Computational Physics Applied to Tracking and Counting Bats

By Ian Bentley, associate professor of Chemistry and Physics

A few to a few hundred bats can live in man-made roosts and tens of thousands to tens of millions of bats can live in caves across the country. Providing accurate counts of bats is of interest to biological researchers and conservationists studying various phenomena including monitoring the relation between environmental stresses and population size and the spread of disease. But both small roosts and large colonies provide challenges when attempting to provide an accurate population count. Dr. Bentley and his research team of Saint Mary's undergraduates have developed a free tracking software that allows for videos to be analyzed. When compared with manually counting, the software provides counts that are substantially less labor intensive, that are determined more quickly, and that are more accurate.  

A new aspect of this work is currently under development and is taking part as a collaboration with Dr. Gebran. This collaboration is utilizing neural networks to improve the counts (in particular when multiple bats are overlapping) and to potentially also resolve the position of the bats. Our collaborators in biology are assessing the biological and environmental motivations. We are developing some of the interesting innovations in the software and determining how applicable the software is with other species of animals. This research has been supported by the National Science Foundation, the Department of Fish and Wildlife and Saint Mary's own Neuhoff Summer Science Communities Grant.