Bat Acoustic Field Monitoring & Eastern Call ID Workshop (FL) December 7-11, 2026
Bat Acoustic Field Monitoring & Eastern Call ID Workshop (FL) December 7-11, 2026
$950.00
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After reserving a seat, please complete the Workshop Participant Pre-Survey for each attendee. This is an in-person event.
Bat Acoustic Field Workshop
- Hands-on deploying bat detectors; bring your own detectors or borrow ours.
- Post process data from our field trips, and/or bring your own.
- Learn to weed out non-bat sounds, recognize call quality, and confirm or reject software classifications.
- Learn Eastern US bat call identification with hands on exercises and review.
- Learn to display SonoBat, manual ID, and (optionally) Kaleidoscope Pro decisions side-by-side
- In-person for the best 1:1 collaboration possible; in person small class size for high contact time with instructors.
- Optional evening events provide additional 1:1 opportunities for vetting help, special topics, & networking.
- SonoBat30, Data Wizard, and SonoBatLIVE trial software.
- Field trips include viewing bat emergences with night vision, and a rare opportunity conducting early evening river kayak acoustic transects in Florida bonneted bat foraging areas.
- Active student discounts available; workshop incudes lunches, some dinners, and transportation to/from field trips. Conference room is located in a waterfront hotel, next door to additional hotels, restaurants, and 10 minutes from the Punta Gorda airport.
Our SonoBat Acoustic Monitoring Field Workshop provides an introduction to using bat detectors as non-contact survey method for documenting bat activity and occupancy in any North American habitat.
Instructors cover techniques for properly deploying stationary point detectors and for conducing mobile acoustic transects. We focus on equipment selection; configuring appropriate settings; and data collection, organization and management workflows. Students learn how to post-process data with SonoBat software program with guided, hand-on practice to interpret "auto-classification" decisions and how to manually confirm or reject the computer-generated "probable species presence" results. Participants become empowered to design and conduct their own acoustic surveys to satisfy any local or national protocols
Dates: Monday 10 am December 7-11, 2026. Formal instruction ends 4 PM Friday but includes a final a field activity/post processing opportunity until approximately 10 PM.
Scheduled Lecture and/or Demonstration Topics: Daytimes include in-person classroom lectures and live demonstrations primarily using the SonoBat software for acoustic workflow. Many aspects of acoustic monitoring training does not translate well into an online format. This is an IN PERSON training and no modules are available online.
The Nature of Ultrasound
Bat Detector Technology
Acoustic Identification of Eastern U.S. Bat Species
Bat Detector Placement and Micro-siting
Data Wizard Workflow for Off-loading Data and Post-processing
Introduction to SonoBat: Basic Operations
Manual Review of Passive Recordings & SonoVet
Adding Kaleidoscope Pro to SonoBat Output (optional)
Our workshops capitalize on in-person field trips. Evening trips are weather and access dependent and typically include:
Mexican-free tailed bat emergences from bridges & bat houses
Florida bonneted bat emergences from bat houses
Florida bonneted bat foraging areas
Walking and driving transects thru nearby Wildlife Management Areas
Evening kayak or boat transects on Peace or Myakka River tributaries
Passive detector deployments at area parks and WMA's
Instructors:
Joe Szewczak SonoBat Developer, is a Professor of Biological Sciences at Humboldt State University. He regularly teaches bat biology and acoustic monitoring field classes and workshops throughout the US and abroad. Joe began collecting full-spectrum recordings of bats more than 30 years ago with the notion that they may someday prove useful for identifying bats, and ultimately developed SonoBat to fill the gap to facilitate the specialized tasks of viewing, analyzing, and comparing bat echolocation calls and sequences for non-invasive species recognition.
John Chenger President of Bat Conservation and Management, Inc. (BCM) John has over 30 years of experience in the field of bat conservation, research, cave & mine roost assessments, bat acoustic monitoring, and photography. He formed BCM in 1998 to provide consulting services for wildlife surveys, mitigation projects, and capture equipment. BCM conducts research across the country specializing in Indiana, Northern long ear, and Florida bonneted bat studies.
Meeting/Lecture Location & Parking: Four Points by Sheraton Punta Gorda Harborside, 33 Tamiami Trail, Punta Gorda, Florida 33950, phone 941 637 6770. Note the entrance to the hotel is on the left just literally just before the long bridge over the Peace River; if you miss the entrance you will have to cross the river and circle back. TT's Tiki Hut parking is behind the hotel on the water.
