SJ Joselin, PhD – Yosemite Big Wall Bat Program sponsored by CENTRAL SIERRA AUDUBON SOCIETY
SJ Joslin is an evolutionary geneticist and wildlife biologist who recently directed the Big Wall Bats Program in Yosemite National Park, where they also led the park’s wildlife data program. They earned their PhD in population genetics from UC Davis and are passionate about open source science and helping the public understand the vital role wildlife plays in our daily lives.
The “Big Wall Bat Program” in Yosemite is a research initiative by the National Park Service and the Yosemite Conservancy to study the 15+ bat species that use the park’s big walls as roosts. The program aims to understand how bats use cliffs, develop better research methods, and monitor threats like white-nose syndrome. It involves tracking bats, identifying roost sites, and engaging climbers and the public
in citizen science and outreach efforts. In 2019, to determine whether and how Yosemite’s bats are
at risk, scientists worked with climbing rangers and climbing stewards to survey 20 climbing routes in Yosemite Valley and Tuolumne Meadows, searching for signs of bat roosts. They also placed data-collection devices at carefully selected locations on the walls to gather details on temperature and humidity, with the goal of identifying potential fungal hotspots.
