WBWG Officers

The Western Bat Working Group is governed by a board of elected officers and a board of directors. The officers include a president, vice president, secretary, treasurer, and four at-large representatives. Two of the at-large representatives are elected and two are appointed by the president. At least one at-large representative will be from Canada. The intent is to have a diverse mix of federal, state, provincial, and private entity representation on the Board with at least one of the Officers being associated with a state wildlife agency that represents Western Bat Working Group at the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies and associated groups such as The Trilateral Committee.

Board of Directors
The Board of Directors is made up of Directors that have been elected by the members of their state or province to represent them in the WBWG. More than one director may be selected per state or province although each state is allowed one vote within the function of The Board of Directors. It is up to the discretion of each state or province to determine their election procedure but according to WBWG Bylaws their term of office is two years and until he or she is re-elected, or his or her successor is elected and qualifies.
Officers
Officers are elected by the Board of Directors. Directors should get a consensus from the members of their respective state or province and then vote for officers based on that consensus. Term of office for Officers is two years, or until he or she is re-elected, resigns or is removed or is otherwise disqualified to serve, or until his or her successor shall be elected and qualified, whichever occurs first.
Elections and Voting
Elections for Officers will be conducted every two years. A nomination and elections committee will present a ballot of nominees to the Board of Directors and Officers for approval by October 1. The approved ballot will then be provided to the membership of each state or province by their Director by November 15. Members should send their votes to their respective state or provincial Director. Each Director, for their respective state or province, will record votes from their membership and then cast one ballot reflecting the consensus of votes from their membership to the nomination and elections committee by December 15. The nomination and elections committee will tally the votes and present the results to the outgoing Officers.

Current Officers and Directors


President | Robert Schorr

Contact

  • Robert.schorr@colostate.edu
  • 970.310.8787
  • Colorado Natural Heritage Program 240 General Services Building Colorado State University Fort Collins, CO 80523 1475

About Me

This is my second term as WBWG President and I’m proud of the work the 2021 Board did during my first term, including hosting WBWG’s first international conference (Victoria, BC), sponsoring the Native American Bat Workshops, developing a diversity, equity, and inclusion objective for the organization, investing in carbon offsets for WBWG conference attendees, and transition Bat Research News to the new Journal of North American Bat Research. I grew up in northern California near the San Joaquin-Sacramento River Delta, and the Sierra Nevada as my backpacking playground. I attended University of California, Davis, where I discovered the field of mammalogy, and earned my Master’s degree from the University of Georgia. Since 1997, I’ve been a research scientist for the Colorado Natural Heritage Program at Colorado State University, studying rare rodents, bats, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and the occasional invertebrate. Much of my bat-related research now revolves around mark-recapture population models to assess survival, abundance, and fidelity of little brown bats in Colorado and Wyoming. My down time is spent following University of Montana women’s soccer, tying crappy flies, tinkering with a ’67 Ford F250, and strategizing how to recruit the next generation of conservation biologists. On behalf to the Board, we look forward to seeing you at our 2025 biennial meeting.

Presidential Appointee | Nathan Fuller

Vice President | Shannon Hilty

Contact

  • Shannon.Hilty@mt.gov
  • 406.454.5876
  • Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks, Region 4 4600 Giant Springs Road Great Falls, MT 59405

About Me

I generally root for the ecological underdog, and in terms of wildlife, this tends to be the small animals that aren’t always conspicuous or easy to study. As an undergraduate at The University of Montana, I was involved with several projects pertaining to nongame wildlife. I then studied a variety of taxa, including small terrestrial mammals, amphibians, reptiles, songbirds, raptors, invertebrates, special status plant species, and eventually bats full time, at the Montana Natural Heritage Program. Wanting to take my research career further, I attended graduate school at Montana State University, Bozeman where I chased bats around western Montana to examine the effects of mountain pine beetle on foraging and roosting. I am now living my dream as a Nongame Wildlife Biologist for Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks. 

Like all of you involved with Western Bat Working Group, bats are my passion. I really fell in love when I held a hoary bat for the first time and was able to see the true meaning of Chiroptera (“hand wing”) front and center. I joined WBWG in 2013 while studying bat acoustics at the Montana Natural Heritage Program, and I was excited for the opportunity to get involved with the board in 2016. Since then, I have enjoyed building relationships with WBWG members as the At-Large Representative, Secretary, and now Vice President, while working together to address conservation issues related to bats in the west. 

Secretary | Dan Bachen

Contact

  • DBachen@mt.gov
  • 406.444.3586
  • https://mtnhp.org/

About Me

I was privileged to join the board of WBWG in 2023 as the secretary. In this capacity I hope to support WBWGs mission, and all things bat! Although my professional work is not focused exclusively on bats, I have worked with this group of species in the Northern Great Plains and Rocky Mountains for much of my career. I currently work as the Senior Zoologist for the Montana Natural Heritage Program based in Helena, a position I started in 2016. I have helped with regional acoustic efforts to explore species distribution, activity across the year and most recently trend to assess impacts of white-nose syndrome on Montana’s bat species. I have also conducted extensive capture work to document general diversity as well as projects to delineate range for the endangered northern myotis.