Airport(s): The most convenient airport is Punta Gorda, which is about 10 minute drive and in Eastern Time zone. Some Punta Gorda hotels may provide a shuttle. Other airports by distance are: Fort Meyers, Sarasota, St. Petersburg, and Tampa.
Lodging: Lodging is not included in the cost of this training. Participants are required to make their own lodging arrangements. We tend to start at 9 am and end at midnight At least 3 other hotels are easy walking distance from the venue. More affordable accommodations are nearby with the Baymont Inn being consistently a good value with clean rooms, and the Microtel nearby in Port Charlotte.
Meals: Lunch is provided on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. A coffee station is available all day. No other meals are provided, however a generous dinner break is provided and there are food options within walking distance.
Pre-course Preparation: There is no pre-requisite for this training. The curriculum, demonstrations, and field practicums are designed to provide an overview of acoustic bat survey methods for Eastern North American species, and particularly the southeast US. Participants should be prepared to hike over uneven terrain, at night, carrying personal gear, and dealing with biting insects. Students must bring personal field gear including headlamps, appropriate clothing, footwear for working outdoors, and basic personal items. Insect repellent for mosquitos is advised & provided.
Bat Acoustic Hardware and Software: A limited number of recorders are available for acoustic monitoring. Students are welcome to bring their own bat detectors as desired. Instructors will help design recording schedules, refine settings, and troubleshoot for successful field use. Participants will be given a full working trial of the SonoBat software to use with the live demos.
Approximately ten-days prior to the start of class, students will receive a complete list of what to bring and how to prepare for class, but feel free to contact us at any time if you have specific questions about the class or how to prepare.
How to Register: Please register by ordering online on this page. NOTE: To register multiple people, please checkout each person individually so that we can obtain the proper contact information for each participant. Student discount does not apply to consulting agencies. Registration is not refundable after December 1, but is transferable. We will accept walk in registrations for this event.
All participants should complete the pre-survey so that instructors may better tailor the event to you needs.
All participants are expected to have personal insurance coverage. All participants are expected to sign a liability waiver and photo release at the start of the workshop.
Questions & Answers
Have a Question?
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Good afternoon, I am very interested in this course, but was wondering if there will also be some emphasis on tricolored bats as well as Florida bonneted bats?
All the eastern US species are covered in class, and we will have the opportunity to visit several locations in the evening to record both tricolored bats and FL bonneted bats. We should be able to post process multi-night deployments of passive detectors which should contain recordings from both species as well.
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Good morning, What is the difference between what is offered for the citizen science experience at these events and the Professional experience? I don't believe my company would be willing to send me to this as they are specialized in avian and wetland fields.
Hello- there is a cost break if you are not professionally employed in the wildlife field. There is no other difference. Working for a wildlife consulting company, you would be considered at the Professional rate. Thanks!
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Good afternoon, I am very interested in learning more about your courses. I am with UES who is just now starting to delve into the bat world, and we are looking to train some of our staff members in bat acoustics. Would you recommend any of your courses for someone who wants an introduction into acoustics surveys?
Yes, I would recommend any of the acoustic offerings at batmanagement.com or batsurveysolutions.com . These are fairly intense workshops where a lot of information is condensed in a relatively short time. They are aimed at somewhat tech-saavy folks wanting to get a "crash course" on how to professionally record bat calls and interpret the analysis.
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I’m interested in taking the training course based in Florida in December and I was wondering if the id of eastern bat species included species within Georgia. Is the course focused on eastern us bats but the course is being held within Florida?
Thanks for your interest- we review all species in the East at that venue, so certainly anything that might be enountered in GA. Instructors also offer evening "geek sessions" for additional 1:1 topics of special interest; so plan to not get much sleep if taking full advantage! Contact john@batmanagement.com for direct Q&A about this class.
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Hi Joe/John. This looks like a tremendous opportunity and thought I'd love to attend, my remaining training/workshop budget is not enough to support the $3,750 professional price tag. I'm wondering if/where you'll be offering the workshop next year?
Hello- there are preliminary plans to have a longer workshop in February in FL. Typically some version (up to 8 days) of an acoustic workshop is available in AZ, NV, KY, and FL. Please see https://batmanagement.com/pages/upcoming-events and https://batsurveysolutions.com/pages/schedule Drop me an email jchenger@batmanagement.com to be added to a mailing list. We also have an online course for bat call ID available soon, this is limited to only bat call ID however.
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When is the deadline for registration, and does a federal government employee count as an Agency Biologist or as a Standard Professional?
Hello - We can take last minute registrations for this particular venue, but registration should be considered closed October 23. Registration is not refundable after October 23, but is transferable. Full time- government employees would be considered an "agency biologist".