Appearing as Halloween decorations and viewed by many as frightening creatures of the night, bats are actually very misunderstood, said Allen Kurta, EMU professor of biology.
Bats are not blind, not aggressive creatures and do not fly into a person's hair, he said citing the lack of information about bats as one of their greatest threats.
Bats have been a 30-year source of fascination and research for Kurta, who was honored March 30 with the Ronald W. Collins Distinguished Faculty Award for Scholarly and Creative Activity. The award includes a plaque and a $3,500 honorarium. He was cited for his extensive research on bats.
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BAT MAN: Allen Kurta, professor of biology,
recently was awarded the Ronald W. Collins
Distinguished Faculty Award for Scholarly
and Creative Activity. Kurta has done
extensive research on bats, exploring
Kentucky caves, Michigan mines and
Puerto Rican habitat for the nocturnal,
furry creatures. |
"It's an honor to receive this award that emphasizes my career," said Kurta. "The Ronald W. Collins Distinguished Faculty Awards are the most prestigious awards that a faculty member can receive from Eastern Michigan University."
"Allen is incredible. He's one of our stellar researchers in the department and he's one of the leading authorities on bat biology in the United States and the world," said Kevin Kuehn, EMU assistant professor of biology and one of Kurta's nominators.
Kurta's master's degree research involved the first regional survey of bats in Michigan and the first statewide compilation of data on bats.
The small, furry, flying mammals are the number one predator of nocturnal insects, Kurta said. Bats also help regenerate forests by dispersing seeds in their droppings and pollinating flowers.
His current research focuses on the ecology and behavior of bats, particularly the endangered, tree-roosting Indiana bat.
"The Indiana bat is the only mammal that breeds in Michigan that is on the federal list of endangered species," said Kurta.
It's endangered due to problems with their habitat, he said. Beginning in the 1960s and '70s, people were disturbing the caves in Kentucky, Indiana and Missouri where bats hibernate during the winter.
Those winter sites are now protected, but there is still a decline in the number of bats and more information is needed on habitat requirements. To collect more data, Kurta has fitted 20 Indiana bats with radio transmitters that will track the bats for 7-14 days before falling off.
"Every bat is a piece to the puzzle," he said.
Kurta also is looking for bats in abandoned mines in Michigan's Upper Peninsula and recently traveled to Iron Mountain with a group of students.
"Most students will never have the opportunity to see any hibernating animal, let alone 15,000 hibernating bats," he said.
And, in the future, Kurta said, "I'll be going back up (to the Upper Peninsula) this weekend to explore new mines, looking for significant populations of hibernating bats that might need protection."
Kurta also has a number of projects involving bats in Puerto Rico. His newest co-authored publication is "Bats of Puerto Rico: An Island Focus and a Caribbean Perspective," which is due out in July.
Kurta has had articles published in more than 50 scientific publications, written five books and has published a peer-reviewed paper almost every year since 1979. He also has made several professional presentations at national or international meetings, and has been awarded 49 grants and contracts worth more than $545,000.
He was associate editor of the Journal of Mammalogy, the premiere journal in his field, and feature editor of Bat Research News.
Kurta has a bachelor's and master's degree in zoology from Michigan State University and a doctorate in biology from Boston University.
