Who We Are

Bat Survey Solutions, LLC combines the talents of Janet Debelak Tyburec, John D. Chenger, and Joseph M. Szewczak. We are professionals with training in Design, Education, Information Technology, Photography, Teaching, Technical Writing, Wildlife Biology, Videography, and other complementary disciplines and we provide integrated instruction and field services to address a full range of bat study and management concerns. Students receive the benefit of decades of experience we bring to every project and program. As educators at heart, our goal is to selflessly share our expertise at every training venue. Our mission is to empower others with the resources needed to effectively and efficiently manage bat populations in North America and beyond.
        

 

Our Staff and Colleagues
Thru decades of collaboration, we have developed a loyal cadre of professionals to assist and advise on every project and program. All of our projects include a unique assemblage of professionals that work synergistically to provide the highest degree of professionalism. Our valued colleagues and collaborators include:

Merlin D. Tuttle 
Dr. Merlin Tuttle is currently the Founder and Executive Director, Merlin Tuttle's Bat Conservation, in Austin, TX. Recognized worldwide as an accomplished advocate for bat conservation, Merlin began his bat-work with first-of-its-kind, groundbreaking research on the population dynamics of the Federally Endangered gray myotis. He went on to form Bat Conservation International, which became an international success for critically important bat protection efforts. Along the way, Merlin honed his skills for photography, public speaking, and fund-raising and is now a recognized international leader in conservation circles across the globe. For the past six years, he has been a research fellow in the Integrated Biology Department, University of Texas. His photos have been published and exhibited worldwide including in five National Geographic articles, most recently in the March 2014 issue. He has been an invited speaker at prestigious institutions including Harvard and Princeton Universities, the National Geographic Society, Smithsonian Institution, British Museum and advised on the most recent Vatican encyclical. Visit MerlinTuttle.com to see his photos, videos and to support his ongoing work.

Bryan Butler
Bryan conducts mist net and acoustic surveys, creates company adverts and newsletters, and provides technical support for the array of electronics offered through Bat Conservation and Management, Inc. After getting his start in the molecular biology field, Mr. Butler developed his career in wildlife biology, which has allowed him to continue to foster a lifelong love and appreciation for the outdoors. When not in the field, Bryan can be observed around BCM’s Carlisle office writing reports and coordinating permit applications, providing client support and maintaining client communication, analyzing bat calls, testing and operating acoustic equipment and software, providing troubleshooting assistance and technical support, and website development. He has also become actively involved in assisting with bat workshops, which helps to support his most enjoyable mission at BCM - relationship building and education.

Amelia W. Goebel
Amelia graduated with a B.A. in Earth and Environmental Science and a minor in Marine Science from Virginia Wesleyan College in 2013. She plunged into bat field work in 2015 as a technician for Sanders Environmental Inc., living most of the year knee deep in bats and bat projects. In September 2015 she assisted with the Bat Survey Solutions, LLC combined field survey techniques workshop in Park City, Kentucky and loved it! She currently lives in Bellefonte, PA and is excited to continue helping participants learn and expand their knowledge about bats.

Jim "Crash" Kennedy
Jim is owner of Kennedy Above/Under Ground, LLC, specializing in cave and bat conservation and habitat management. He is one of the few expert cave and mine gate engineers in the United States, and won the US Forest Services "Wings Across the Americas" award in 2014 for a two-week project in Missouri. He worked as a Conservation Biologist at Bat Conservation International for 18 years, after working as a non-game wildlife technician for the Pennsylvania Game Commission. He has extensive experience with small-mammal trapping, artificial bat roosts, winter censuses, summer mist-netting and harp-trapping, cave and mine habitat assessments, bat gate design, karst management and protection, and educational outreach. He is currently Secretary of the Texas Speleological Survey, and organizes speleological expeditions in Texas and Mexico. Kennedy also coordinates the biennial National Cave and Karst Management Symposia. He has been in over 200 mines and 1500 caves in 9 countries, and has more than 12,000 hours underground experience, and is a Life Member and Fellow of the National Speleological Society.

Elise Merrill
BS Biology, Saint Francis University (2010). Elise has been working at Sanders Environmental Inc. since 2011. She has been assisting with the Bat Survey Solutions, LLC workshop program since the fall of 2012. She is involved in U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USF&WS) endangered species compliance inventories for bats, seasonal bat roost and habitat surveys, building and installation of bat gates, acoustic monitoring studies, and post-construction surveys to monitor bird and bat mortality at industrial wind facilities. She currently lives in Bellefonte, PA working out of the Sanders Environmental Inc. office.

Christopher W. Sanders
Chris graduated from Pen State University with a B.S. in Environmental Resource Management in 1994 and upon graduation began working seasonally with bats for the PA Game Commission. Seasonal wildlife work was rapidly supplemented with contract wildlife work and gate building projects at important hibernacula and Sanders Environmental was created. Chris has now been performing and leading bat survey projects, from tiny to huge, managing up to 45 employees in a year across the eastern states. Chris has taught at and wrangled bats for us at over 15 week-long workshops assisting many participants in developing their batting skills. When not batting Chris can be found on his hobby farm raising ducks, turkey and pigs or kayak-camping on remote cell-phone-service-free islands. 

Todd Sinander
Todd has been a curious observer of the natural world all his life. His interest in ecology and animal behavior led him on a career path where it’s critical to understand how animals use and interact with their environment and other wildlife species. Throughout his career Todd has worked with a number of species in the wild and in zoological institutions, where his fieldwork with animals such as the short-beaked echidna enhanced understanding and public education about these and other unusual wildlife. Todd joined BCM as a seasonal biologist in 2004 with over fifteen years of previous wildlife capture and radio telemetry experience working with a variety of bird, mammal, and reptile species. In 2010 he joined the BCM team full time as a Wildlife Biologist/Project Manager where he coordinates with clients and wildlife agencies, directs bat mist net survey and radio telemetry teams, and conducts harp trap and hibernacula surveys, habitat assessments, and report preparation. Todd also has extensive experience with acoustic bat surveys and call data analysis for federally listed Myotis species and the Florida bonneted bat. In addition to his work with bats, Todd surveys the habitat and populations of Pennsylvania’s Allegheny woodrats and northern flying squirrels.

Tim K. Snow
Terrestrial Wildlife Specialist, Arizona Game and Fish Department. Degrees: B.S. Renewable Natural Resources, University of Arizona, 1987. Tim has over 25 years specific experience with bat inventory, research, and management. He has participated and taught various bat natural history workshops including Bat Conservation International's and Bat Survey Solutions’ Arizona workshops. He is a former Chair of the Arizona Bat Resource Group (State Working Group), past Board Member of the Western Bat Working Group, and current member of the International Union for Conservation of Nature Bat Specialist Group. Tim is a Technical Science Committee member for various U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Recovery Teams including Mount Graham red squirrel, jaguar, ocelot, and lesser long-nosed bat. When not working with bats and other wildlife, his other passions include hunting and fishing, wildlife photography, and coaching youth baseball.

Nick Szewczak
Nick graduated with a B.A. in English Literature from the University of Nevada-Reno in 2015. Prior to that, he worked with bats for over a decade, receiving his rabies vaccination at the age of 8. He apprenticed under his father, conducting bat research and field studies throughout the United States. After graduation he became a programmer for SonoBat, improving the efficiency of analysis and auto-classification algorithms. He is currently working on new projects for the next generation of SonoBat software, firmware, and hardware.