BATS AT NIGHT

SHORTLY AFTER NIGHTFALL AS THE DAY’S STEAM LIFTED FROM A WOODED FORT

CAMPBELL CREEK, A MAN’S VOICE STABBED THROUGH THE CRICKET CACOPHONY.

“WE’VE GOT ONE!”

Austin Peay State University Graduate Student Brandon Gulley Crackled

OVER THE RADIO.

Moments later fellow graduate student Leah Crowley responded, “I have one too!” And another voice joined, “We have one!”

The night had started slowly, but as the mugginess of the day’s summer rains lifted, the bats started their forage above Fort Campbell’s creeks and graveled roads.

And the six mist nets that Dr. Catherine Haase’s team erected over those pathways had captured three red bats just seconds apart. Within 20 minutes, the team had netted three more bats – an evening bat, a gray bat and a tricolored bat.

Gulley, Crowley and fellow APSU student Dakota Van Parys retrieved the bats from the nets and brought them to an Austin Peay field research truck for a flurry of scientific activity. They recorded the bats’ species, age, sex and mass.

“This is a female,” Haase said about the red bat that Gulley retrieved. “She is lactating because around her nipples, there’s a lot of hair loss where the babies have nursed. They’re either at the roost or they’ve already flown off.”

In just two hours, Haase and her team captured and inspected 12 bats – six red bats, three evening bats, a tricolored bat and two gray bats. The night was the most productive night during the summer.

The team – all recent or current Austin Peay biology students – also inspected the bats for diseases such as white-nose syndrome, tagged the tricolored bat with a temporary tracking device and banded the gray bats.

The information that Haase and her team collect during these trips contributes to a three-year partnership that Austin Peay has with Fort Campbell to survey the Army installation for endangered bat species. Fort Campbell officials will use the information to make a conservation plan to protect the places where endangered bats roost and forage. About 85% of the installation comprises natural habitats such as forests, grasslands, streams, lakes and wetlands.

But Haase’s students also gain information and practice in other research areas, including the effect water quality has on insect biomass and bat diversity and how white-nose syndrome affects reproductive patterns and bat diversity.

Tracking the bats

The team’s tracking devices – which fall off after about a week – help Haase and her students record the bats’ roosting patterns.

Every morning for the next seven days, the team took turns using radiotelemetry to track the tricolored bat they tagged on July 18 to its roost, usually nearby trees.

On July 20, Leah Crowley, a new member of the team pursuing her master’s degree, and Jessica Verrillo tracked one of the tricolored bats to its roost tree. The trek wasn’t far from the creek bed where Crowley netted the bat – a short hike across the creek, through the woods and up a hill to a sugar maple. That tree wasn’t far from the white oak where the bat had roosted the day before.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service lists gray bats as endangered, and ecology groups have petitioned for tricolored bats to be added to the list.

“Because tricolored bats are so small, they’re just decimated by white-nose syndrome,” Haase said. “They’re also impacted by land-use change because they need trees for summer habitat.”

White-nose syndrome is caused by a fungus that grows on the wings and nose of the bat, deteriorating the barrier to water loss which causes hibernating bats to arouse from hibernation to replenish water stores. Arousing burns fat that bats have accumulated before hibernation. White-nose syndrome also can affect reproduction.

“The bats get dehydrated more quickly and thus need to arouse more frequently,” Haase said. “These more frequent arousals cause the bats to burn through all their winter fat, and they essentially starve to death before the hibernation season is complete.”

As for the gray bat that the team netted on July 18, “They are an endangered species, which is why we put a band on it so we can track it if it’s recaught,” Haase said. “These bands have unit identifiers on them, ours is FTC for Fort Campbell, so we know where they’ve come from.”

Continuing the work

The genesis of the Fort Campbell Bat Project centered on the northern long-eared bat, which Haase’s team hasn’t found. But the agreement specified two other species, the tricolored bat, which Haase’s team found and tracked during the week of July 18, and the little brown bat, which the team also hasn’t found. Whitenose syndrome has decimated all three species.

