I grew up in England and received my honors degree from Southampton University, majoring in Biology and Oceanography. In 1990, I joined the Mammal Lab at Bristol University, and completed my doctorate on “Foraging habitat, weather and the conservation of Bats in Britain”. At Bristol, I helped with field work for projects capturing and radio-tracking a variety of British mammals, including deer, foxes, badgers, pine-martens, dormice, and bats. I co-led a small expedition (British Ecological Society) to survey mammals in the fragmented rainforests of Belize.

In 1996, I moved to the Bat Conservation Trust in London, to complete 5-year post-doctoral project funded by the UK government to develop a UK National Bat Population Monitoring Program. This citizen science project enrolled thousands of volunteers to count bats and continues successfully today.  

In 2001, I made the big move across the pond to Austin, Texas, as Science Programs Director for Bat Conservation International (BCI). There I managed multiple conservation programs, worked on research for a book on North American bats, and taught conservation training workshops.  

In 2003, I took up the position of Director at Lubee Bat Conservancy in Florida. My current role involves directing the long-range strategic planning and growth of Lubee (an international non-profit organization), grant-writing, development and co-ordination of global and Florida based research, conservation and education programs. I manage day-to-day operations of Lubee’s Bat Center - a USDA registered research facility and AZA certified breeding facility - with a unique living animal collection of over 250 old world fruit bats.

Research Interests

My work is rooted in ecology and conservation biology. My research interests lie broadly in endangered mammal species recovery; from population monitoring and habitat use assessment in the wild, to breeding in captivity, education outreach and the interface between conservation science, policy and education. Specifically, I’m interested in the ecology and conservation of  flying foxes and providing conservation managers with relevant information to protect species, conserve habitats and mitigate human-bat conflicts. 

I am a member of the IUCN (World Conservation Union) Survival Specialist Group’s Chiroptera Specialist Group (CSG), IUCN Conservation Breeding Specialist Group, a Professional Fellow of the American Zoo and Aquarium Association (AZA), Steering Committee member for AZA’s Bat Taxon Advisory Group, Advisory member for AZA’s Field Conservation Committee.

Academic Affiliation:

Courtesy Associate Professor, Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, University of Florida. 

Please contact me at awalsh@lubee.org  to discuss opportunities and future collaborative research projects.