A Note from Our New Executive Director

mell announces the bats before sight. The sharp aroma of 15 million bats carried on a cool evening after the rains. Recent storms had grounded the colony the night before, so tonight they were hungry. Scout bats tested the air first, darting in tight loops. Then the waves of bats came in quick succession, creating a spiraling mass at the cave mouth before the column bent southeast toward the agricultural fields, the stream of bats swaying left and right like one breathing organism. When the wave swayed directly overhead, the wing beats stirred a breeze against my skin and filled the air with a low, steady drumming. It looked like a waterfall running upwards, with no visible end.

Despite being born and raised in Texas, this was my first Bracken experience, in the days before I officially stepped into this role. What stayed with me wasn’t just the scale, though I’m still not sure how to process 20 million of anything. It was the thought that this same thing was happening in roosts and caves around the world that night, and that Bat Conservation International’s work is what stands behind protecting them.

I came to BCI for the focused, evidence-based approach to conservation and the track record of impactful interventions. What hooked me during the interview process was the people, including the staff who carry out that work and the broader community of volunteers, board members, donors, and Roost Members who make it possible. BCI has built an organization with a reputation for excellent science, strong partnerships, and close community engagement. I want to bring everything I have learned in my career so far to help BCI navigate what comes next.

Conservation faces accelerating threats and a shifting funding landscape. We have an incredible foundation to build upon, and these first few months will be for understanding it fully, identifying where the foundation is strongest, and where more is needed, so that, together, we can meet this moment.

Thank you for the welcome I’ve already received from this community.

I look forward to meeting this moment together.

Daphne Carlson, DVM, Ph.D.
BCI Executive Director