The Fort Campbell agreement is in its last year, but because the team has had success finding and tracking tricolored bats, Haase is trying to renew the partnership.

“If (tricolored bats) get listed, then there will be specific compliance efforts required by state and federal agencies if one of these species is found on their property,” Haase said. “If the tricolored bat becomes an endangered species, agency-listed species, Fort Campbell may be required to do surveys such as this in the future, which would be a great opportunity for this partnership to continue.”

APSU OFFERS FREE SPEECH-LANGUAGE AND SWALLOWING CLINIC FOR LOCAL COMMUNITY

A new, state-of-the-art medical clinic is now open in Clarksville, serving everyone from infants to senior citizens, and most people are shocked when they learn how much the clinic charges for its services.

“There’s no cost, and we’re not billing insurance at this point,” Jennifer Brandon, the clinic’s coordinator, said.

Last fall, Austin Peay State University invited the community to use its new Speech-Language and Swallowing Community Clinic, at 255 Marion St., for free. The 2,000-square-foot space offers treatments for everything from speaking and swallowing issues to memory loss and other cognition problems while providing APSU’s newest graduate students with the training they need to become the next generation of speech-language pathologists.

“We expect that a large portion of our caseload will be pediatric clients,” Dr. Kelly Kleinhans, APSU associate professor of speech-language pathology, said. “Our primary job is to teach people how to talk and communicate, and for adults who are experiencing mild memory loss, we can bring them for group therapy sessions where we do evidence-based practices to improve their memory and functioning in everyday life. Our students will be supervised by professional speech-language pathologists, but they’ll be learning how to practice speech-language pathology.”

‘We have to find a place for them’

Kleinhans arrived at Austin Peay in 2018 with an aggressive plan to build a speech-language pathology program that addressed the growing demand nationwide. In 2019, the APSU Department of Health and Human Performance launched the undergraduate degree concentration in Communication Sciences and Disorders, and the program’s popularity paved the way for the new graduate degree in speech-language pathology that began this year.

Since it first began three years ago, the program has partnered with local providers, such as Advanced Therapy Solutions, to offer students clinical training, but for the graduate program to be successful, Kleinhans knew Austin Peay needed to operate its own clinic. She took her request, which included offering a free service to the community, to Austin Peay’s senior vice president for academic affairs.

“Dr. Maria Cronley, the provost, she said we have to find a place for them,” Kleinhans said. “She did a great job, found a space, supported us to renovate it. It looks like any clinic you would go to.”

That space previously housed several ground-floor apartments on Marion Street. Work crews spent the last year tearing down walls, building a reception area and several themed clinical rooms, and installing cutting-edge technology like eye-tracking glasses and remote video cameras. There are also toys – lots of toys for the children.

“We have plenty of toys and designs that facilitate communication,” Kleinhans said.

“Children learn language by playing, so you’ll see the fun stuff in there. We got a grant from the Maynard Fund of Excellence, and it provided us with money to buy toy sets. Every treatment room has its core set of toys.”

When the students first stepped into the APSU clinic, they were surprised at how professional it looked. “We were blown away when we saw it,” Grace Moore, an APSU graduate student, said. “I was amazed. We’re a new program, and to be able to have that, all that equipment in there, it’s really crazy.”

Graduate student Alejandra Serrano spent a few minutes walking around, examining the eye-tracking equipment and the shelves filled with toys.

“It feels like a real clinic,” she said. “You walk in and there’s a waiting room and reception area. Everything is very organized and professional.”

The APSU Speech-Language and Swallowing Community Clinic is now open and taking appointments. For information or to schedule an appointment, call 931-221-1622 or email mslp-info@ apsu.edu.

‘It feels clinic’ Last fall, the program’s first graduate students treated patients in the clinic, under the supervision of professional speech-language pathologists. The idea was for them to train in a setting that mimics where they’ll one day work.

