Great Lakes Bat Festival

Last updated
Great Lakes Bat Festival
GenreFestival
FrequencyAnnually in September or October
Location(s)Great Lakes region
Years active21–22
Inaugurated2002 (2002)
Founder Organization for Bat Conservation
AttendanceEst. 2,000-3,000
Executive DirectorRob Mies
SponsorCritter Catchers

The Great Lakes Bat Festival was an annual two-day event that started in 2002 and began in the Great Lakes region. [1] The festival later expanded to different state divisions, which included the Illinois Bat Festival, [2] the Indiana State University Bat Festival, [3] [4] [5] the Minnesota Bat Festival, [6] and the Wisconsin Bat Festival. [3] It was founded and organized by the Organization for Bat Conservation until the organization's dissolution in 2018.

Contents

The goals of the Great Lakes Bat Festival were to highlight the diversity of life on earth, educate people on bats and explain the need for conservation. [7] The festival included live bat programs presented by the Organization for Bat Conservation, featuring bats from around the world. [8]

Evening events included demonstrations from bat researchers on various research techniques, such as radio-tagging and/or light-tagging. [9]

Locations

The festival was held at the Cranbrook Institute of Science Bat Zone in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, [10] at the Indiana State University Center for North American Bat Research and Conservation in Terre Haute, Indiana, [11] at the Milwaukee County Zoo in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, [12] and at Iron Mountain, Michigan near Millie Hill Mine. [13] [14]

No.YearVenueLocationRef
12002 Millie Hill bat cave Iron Mountain, Michigan [15]
22003 Cranbrook Institute of Science Bloomfield Hills, Michigan [16]
32004 Cranbrook Institute of Science Bloomfield Hills, Michigan [17]
42005Iron Mountain, Michigan [18]
52006
62007Indiana State UniversityTerre Haute, Indiana [19]
72008
82009 Milwaukee Zoo Milwaukee, Wisconsin [20]
92010 Cranbrook Institute of Science Bloomfield Hills, Michigan [21]
102011 Cranbrook Institute of Science Bloomfield Hills, Michigan [22] [23] [24]
112012Southfield Civic Center ArenaSouthfield, Michigan [25]
122013Southfield PavilionSouthfield, Michigan [26] [27]
132014 Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum Ann Arbor, Michigan [28]
142015 Cranbrook Institute of Science Bloomfield Hills, Michigan [29] [3]
152016Macomb Intermediate School DistrictClinton Township, Michigan [30] [31]
162017Michigan Science CenterDetroit, Michigan [32]
172018 Potter Park Zoo Lansing, Michigan [33]
182019Belle Isle Nature Center (Detroit Zoo)Detroit, Michigan [34] [35]

Dissolution

The Great Lakes Bat Festival was dissolved in 2018 due to its organizer, Organization for Bat Conservation, ceasing operations. This was because of the termination of its co-founder, Rob Mies, as well as financial issues. [36]

Notable speakers and guests

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oakland County, Michigan</span> County in Michigan, United States

Oakland County is a county in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is a principal county of the Detroit metropolitan area, containing the bulk of Detroit's northern suburbs. Due to the county's government complex spanning 2 municipalities, it's county seat is shared between Pontiac, and Waterford. and its largest city is Troy. As of the 2020 Census, its population was 1,274,395, making it the second-most populous county in Michigan, and the largest county in the United States without a city of 100,000 residents.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Metro Detroit</span> Metropolitan area in Michigan, United States

Metro Detroit is a major metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Michigan, consisting of the city of Detroit and over 200 municipalities in the surrounding area with its largest employer being Oakland County. There are varied definitions of the area, including the official statistical areas designated by the Office of Management and Budget, a federal agency of the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Detroit Zoo</span> Zoo in Oakland County, Michigan, United States

The Detroit Zoo is a zoo located in the cities of Huntington Woods and Royal Oak in the U.S. state of Michigan. Spanning 125 acres (50.6 ha), it houses more than 2,000 animals and more than 200 different species. The zoo was the first U.S. zoo to feature bar-less habitats, and is regarded to be an international leader in animal welfare, conservation and sustainability by the Detroit Zoological Society.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lance Parrish</span> American baseball player and manager

