Dr. Mirjam Knörnschild
Humboldt University Berlin & Museum for Natural History
Berlin • Germany
Dr. Mirjam Knörnschild’s project focuses on a small, ecologically vital forest fragment in northeastern Italy near Udine. Covering just 20 hectares, it is surrounded by intensive agriculture. Once part of the Silva lupanica forest, this remnant now provides year-round roosting for the common noctule (Nyctalus noctula) and greater noctule (Nyctalus lasiopterus). Its value is high because so little of this lowland forest remains.
The study delivers the first year-round bioacoustic monitoring of an Italian forest fragment that supports both maternity and hibernation roosts for these vocal bats. By acoustically covering the entire site and pairing recordings with regular roost checks, the project directly links vocal behaviour to life-history stages. This approach tracks not only echolocation but also the timing and variety of social vocalisations through pup rearing, dispersal, courtship, migration, and hibernation.
This work addresses a key gap in bat bioacoustics. Echolocation calls are widely used to detect bats, but social vocalisations are less standardised and harder to interpret. Dr. Knörnschild’s team aims to clarify when these calls occur, what they signal, and how patterns differ between the two noctule species over the year.
The results have clear conservation value. Identifying peak social activity can guide forestry and other disturbance-prone work in small forest remnants like this one. The project will deliver a curated reference library and annotated dataset of noctule social calls. This resource may help researchers interpret passive acoustic surveys more reliably and support AI-assisted tools that advance bat monitoring from presence data to behavioural insight.
Awarded: (4) Song Meter Mini 2 Bat Li-ion; (1) Kaleidoscope Pro License
About Mirjam Knörnschild, PhD
Mirjam Knörnschild is a Professor of Evolutionary Ethology at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin (Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science). She is an internationally recognised expert on bat acoustic communication, and her research examines bat behaviour, communication, and cognition, with an emphasis on how vocal signals function in social contexts and how they vary across life-history stages. Mirjam combines long-term observational and experimental field studies with bioacoustic monitoring and quantitative analyses to link acoustic behaviour to ecology, phenology, and conservation-relevant questions. A recurring goal of her work is to develop robust, reproducible methods that make bat monitoring more informative, moving from simple activity measures toward interpretable behavioural indicators.
Chamika Gallage, MPhil Candidate
University of Kelaniya
Colombo • Sri Lanka
The Serendib Scops Owl (Otus thilohoffmanni) is one of the world’s most range-restricted and least-studied nocturnal bird species. Chamika Gallage’s project aims to change that by creating the first integrated, landscape-scale assessment of the ecology, distribution, and conservation needs of the Scops Owl in Sri Lanka’s lowland rainforests.
Chamika plans to generate ecological data on the owl through acoustic monitoring, field surveys, and habitat modeling. He will use passive acoustic monitoring by deploying Song Meter Micro 2 recorders across the Sinharaja Forest Reserve to capture the calling activity of the owl and other sympatric nocturnal birds. He will then analyse the recordings to create a validated call reference library for GIS-based habitat suitability and climate vulnerability modeling.
Most evidence-based conservation planning for the owl is limited due to a lack of data. Through this study, Chamika will develop a Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) model to connect biodiversity conservation with sustainable livelihoods for long-term protection of the owl. The results will help inform government agencies and planning authorities on conservation zoning, buffer-zone management, and landscape-level planning.
Additionally, his project will help guide biodiversity-friendly land-use practices around the rainforests by designing home gardens that function as supplementary habitats and ecological corridors.
Awarded: (20) Song Meter Micro 2; (2) Kaleidoscope Pro License; Accessories
About Chamika Gallage, MPhil Candidate
Chamika is an MPhil researcher at the University of Kelaniya (UoK), Sri Lanka, specializing in ecology, conservation, and spatial analysis, with a focus on species distribution modeling and ecosystem services. He holds a BSc (Hons) in Environmental Conservation and Management from the UoK. His current research investigates the ecology and conservation of Sri Lanka’s endemic Serendib Scops Owl using acoustic monitoring.
