| Affiliations: | |
| Project Leader: | Amanda Adams, Ph.D. aadams@bio.tamu.edu Biology |
| Faculty Mentor: | Michael Smotherman, Ph.D. |
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Meeting Times:
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Fall 2016: Tuesday 12:30PM-1:30PM |
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Team Size:
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6 (Team Full) |
| Open Spots: | 0 |
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Special Opportunities:
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Earning co-authorship on publications. |
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Team Needs:
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Description:
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For more than 60 years researchers have puzzled over how echolocating bats avoid interfering with each other’s sonar while flying in dense swarms or within crowded roosts. Man-made sonar and radar systems face similar problems, but the bat’s exceptional resilience to jamming by conspecifics far exceeds the strategies currently employed in artificial systems. We are working to explain how groups of bats manage this extraordinary feat. We study bats’ flight, echolocation, and behavior in the lab at TAMU. By revealing important, new mechanisms by which bats compensate for acoustic interference, the results help predict bat behavior in different contexts and can help guide bat conservation efforts worldwide. We are looking for students with a diverse range of skills who want to be part of a team to accomplish this research. We are specifically looking for sophomores and juniors who are interested in working with and handling bats in behavioral experiments and can help with animal care, such as feeding. If you are interested, contact Dr. Amanda Adams (aadams26@tamu.edu). Please send your resume, a short email about why you are a good match for this project, and your availability for the upcoming semester. |