Lance Michael Parrish, nicknamed "Big Wheel", is an American former baseball catcher who played Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1977 through 1995. Born in Pennsylvania, Parrish grew up in Southern California and excelled in both baseball and football. He was drafted by the Detroit Tigers in 1974, and after four years in the minor leagues, he played for the Tigers for a decade from 1977 to 1986. He later played for the Philadelphia Phillies (1987–1988), California Angels (1989–1992), Seattle Mariners (1992), Cleveland Indians (1993), Pittsburgh Pirates (1994), and Toronto Blue Jays (1995).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gunnar Birkerts</span> American architect

Gunnar Birkerts was a Latvian American architect who, for most of his career, was based in the metropolitan area of Detroit, Michigan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tourism in metropolitan Detroit</span>

Tourism in metropolitan Detroit, Michigan is a significant factor for the region's culture and for its economy, comprising nine percent of the area's two million jobs. About 19 million people visit Metro Detroit spending an estimated 6 billion in 2019. In 2009, this number was about 15.9 million people, spending an estimated $4.8 billion. Detroit is one of the largest American cities and metropolitan regions to offer casino resort hotels. Leading multi-day events throughout Metro Detroit draw crowds of hundreds of thousands to over three million people. More than fifteen million people cross the highly traveled nexus of the Ambassador Bridge and the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel annually. Detroit is at the center of an emerging Great Lakes Megalopolis. An estimated 46 million people live within a 300-mile (480 km) radius of Metro Detroit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Matt Walbeck</span> American baseball player

Matthew Lovick Walbeck is an American former professional baseball catcher who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for five different teams, primarily in the American League, from 1993 to 2003. He served as third base coach for the Texas Rangers in 2008.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Livingstone's fruit bat</span> Species of bat

Livingstone's fruit bat, also called the Comoro flying fox, is a megabat in the genus Pteropus. It is an Old World fruit bat found only in the Anjouan and Mohéli islands in the Union of the Comoros in the western Indian Ocean.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ann W. Richards Congress Avenue Bridge</span> Bridge in Austin, Texas

The Ann W. Richards Congress Avenue Bridge crosses over Lady Bird Lake in Austin, Texas. Before construction of the Longhorn Dam was completed in 1960, the bridge crossed the Colorado River from which Lady Bird Lake is impounded. The bridge was known as the Congress Avenue Bridge from the construction of the first span across the Colorado River at that location in the late 19th century until November 16, 2006, when the Austin City Council renamed the current bridge in honor of Ann W. Richards, the 45th Governor of Texas and a long-term resident of Austin. The bridge is a concrete arch bridge with three southbound and three northbound vehicle lanes and sidewalks on both sides of the bridge.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rodrigues flying fox</span> Large species of bat native to the island of Rodrigues

The Rodrigues flying fox or Rodrigues fruit bat is a species of bat in the family Pteropodidae, the flying foxes or fruit bats. It is endemic to Rodrigues, an island in the Indian Ocean belonging to Mauritius. Its natural habitat is tropical lowland forests. The bats are sociable, roost in large groups during the day and feed at night, squeezing the juice and flesh out of fruits. They are hunted by humans for food and their numbers have been dwindling, and the International Union for Conservation of Nature has rated the species as being "endangered". In an effort to preserve them from extinction, some bats have been caught and are being bred in various zoos around the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Great Lakes megalopolis</span> Cities around the Great Lakes of North America

The Great Lakes megalopolis consists of a bi-national group of metropolitan areas in North America largely in the Great Lakes region. It extends from the Midwestern United States in the south and west to western Pennsylvania and Western New York in the east and northward through Southern Ontario into southwestern Quebec in Canada. It is the most populated and largest megalopolis in North America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Organization for Bat Conservation</span>

Organization for Bat Conservation (OBC) was a national environmental education nonprofit based in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, established to educate and inspire people to save bats. It was the largest grassroots bat conservation organization in the United States. In February 2018, it was announced that the organization was ceasing operations due to unexpected financial problems and personnel changes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Motor City Pride</span> Annual LGBT event in Detroit, Michigan

