Citizen Scientist Volunteer: Emergent Bat Observer

Join the Effort to Protect Bats at New River Gorge National Park and Preserve!

Become a Volunteer Citizen Scientist and help monitor native bat populations. Step outside, enjoy stunning evening sunsets, and make a real impact by working with some of nature’s most beneficial creatures.

The National Park Service actively protects bats through research, education, and habitat preservation. At Grandview, we built a bat “condo” to provide a safe home for maternity colonies of little and big brown bats that once roosted in public structures. This condo offers ideal conditions—a flyway along a field’s edge, a nearby pond for water, and over 1,000 plywood sheets forming baffles where bats can rest. At full capacity, it shelters more than 10,000 bats!

In the past, visitors watched over 1,000 bats emerge each evening. Today, due to white-nose syndrome, fewer than 100 appear. By counting emerging bats, you help us track and protect these vital populations. Your data supports research and conservation efforts to protect these amazing mammals.

Major Duties: Assist the survey coordinator in counting the number of bats exiting the bat condo at Grandview.

Work Environment: Work will be conducted in an outside environment. Volunteer should expect to be mostly stationary and either sitting or standing. Ticks and stinging or biting insects may be encountered.

Work Schedule: Surveys will run the 2nd and 4th Wednesday of each month from April through November. Surveys start 30 minutes prior to sunset and run until it's too dark to see bats. Participants should plan to arrive 30 minutes prior to sunset and should bring a chair or blanket to sit on during observation period.