Over the course of the next year, she will be traveling to Costa Rica, China, Thailand, Philippines, Madagascar, and Fiji to learn about the common and "almost instinctual" dislike of bats by human communities in spite of their important ecological function as pollinators, pest control, and seed dispersers.

Laura, a student from Davidson College, found herself drawn to bats during her field work with The School for Field Studies (SFS) in Australia. While the focus of her research was actually on skinks, a diverse group of lizards, she assisted fellow students in the field with their data collection on bats. "We were able to experience everything from radio-tracking to mist netting to feeding baby bats at the bat hospital. They are such cool and unique animals. When I returned home, I found myself closely following bat-related stories such as white-nose syndrome and the construction of wind turbines. I realized that bats would be a good microcosm in which to study the effect of cultural perceptions on conservation efforts," she said.

Dr. Jess Wallace, SFS resident lecturer in rainforest ecology and Laura's directed research advisor, said "Laura was incredibly enthusiastic about being out in the field, despite being faced with a challenging rainforest environment with ticks, stinging trees and scrub itch (mites that crawl under the skin and cause uncontrollable itching)... For two weeks worth of field time we worked over 13 hours in the field each day, with early morning to check bat and skink traps and late nights radio-tracking microbats. Throughout she remained a constant cheerful presence, and I was personally impressed with her independence in developing techniques to measure habitat variables relating to skink activity." 

While representing only a small percentage of the world's rainforest, the astonishing biodiversity of Australia's rainforest and the country's dynamic conservation efforts make Queensland an extraordinary laboratory for studying rainforest management and restoration. Students research at SFS addresses a critical local and regional environmental problem -- loss and fragmentation of once extensive rainforests, and the environmental policies that are currently under consideration by the local and Commonwealth governments.

Laura, who chose SFS because she wanted to gain field research experience, said her time at SFS was "hands down the best three months of my life," citing field trips to Chillagoe and the Daintree and the mid-semester break road trip to the Whitsunday Islands as her favorite memories.

Since 1968, the Watson Fellowship Program has offered "college graduates of unusual promise a year of independent, purposeful exploration and travel outside of the United States in order to enhance their capacity for resourcefulness, imagination, openness, and leadership and to foster their humane and effective participation in the world community." Over 2,300 Fellowships have been awarded to college graduates since its inception, with stipends totaling $29 million. One such recipient was the founding president of SFS, James Elder, Jr., who was granted a Watson Fellowship in 1973 while at Colgate University to conduct research on planning studies: design and land use in Europe and East Africa.

The Watson Fellowship is a program of the Thomas J. Watson Foundation, which was established by Mrs. Thomas J. Watson, Sr. in honor of her late husband, the founder of IBM. Candidates are nominated by participating institutions of higher education during their senior year of college.