Dr. Jon Whitehurst will be talking about 'Bats, Maths and Maps'.

What do bats, maths and maps have in common with systems engineering you ask yourself? The answer in this case lies in developing repeatable methodologies for the accurate prediction of bat habitat suitability using non-invasive survey methods. The intent of this lecture is to show the extent to which cross discipline working is exploited within modern day ecology and to demonstrate that the ecology research in the 21st century is not just about fieldwork, recording and subjective assessment. The specific example presented is bat habitat suitability modelling and the lecture will cover the end-to-end process of mapping predictive bat habitat use and describe the contributions to this process from across a wide range of scientific disciplines that enable field observations and digitised habitat features into fully quantifiable predictions of bat habitat use.

Dr Jon Whitehurst is a chartered engineer by profession and fellow of the Institution of Engineering and Technology, working in the area of complex system architecting and implementation onto naval ships by day. He is the Operations Officer for the Isle of Wight Bat Group and architect of “The Parkhurst Forest Bat Project” and the currently running “Isle of Wight Bat Project”, and has lectured at national level on the topics of bat habitat suitability modelling and acoustic woodland bat survey methods, and also worked with Leeds University on computer recognition of bat echolocation calls in support of the DEFRA woodland bat survey protocols programme.

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The Regency Suite is above the Conservative Club in Shanklin in Palmerston Road just off the High Street.

The nearest car parks are in Landguard Road and Orchardleigh Road, both only two or three minutes walk to the Conservative Club. Parking is free after 6pm.

As we have to pay a rent for the facilities, we have to ask for a donation of at least £3 on the door to make sure we cover all our expenses. i.e. the rent, cost of speakers' travel expenses and a meal, plus overnight accommodation if needed.