Motor City Pride is an annual LGBT pride street festival, held in Hart Plaza in Detroit, Michigan the second Saturday and Sunday of June. Previously held in Ferndale, Michigan, the festival moved to Detroit in 2011. It is the largest LGBT event held in Michigan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tucker Barnhart</span> American baseball player (born 1991)

Tucker Jackson Barnhart is an American professional baseball catcher in the Arizona Diamondbacks organization. He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Cincinnati Reds, Detroit Tigers, and Chicago Cubs. He made his MLB debut in 2014 and won the Gold Glove Award in 2017 and 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Curt Casali</span> American baseball player (born 1988)

Curtis Michael Casali, is an American professional baseball catcher in the Miami Marlins organization. He played college baseball at Vanderbilt University, and was selected in the 10th round of the 2011 MLB draft by the Detroit Tigers. He made his Major League Baseball (MLB) debut in 2014 with the Tampa Bay Rays, and has also played for the San Francisco Giants, Seattle Mariners, and Cincinnati Reds.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeremy Moss</span> American politician (born 1986)

Jeremy Allen Moss is an American politician from Southfield, Michigan currently representing the 7th State Senate District, which includes all of Auburn Hills, Bloomfield Hills, Bloomfield Township, Lake Angelus, Lathrup Village, Pontiac, Southfield, and parts of Detroit, Southfield Township, and Waterford Township. A member of the Democratic Party, he is the first openly LGBT person elected to the Michigan Senate, as well as the first to serve as President Pro Tempore. Moss previously served in the Michigan House of Representatives from 2014 - 2018, and remains the youngest-ever member of the Southfield City Council.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eric Haase</span> American baseball player (born 1992)

Eric Michael Haase is an American professional baseball catcher for the Milwaukee Brewers of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Cleveland Indians / Guardians and Detroit Tigers.

Valerie Olson van Heest is an American author, explorer, and museum exhibit designer. She is co-founder of the Michigan Shipwreck Research Association.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Payton Henry</span> American baseball player (born 1997)

Payton Anthony Henry is an American professional baseball catcher in the Toronto Blue Jays organization. He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Miami Marlins.

Millie Hill bat cave is an abandoned iron mine in Iron Mountain, Michigan that is now one of the largest bat breeding colonies in North America. The vertical mine shaft is blocked by a steel grate, which prevents entry by humans but allows bats to enter and exit freely. The bat cave is designated as an official Michigan Wildlife Viewing Area.

