The team

PacBat was founded in 2020, and consists of a consortium of researchers, community members and representatives from non-government organisations and non-profit organisations. Our team consists of:

Dr. Tigga Kingston

Dr. Tigga Kingston is a Professor of Biology at Texas Tech University. Her research on conservation ecology uses an integrative approach that combines studies of functional, reproductive, landscape, community, and microbial ecology to understand community assembly and disassembly in response to anthropogenic changes to habitats. She is the Founder of the SEABCRU, Co-Chair of the IUCN BSG and BOHRN, on the Steering Committee of BCA and Scientific Advisory Board of WABNet, and a member of the GBTWG.

Professor Justin Welbergen

Justin is a Professor of Animal Ecology at the Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment (Western Sydney University), where he leads the Lab of Animal Ecology. He is also President of the Australasian Bat Society (ABS), a ~500-member nonprofit organisation whose aim is to promote the conservation and study of bats across Australasia (join the ABS here). He is further co-founder of 'BATsLAB', a joint initiative with Dr Christopher Turbill to create a much-needed primary academic destination for bat research in Australia. And finally, Justin and Dr Anastasia Dalziell lead 'LyrebirdLab' that focuses on the behavioural ecology of the Superb and the Albert's lyrebird (family: Menuridae), and their close relatives, throughout Australia.