WCPO: UC and the Ohio Natural Resources Department want to count your bats
Citizen input is needed for a research study on bat population, dying due to a fungus
People usually only think about bats at Halloween; but many structures are domiciles for bats year-round; but, if you have bats at any time, there’s someone who wants to know: UC bat researcher Joe Johnston, an assistant professor of information technology at UC.
Johnston, in conjunction with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, is conducting a study on Ohio’s bat population and how it’s been affected by a fungal infection called “white nose syndrome.” To do so, he needs citizen input and cooperation.
“We'll come out. We'll take a look, identify them, collect some basic information about the sites, such as the number of animals that are there, the species, the kind of structure that they're in," Johnston told WCPO about the effort to track the bats and determine what might be done to improve a decline in the bat population.
Then it's really a matter of the individual landowner’s interest in working with Johnson on the research project.
The project isn't about removing bats from someone's attic, or anything like that, Johnson says. "We're not going to show up, and say 'Oh, you've got this rare bat, you have to now dedicate your barn to their preservation.'
Property owners interested in participating can email Johnson at bats@uc.edu.
Read more about Johnson's research
Featured image at top courtesy of Unsplash.
Impact Lives Here
The University of Cincinnati is leading public urban universities into a new era of innovation and impact. Our faculty, staff and students are saving lives, changing outcomes and bending the future in our city's direction. Next Lives Here.
Related Stories
Scientists discover how snakes stand upright without limbs
April 3, 2026
Smithsonian magazine highlights a study co-authored by UC Professor Bruce Jayne, an expert in snake locomotion, about how snakes stand upright without arms or legs.
UC CubeCats satellite makes hiss-tory at NASA
April 2, 2026
UC Students Launch First Satellite April 8. Help Send Bearcats to NASA Liftoff as they make history for UC and Ohio.
On track: Hoffman Honors Scholar studies public transit
April 2, 2026
Public transit is where Zane Sawyer’s lifelong passion for travel meets his commitment to making an impact. The University of Cincinnati first-year geography major in the College of Arts & Sciences and member of the second cohort of Hoffman Honors Scholars (HHS) has hit the ground running, designing a research project intended to capture both how public transit works and how its users perceive it.