National Alumni Association

Executive Board

President

CW4 Joe Shakeenab ’04 jshakeenab@yahoo.com

President-Elect

Victor Felts ’91 feltsv@apsu.edu

Past President

Nicole Aquino Williamson ’04 nicole.aquino615@gmail.com

Faculty Representative

Dr. Tim Leszczak leszczakt@apsu.edu

We truly are in a season of wins at Austin Peay State University. As we have seen, with help from our loyal community, we have the power to make our future vision a reality. We have big plans to build on some of our recent successes, and all of those plans tie into the goals and pillars of the University’s new Strategic Plan, “Experience Austin Peay.”

In November 2022, we changed our model for GOVing Tuesday, our version of Giving Tuesday, to a fundable project day. That decision was ultimately a successful one. APSU faculty and staff submitted over 60 applications for projects they wanted to complete on campus, such as scholarships, conferences, trainings, new equipment, etc. A committee of faculty, staff, students and alumni then selected eight projects to be the focus of GOVing Tuesday. With the help of our alumni and friends, we were able to fund all eight of our chosen projects by the end of the day on Nov. 29. These projects will expand the Austin Peay experience for our students, faculty and staff in a variety of ways.

We are currently in our second year of the APSU SHAPE Campaign, which is the University’s annual giving initiative designed specifically for faculty and staff. This year, we hope that the success of the inaugural campaign will encourage APSU faculty and staff members to choose areas of support that mean the most to them, both individually and with their divisions, departments and colleges. Programs supported through the SHAPE Campaign include scholarships, research funding, improved facilities and hands-on learning experiences to elevate the Austin Peay experience for students, faculty and staff. To give to the SHAPE Campaign, visit alumni.apsu.edu/shape. Like last year, many faculty and staff will participate in the University’s annual online giving campaign, Govs Give. We want to thank all of our alumni and friends for supporting us during our seventh year of that campaign, which will take place from 10 a.m. on April 18 to 7:27 p.m. on April 19. Visit govsgive. com to support the University area of your choice. Your generosity will help us tell the Austin Peay stories of our entire campus community.

I also want to take some time to recognize the late Khandra Smalley (’05), a beloved APSU alumnus and former adjunct faculty member, who unfortunately passed away on Nov. 4, 2022. She was a past member of the APSU President’s Circle of Advisors and a recipient of APSU’s Outstanding Alumni Award in 2019. She was heavily involved in our local community and faithfully supported her alma mater. She will be truly missed by her Austin Peay family.

We look forward to seeing our alumni and friends at our upcoming summer Govs Gatherings and at our fall events including the APSU 5K: Run For Govs on Sept. 30 and all of our celebrations leading up to Homecoming on Oct. 28.

Sincerely,

Upcoming Events

April 18-19

Govs Give

April 21, 5-7 p.m. (EST)

Orlando Govs Gathering

American Social; 7335 W Sand Lake Rd #101 Orlando, FL 32819

April 22, Noon-1:30 p.m. (EST)

Jacksonville Govs Gathering River House, 2800 University Blvd N

Jacksonville, FL 32211

May 6, 6 p.m. (CST)

39th Annual Candlelight Ball

Omni Nashville Hotel

250 Rep. John Lewis Way South Nashville, TN 37203

RSVP by April 28 by visiting: www.alumni.apsu.edu/candlelight2023

May 15-17, 5-7 p.m. (CST)

Save the Date for Texas Govs Gathering Visit: www.alumni.apsu.edu/govsgathering for up-to-date information.

Aug. 25, 6 p.m. (CST)

Clarksville Govs Gathering

Downtown Commons

Clarksville, TN 37040

Sept. 8, 5-7 p.m. (EST)

Knoxville Govs Gathering

Calhoun’s on the River

400 Neyland Dr, Knoxville, TN 37902

Sept. 30, 5-7 p.m. (EST)

APSU Run For Govs 5K Register at www.alumni.apsu.edu/5K23

Nov. 10-11

APSU Governors Military Hall of Fame www.alumni.apsu.edu/halloffamecelebration

*Events subject to change