S1 Episode 15: Nils Bouillard

Charles and Jon interview Nils Bouillard, a young Belgian biologist who specializes in bat acoustics. In 2019 Nils set out to spend a year traveling the world to try to record as many bat species as possible. His Big Bat Year, the first of its kind, took him across 6 continents and 400 bat species. Nils talks about what drew him to bats and a Big Bat Year, and the many adventures he has had along the way including that time he caught bats with a Sinaloan drug cartel looking on.

Nils’s new company – Barbastella Echology – is here. And here is an interview about his Big Bat Year. If you are interested in getting to know more about bats, and helping to conserve them, there might be a local bat group in your area. Bat Conservation International also has some useful resources. Wikipedia has information about the Hero Shrew that Charles talked about. Cover art: Yellow-winged Bat, Nils Bouillard.