Welcome to Team Bat

Are you training for a bat survey licence and struggling to get the right experience, or not sure how to log your time? Are you a professional ecologist that struggles to keep up with news and research? Do you have a nationally respected expert to turn to with challenging situations or just for a quick second opinion? Is your community limited to the same group of people you tend to meet at work or on voluntary surveys, or face the wrath of asking questions on Facebook groups? If the answer to any of these questions is yes, then maybe Team Bat is for you!

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c David Nixon. Daubenton's bat

Photograph: © David Nixon 

c R Crompton. Horseshoe bats

Photograph: © Richard Crompton 

Membership groups for licence trainees and licensed bat ecologists

Team Bat consists of two groups for members to join: Cluster and Colony

Getting regular support for ecological specialisms is challenging - some companies have enough expertise to provide this and some voluntary groups can can be invaluable - but not everyone can access this type of help. You can only ask so many favours!

TeamBat has been set up to provide a constant source of support for bat professionals: those training towards a licence (Class level 1 or 2 in England, disturbance or 'with handling' licences in Wales, Scotland and NI) and also professionals using their licences for ecological surveys and assessments.

Cluster group membership is now open!

Colony group will open towards the end of April 2023

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Cluster Group - get that bat licence!

Clustergroup is specifically aimed at people training for their bat licence. Through monthly themed content and live Q&A sessions we will guide you through the process of gaining experience, knowledge, recording your time, what to read, who to talk to, and how to apply for your licence. The main focus of this group will be to achieve Class level 1 or 2 licences in England and Bat survey licences in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. From our experience of training and providing references for HUNDREDS of applications over the past 20+ years we are ideally placed to guide you through your licence training journey on the way to becoming a professional bat ecologist. Most sessions will be live and recorded and you will have exclusive access to materials and community networking.

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Colony Group - Professional bat ecology support

Colony group is for professional bat ecologists. A place to ask questions, get a second opinion, develop your skills and knowledge. Through monthly themed video sessions and live Q&As you can always get the answers to these niggling questions without having to endlessly go asking favours to the same few people/your old trainer/ or be told you should already know this on Facebook! We are working hard to develop new resources to support members with easily digestible fact sheets and other tools to help you in your day to day work as easily as possible.  Most sessions will be live and recorded and you will have exclusive access to materials and community networking. 


Monthly memberships on a rolling contract - cancel any time

Team Bat is a new platform. We know about bats, but we are realistic that there will be some unforeseen challenges with making this platform work. But rather than wait any longer as new guidelines and potential new legislative changes loom, we have decided to embrace imperfection and launch now. So help us shape Team Bat to provide what YOU NEED it to be. 
Bear in mind this is a new platform and the number of resources will grow over time and based on the needs of members.


About Richard Crompton

Richard has been specialising in bat ecology for over 25 years. 

Described by Neil Middleton (author of books including Is That A Bat?,  The Effective Ecologist, Social Calls of The Bats of Britain & Ireland and Sound Identification of  Terrestrial Mammals Britain & Ireland) as "One of the most highly respected people within the UK bat sector". He was awarded a place in the Bat Conservation Trusts' Batty Hall of Fame in 2022. 

Richard started studying bats whilst volunteering with the National Trust aged just 16. He was licensed in Wales by the age of 22 and undertaking commercial bat surveys. Skip forward 25 years and he has surveyed well over one thousand sites for bats, held dozens of European Protected Species licences since 2001 for more than a dozen different species of bats, delivered training throughout the England and Wales (to several thousand people). He spent nine years as a Trustee for the Bat Conservation Trust and has been an author/editorial board member for all four editions of the bat survey guidelines. Founder and co-director of award winning consultancy Wildwood Ecology Ltd until 2016 he now runs the Ecology on Demand bat advice service, the Bat Training partnership (who have trained over 300 people for their bat licences between 2008-2020) and the Team Bat online platform. He was elected to the Bat Conservation Trusts' Batty Hall of Fame in 2022 and is their 'agony uncle' for the Ecologists Anonymous - bat mitigation workshops. He is currently the resident bat advisor for the Crown Estate at Windsor Park, Cardigan Castle, The Museum of Welsh Life at St Fagans Cardiff, and Margam Park and Castle near Port Talbot - all great sites for bats!

Testimonials:

“"This is tremendous and will provide a lot of value and support to very many!"” ― David N
“"Why you [Richard]? cos your bloody good"” ― Anna
“"Great stuff! You have been patient and helpful with my random questions over the past few years (thanks 👍), look forward to continuing to progress further now I have NE and NRW licences😊"” ― Lee
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