Kamehameha haumāna are learning everything about bats and how to conserve them in the new science-based Bat Club. The purpose of Bat Club is to help expose science to middle school students through bat research with a goal of having the students present their research at the Hawaiian Conservation Conference held in July. Kristin Jonasson, Ph.D., and Brad Yuen, M.S. are both long-term visiting zoologists, and wildlife ecologists researching what the Hawaiian bat needs in terms of habitat and diet in order to conserve them. This is part of a 2-year project set in motion by Harvey Ecology - www.harveyecology.com. 

Kumu/Counselor Kekaula Campbell is the club advisor to about 30 students on the team named ’Ope’ape’a, named after the Hawaiian hoary bat. In meetings, students not only learn about bats specifically but also about science in general. In previous meetings, Kristin and Brad lectured on bats and biology, demonstrated the scientific method and had the students apply it to questions and hypotheses they derived from analyzing the environment outside.

Future plans include learning how to use Google Earth to record and locate data, the use of bat detectors to confirm locations of bat activity (in the evening with parents), and more. 

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Kaipuolono Article, Maui Newsroom, Maui Middle School, Maui campus

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