DANTAisms

We are delighted that Dr. Heather York will be teaching a Neotropical Bat Biology course for us in Costa Rica in 2026. The course dates are June 15 -30, 2026. For more information about the course, visit www.danta.info.

Costa Rica is home to more than 100 species of bats, which play a wide variety of important ecological roles in tropical systems, including fruit and nectar bats important to plants, predators of insects and invertebrates, and vampire bats.  Students will experience the great diversity of Neotropical bats by capturing them with mist nets, which allows for careful identification and study of bats in-hand.  Possible additional projects include roost and diet surveys, diversity comparisons across field sites, examination of ectoparasites, studies of flight anatomy, and opportunities for bat photography.

About your instructor

Dr. Heather York is an animal ecologist, specializing in the biology of Neotropical bats with additional interests in birds, insects, spiders, and tardigrades.  She has conducted field work on bats since 2000 and, for over two decades, has led graduate students, undergraduates, and secondary students in a number of field experiences both throughout Latin America and in the US.  Her 2019 publication, “A Field Key to the Bats of Costa Rica and Nicaragua,” has been an important contribution to bat research in Central America.  Having taught zoology, ecology, and evolution at liberal arts colleges, Dr. York now leads the biology program at Watkinson School, a college preparatory institution in Hartford, Connecticut, USA.