References

  1. ↑ "Organization for Bat Conservation". Bat Conservation Journal (Spring 2008).
  2. ↑ Kording, Nan (2017-07-06). "Batty for bats". Illinois Times. Retrieved 2023-11-07.
  3. 1 2 3 Linn, Morgan (2016-09-29). "Great Lakes festival crowd goes batty over bats | Great Lakes Echo". greatlakesecho.org. Retrieved 2023-11-07.
  4. ↑ Price, Will (2022-09-17). "Bat Festival makes return to Indiana State". MyWabashValley.com. Retrieved 2023-11-07.
  5. ↑ "ISUBatCenter | College of Arts and Sciences". www.indstate.edu. Retrieved 2023-11-07.
  6. ↑ Blanchette, Aimee (2017-08-10). "Minnesota's first bat festival aims to prove that these flying critters aren't so creepy". Star Tribune. Retrieved 2023-11-07.
  7. ↑ Hoffmaster, Eric; Vonk, Jennifer; Mies, Rob (2016-01-15). "Education to Action: Improving Public Perception of Bats". Animals. 6 (1): 6. doi: 10.3390/ani6010006 . ISSN   2076-2615. PMC   4730123 . PMID   26784239.
  8. ↑ "Want a Dream Pet? Join Pets 'n' Friends Today!". Pets 'n' Friends. Retrieved 2023-12-31.
  9. ↑ "Bat Week Highlights with Amy Wray – Gratton Lab". gratton.entomology.wisc.edu. 2016-11-09. Retrieved 2023-11-07.
  10. ↑ Cranbrook Institute of Science, www.PureMichigan.org/Things-to-Do/Events "Great Lakes Bat Festival at Cranbrook Institute of Science."
  11. ↑ "Great Lakes Bat Festival To Take Place at ISU in August". Indiana State University - ISU Newsroom. 2007-05-21.
  12. ↑ "8th Annual Great Lakes Bat Festival Flying Into The Milwaukee County Zoo". Archived from the original on 2009-08-13. Retrieved 2018-11-12.
  13. ↑ Morscheck, Richard (2005-07-25). "E-M:/Fourth Annual Great Lakes Bat Festival". Enviro-Mich.
  14. ↑ "Thousands Gather for 2005 Bat Festivals". The Spotting Scope. 11 (1). Fall 2005 – via Michigan Department of Natural Resources.
  15. ↑ "Bats get a wingding". News-Press. 2002-04-04. p. 6.
  16. ↑ "Future Meetings and Events" (PDF). Bat Research News. 44 (1): 81. 2003.
  17. ↑ "Future Meetings and Events" (PDF). Bat Research News. 45 (1): 84. 2004.
  18. ↑ Blake, Erica (2005-08-07). "Holy bat conservation!". The Blade. Retrieved 2023-11-07.
  19. ↑ "Bat Conservation Efforts | Critter Catchers, Inc". www.crittercatchersinc.com. Retrieved 2023-11-07.
  20. ↑ Zoological Society of Milwaukee (2013-07-26). "September/October 2009 Wild Things". issuu.com. Retrieved 2023-11-07.
  21. 1 2 3 "Critter Catchers winging way into Great Lakes Bat Festival". www.crittercatchersinc.com. 2010-02-15. Retrieved 2023-11-07.
  22. ↑ "Cranbrook Institute of Science's 10th annual Great Lakes Bat Festival features 12 species of bats". Mayuri Munot's ePortfolio. 2011-07-03. Retrieved 2023-11-07.
  23. ↑ "Critter Catchers at Great Lakes Bat Festival". www.crittercatchersinc.com. Retrieved 2023-11-07.
  24. ↑ "Great Lakes Bat Festival returns to Mich. museum". The Victoria Advocate. 2011-07-08. Retrieved 2023-11-07.
  25. ↑ "OBC'S Annual Bat Festival". One Brick. 2012-06-06. Retrieved 2023-11-07.
  26. ↑ Proxmire, Crystal (2013-10-02). "Bat Festival Brings Fun & Learning to Southfield (video)". Oakland County Times. Retrieved 2023-11-07.
  27. ↑ Proxmire, Crystal (2013-09-21). "Annual Bat Festival at Southfield Pavillion Sept. 28". Oakland County Times. Retrieved 2023-11-07.
  28. ↑ DeVito, Lee (2014-09-26). "13th Annual Great Lakes Bat Festival comes to Ann Arbor". Detroit Metro Times. Retrieved 2023-11-07.
  29. ↑ Dunn, Patrick (2015-09-24). "Bat festival studies a species that used to be uncool". The Detroit News. Retrieved 2023-11-07.
  30. ↑ "15th annual Great Lakes Bat Festival Sept. 17". FOX 2 Detroit. 2016-09-16. Retrieved 2023-11-07.
  31. ↑ Devlin, Eamon (2016-07-07). "Conservation in the bat zone | Great Lakes Echo". greatlakesecho.org. Retrieved 2023-11-07.
  32. ↑ Brennan, Mike (2017-09-08). "Michigan Science Center Offers Great Lakes Bat Festival Sept. 23". MITechNews. Retrieved 2023-11-07.
  33. ↑ "Great Lakes Bat Festival – Bat Association of MSU". 2018-10-06. Retrieved 2023-11-07.
  34. ↑ "Great Lakes Bat Festival". Belle Isle Nature Center. Retrieved 2023-11-07.
  35. ↑ "Great Lakes Bat Festival Comes to the Belle Isle Nature Center October 5". Detroit Zoo. 2019-09-26. Retrieved 2023-11-07.
  36. ↑ Abdel-Baqui, Omar. "Popular Bat Zone faces shutdown after co-founder terminated". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved 2024-01-23.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.