Dr. Georgiana Crețu
Federation Open Landscape
Transylvania • Romania
Dr. Georgiana Crețu’s project in Podișul Hârtibaciului, Romania, addresses protected-area management that is still guided by biodiversity inventories more than a decade old. While this landscape comprises 11 areas that form a rare ecological patchwork of traditional grasslands, old-growth forests, and historical fortified churches, administration is rigidly divided.
Georgiana’s study will update the region’s biodiversity inventory and build the case for a more unified, functional protection model. Using GIS, passive acoustic monitoring, and video capture, Dr. Crețu and colleagues are documenting large carnivores, bats, saproxylic insects, key bird populations, and the corridors that connect Natura 2000 sites.
This work is especially compelling because of its practical reach. While the project will generate better ecological data, it will also use that evidence to support stricter habitat protection, update management plans, and strengthen local conservation action. Acoustic and visual records may even serve as legal evidence when habitat destruction is detected.
More broadly, Georgiana’s project will provide a proof of concept for modernizing biodiversity monitoring in Romania. By treating the Hârtibaciu Plateau as one connected ecological system rather than a patchwork of separate sites, it pushes conservation toward a landscape-scale approach—one that better reflects how species actually live, move, and persist.
Awarded: (4) Song Meter Mini 2 Bat AA; (2) Song Meter Micro 2; (1) Kaleidoscope Pro License; Accessories
About Georgiana Crețu, PhD
Georgiana is a chiropterologist with over 15 years of experience in the research, monitoring, and conservation of bat species in Romania. She has coordinated and implemented inventory, mapping, and conservation status assessment studies in numerous Natura 2000 sites and protected natural areas, including Piatra Craiului National Park, Făgăraș Mountains, Apuseni Natural Park, and Retezat National Park. Georgiana has collaborated with research institutes, NGOs, and environmental consultancy firms across Romania and France to help develop management plans and impact studies. Her expertise includes acoustic monitoring, ultrasound analysis, environmental assessments, biodiversity management, and conservation education.
Titir Roy, PhD Candidate
Department of Biology, IISER Pune
Pune, Maharashtra • India
What are the characteristics of mating vocalisations in the Mugger crocodile (Crocodylus palustris), and how can they be used to help conservation of the reptile? Titir Roy’s project attempts to answer this question by capturing the first systematic acoustic references for mating in the species, generating foundational data to support long-term acoustic monitoring.
To establish how human-crocodile contact affects crocodile breeding patterns, passive acoustic monitoring will be conducted at two sites in India: Petli in the Charotar region, where there is little to no human-crocodile conflict, and Vrijai in the Vadodara district of central Gujarat, where there is high human-crocodile interaction. By comparing the vocalisations in these two areas, Titir aims to see how human interaction affects mating in the Mugger crocodile.
The current lack of information on these vocalisations prevents understanding of how communication affects the Mugger crocodile’s mating patterns and how environmental and anthropogenic disturbances may interfere with these patterns. Using bioacoustics to identify periods of high reproductive activity, Titir’s project will help prioritize protection during critical breeding windows.
Awarded: (1) Song Meter Mini 2 Li-ion; (1) Kaleidoscope Pro License; Li-ion Batteries
About Titir Roy, PhD Candidate
Since 2018, Titir Roy’s research has focused on the neurobiology of acoustic communication in Zebra Finches at the IISER, Pune. During her dissertation, Titir investigated the role of the HVC nucleus in song initiation by pharmacologically manipulating neural pathways and analyzing resulting changes in song structure. She is a PhD student studying female courtship behaviour and song preference using behavioural playback assays combined with electrophysiological recordings from the caudal mesopallium. Her work integrates neural data, computational acoustic analysis, and controlled song manipulation to understand how auditory processing guides mate choice. Titir aims to extend this mechanistic framework to conservation bioacoustics, examining how environmental change may affect vocal communication and reproductive success.
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