who is interested in computers and biology would be able to work with me on this project to update and test new versions of the analysis programs.

5. Bat house project - I am continuing work on the bat house project (see the link above for more information).  I currently have several houses to hang, and once they are in place, I'll be looking for students who are willing to visit the houses, check them for bats, and measure the conditions inside each house.

I'm looking to get a group of several students over the next few semesters to allow my research projects to move forward.  Students who are interested in taking part in these projects should have the following characteristics

·       Most participants will be required to work nights for at least some portion of the project, and will be expected to perform some of the work without direct supervision.

·       Participants will be required to keep a log book of their observations, write a paper at the end of the semester, and give an oral presentation on their research to the science faculty.

·       Applicants should have good computer skills, including familiarity with Windows and Excel.  Other computer experience will be beneficial, but is not required.

·       Applicants should have completed MATH1231 and CHEM2412.

·       Preference will be given to motivated students with a GPA of 2.5 or higher.

·       If you are interested in taking part in this project, contact me by phone (678-466-4774) or by email:

o      StephenBurnett@clayton.edu

If you are interested in this project, or if you just have questions about bats in general, feel free to email me.