Biologist's efforts for birds and bats garners conservation award

While Glacier National Park is known for the grizzlies and goats, Lisa Bate has long been more interested in its birds and bats.

“It’s fun to bring attention to something that’s not a large carnivore,” she said last week. Bate has done groundbreaking work in the Park, most notably studying its harlequin ducks and its diverse, though seldom seen, bat population.

While those two species might not grab headlines, they face just as many threats due to climate change and other factors as the mega fauna species.

“I like the underdogs and I try to give them a voice,” she said.

For her efforts, Bate was recently awarded the Jack Potter Glacier National Park Stewardship Award by Headwaters Montana. 

She just recently began work with a regional harlequin duck study, that will pool data from Montana, Washington, Wyoming, British Columbia and Alberta on the fascinating ducks. Harlequins are the only duck that migrate east to west, wintering on the ocean, while breeding inland in the cold mountainous streams of the Northern Rockies.

While Glacier’s McDonald Creek population appears to be stable at this time, other regions are experiencing declines, Bate noted. Of particular concern are duck molting areas on the ocean and oil tanker traffic through harlequin wintering grounds.

Bate also headed up Glacier’s first-ever bat study, which led to the discovery of two new bat species living in the park. 

White-nosed syndrome, a fungal infection that kills hibernating bats, has been discovered in Washington state recently, and there are fears it could invade Glacier’s population. 

The fungal infection has decimated bat populations in the eastern U.S. Bats are an important species, particularly when it comes to insect control.

“I think it’s a matter of time, not a matter of if,” the fungus makes it way to Glacier, she said.

Bate has also assumed the leadership the of the Breeding Bird Survey that monitors bird breeding success in the park. She also contributes annually to the Citizen Science Program in Glacier that allows visitors to participate in the Park’s scientific research.

Bate was “taken aback” when she learned she won the award.

“It was an incredible honor,” she said. “I have so much respect for Jack Potter and what he’s done for the Park.”

Potter was the chief of science and management in Glacier for many years. 

He has since retired. Headwaters Montana names the award to outstanding individual in the field of science and conservation annually in his honor.

Bate grew up in Ohio, but knew even in her youth she wanted to move out West. When she turned 18, she did just that, eventually receiving a master’s degree in wildlife and resource management from the University of Idaho. Her thesis looked at woodpecker abundance and habitat.

She began her career in Glacier as a consultant in 2001 and became full-time in 2009. She credits a host of volunteers and Park support for her success.

“I feel like I’m one of the luckiest people,” she said. “I couldn’t do it without all of them.”