Dr. Craig Willis
Professor of Biology
University of Winnipeg

Evolutionary Physiology, Behaviour and Conservation

We use methods in ecology, behaviour and physiology to understand what motivates small bodied mammals in their decisions about where to live, when to be active and inactive, and how to maintain a balance between energy intake and expenditure. We mainly use insect-eating bats as model organisms and a range of lab and field techniques including radio-telemetry to track animals and record their body temperatures, and open-flow respirometry to record oxygen consumption under different conditions. There are opportunities in the lab for graduate and undergraduate students to test ideas about factors influencing energy balance during pre-hibernation fattening and hibernation, links between individual behaviour, energetics and infectious disease, and conservation of bats in the face of wildlife disease and habitat loss.

Our work is important for wildlife and ecosystem conservation in general, and we are also working hard on an urgent wildlife conservation issue for North America: white-nose syndrome, a devastating disease of hibernating bats.

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Got Bats?

The Neighbourhood Bat Watch is looking for bat colonies across Canada. Please click here for more information and to get involved in wildlife conservation research.