Dr Lia Gilmour
Lab Alumni
I studied at the University of Bristol for my Biology undergraduate (2006-2009) and gained a fascination for bats on my second-year field course taught by Gareth Jones in Pembrokeshire. I joined the Bristol Bat Lab in 2012 and graduated with an MSc by research in 2014. My masters was supervised by Gareth Jones at Bristol and Kate Barlow at the Bat Conservation Trust (funded by the BBC Wildlife Fund) and included species distribution modelling for Bechstein’s bats and investigations into an acoustic bat lure. In 2014 I worked as a research assistant in the Bat Lab investigating the impact of climate change and agri-environment schemes on greater horseshoe bats and their insect prey (PTES funded). I started my PhD in the Bristol Bat Lab in 2015 and am now in the final year of my PhD, supervised by Professor Gareth Jones, Dr Marc Holderied (University of Bristol) and Dr Simon Pickering (Ecotricity). Alongside my PhD I have also worked with industry partners on developing deterrence methods for bat mitigation (2016-2019).
My research interests include ecology, behaviour and conservation, specifically in the field of human-wildlife interaction. My PhD focuses on evaluating bat deterrence methods and the development of a thermal bat tracking system and includes the following research areas:
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Bat ecology, behaviour and bioacoustics
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Conservation biology
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Interactions of bats and human built structures (wind turbines, roads)
As part of my PhD I have used the following research methods:
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Bat echolocation call recording and analysis
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Acoustic identification of bat calls (using manual and automated systems)
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Thermal and NIR imaging
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Bat tracking methods and stereo thermal videogrammetry
Publications
Gilmour LRV, Holderied MW, Pickering SPC, Jones G (2020) Comparing acoustic and radar deterrence methods as mitigation measures to reduce human-bat impacts and conservation conflicts. PLOS ONE 15(2): e0228668. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0228668
Gilmour, L., Holderied, M. W, Pickering, S. P. C. and Jones, G. In prep. Effectiveness of an acoustic bat deterrent at different distances.
Gilmour, L., Holderied, M. W, Pickering, S. P. C. and Jones, G. In prep. Investigating the mechanism for acoustic deterrence in bats using stereo thermal videogrammetry and acoustic methods.
Barlow, K. E., Miller, H., Hill, D. Greenaway, F., Gilmour, L. R. V. & Merrett, D. (2013). New frontiers in our understanding of Bechstein’s bat in the UK. British Wildlife, 24, 401-407. Request Full-Text