Prior to my work as the lead zoologist for MTNHP I received my undergraduate degree in Wildlife Biology from the University of Montana and my Master’s in Fish and Wildlife Management from Montana State University. Over my career I have worked with a diversity of species ranging from charismatic megafauna like grizzly bears and elk to the infinitely more interesting microfauna including many species of birds, reptiles, amphibians, and terrestrial small mammals. In general I am most interested in supporting the conservation and management of overlooked and understudied species. When not working I enjoy hiking, rock climbing and aimlessly wandering in search of elk.

Treasurer | Larisa Bishop-Boros

At Large Representative | Dan Neubaum

Contact

  • daniel.neubaum@state.co.us
  • 970.255.6192
  • 711 Independent Ave Grand Junction, CO 81505

About Me

I am excited to return for a second term as an at-large representative for the Western Bat Working Group. I currently serve as the Chair of the Colorado Bat Working Group, assisted with the creation of the Colorado Bat Matrix, and served as an editor and author of the 2018 revision of the Colorado Bat Conservation Plan.

I earned a Bachelor of Science in Wildlife Biology at Colorado State University, followed by several years of working on field studies throughout the western United States and Australia with bats, toads, beaver, and Tasmanian devils. I returned to Colorado to earn a Master’s of Science at CSU where my graduate work focused on the roost ecology of big brown bats using summer maternity roosts in anthropogenic structures and winter hibernacula in rock crevices. I spent eight years as a Research Associate working on bats, beaver, and greater sage-grouse with the U. S. Geological Survey Fort Collins Science Center. In 2008, I moved to Grand Junction, CO where I now work with Colorado Parks and Wildlife as a Wildlife Conservation Biologist, focusing on bats, Gunnison sage-grouse, river otters and other species of conservation concern. I have worked with bats for over 20 years covering a number of aspects including roosting ecology, disease transmission, species inventory and monitoring, education, and conservation.

I am married to a bat biologist and have two boys that have seen a spotted bat up close. My family loves its bats! In our spare time, we keep busy floating desert rivers and camping our way across the country in our 85’ VW Vanagon Westfalia.

I look forward to seeing you all in person at the next Western Bat Working Group Meeting so we can strategize on the next great bat conservation effort.

At Large Representative | Mandy Kellner

Position Duties


Director

Duties of a director include,

  • meet at such times and places as required by the Bylaws including participation in WBWG conference calls;
  • act as liaison and facilitate communication between WBWG and members of their respective state or province (e.g., solicit feedback from members when voting on WBWG issues);
  • provide summary report(s) of bat-related activity in their respective state or province for inclusion in WBWG Newsletters;
  • Assist the Board of Directors and Officers in carrying out the work of the WBWG.

Time required is approximately 5-10 hours per month.

President

Duties of the president include,

  • supervises and controls the affairs of WBWG and the activities of the Officers, subject to the control of the Board of Directors;
  • presides at all meetings of the Board of Directors and meetings of the members;
  • maintains the Action Plan and facilities implementation of the Action Plan;
  • signs contracts for WBWG meetings; and
  • serves as primary signatory, representative, and liaison for WBWG.

Time required is approximately 15-25 hours per month.

Vice President

Duties of the vice president include,

  • perform all duties of the President in the absence of the President, or in the event of his or her inability or refusal to act; and
  • assist the President in carrying out the work of the WBWG by completing tasks assigned by the President or Board of Directors.

Time required is approximately 10-15 hours per month.

Secretary

Duties of the secretary include,

          • certify and keep the original, or a copy, of the Bylaws as amended or otherwise altered to date;
          • maintain a record of all formal communications and a book of minutes of all meetings of the Board of Directors and Officers including time and place held, attendees, and proceedings (this includes securing edits for meeting notes and submitting them to the webmaster within 5 days following the meeting);
          • maintain and update regularly a membership book containing names and addresses of members, and distribute membership rolls to Directors of each state or province at least every 6 months;
          • assist with writing and disseminating letters on behalf of WBWG;
          • serve on the Membership Committee; and
          • conduct roll call for meetings of the Board of Directors.

Time required is approximately 10-15 hours per month.

Treasurer

Duties of the treasurer include,

            • have charge and custody of, and be responsible for, all funds and securities of WBWG;
            • receive, and give receipt for, monies due and payable to WBWG from any source;
            • disburse, or cause to be disbursed, WBWG funds as may be directed by the Board of Directors;
            • keep and maintain adequate and correct accounts of WBWG’s business transactions;
            • provide an annual report to the Board of Directors on the financial status of the corporation;
            • render to the President and Directors, whenever requested, an account of any or all of his or her transactions as Treasurer and of the financial condition of WBWG
            • prepare and certify the financial statements to be included in any required reports; and
            • annually update the non-profit status of WBWG.

Time required is approximately 10-15 hours per month.

At-large Representatives

Duties of at-large representatives include,

            • participate in meetings of Board of Directors and Officers including conference calls; and
            • Assist the Board of Directors and Officers in carrying out the work of the WBWG.

Time required is approximately 10 hours per month.

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