Bats After Dark with Bat Biologist Joey Curti | Orange County

Join Naturalist For You and special guest Joey Curti, Ph.D., conservation biologist and bat researcher, for a two-hour evening devoted to one of Southern California's most fascinating—and misunderstood—groups of animals. We'll begin with about a 20-minute introduction with Joey to get to know our local bats: how they navigate and communicate using echolocation, what they eat, where they travel and roost, their role in healthy ecosystems, and why bats are far more important than their spooky reputation suggests. Then we'll head out around sunset for approximately 90 minutes of walking, watching and listening. As the landscape transitions from daylight to darkness, Joey will help us look for bat activity and listen for the high-frequency calls that normally go unheard by human ears. Along the way we'll explore how bats find insects in complete darkness, how different species use the nighttime landscape, the connections between bats and plants, pollination and food webs, and the challenges bats face in increasingly urban environments. This isn't a lecture followed by a hike—it's a chance to experience the evening landscape alongside a scientist who studies bats for a living. Bio: Joseph Curti, Ph.D. (he/they) is a postdoctoral research fellow at the UCLA La Kretz Center for California Conservation Science. Joey’s current research focuses on the impacts of anthropogenic stressors on bat community composition in urban areas across California. Joey received his Ph.D. in 2024 from the UCLA Ecology and Evolutionary Biology department, where he worked with statewide resource managers on a variety of conservation genomics projects. This included a collaborative project with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife aimed at evaluating range-wide landscape genomics of the Yuma myotis bat (Myotis yumanensis). Joey has been working with bats since 2015 and regularly leads acoustic bat walks and classes on bat ecology and natural history for groups across Los Angeles. For more information and to stay up-to-date on my most recent publications and research, please visit my website at www.josephcurti.com. WHERE TO MEET- PARKING LOT N -MAP WHAT TO EXPECT Approximately 2 hours total • About 20 minutes of introduction and Q&A • Approximately 90-minute easy dusk/night walk • Frequent stops for observation and listening • Suitable for curious beginners, families and experienced nature lovers. WHAT TO BRING Comfortable closed-toe walking shoes, water and warm layers. Temperatures can drop quickly after sunset. A small flashlight or headlamp is recommended for safety when needed; red light is preferred to help preserve everyone's night vision. WILDLIFE & NATURE NOTE: We will always do our best to find, observe and interpret the wildlife and natural activity highlighted during this experience. Bats are wild animals and their activity changes with weather, temperature, season and other conditions, so specific species or bat sightings can never be guaranteed. SUPPORT SAVE ORANGE HILLS All donations and proceeds support Save Orange Hills, a project of Naturalist For You, a 501(c)(3) environmental education nonprofit. Tax ID: 20-824602. Donations are tax deductible. Support Save Orange Hills Please call, text or email Kristin @ 714-390-9118 or [email protected] with any questions.