2026 Midwest Bat Working Group Annual Meeting & Poster Session (04/15/2026)

Wed, 15 Apr 2026 15:00:00 GMT

2026 Midwest Bat Working Group Annual Meeting & Poster Session

April 15^th-16^th, 2026

This event has been moved from an in-person gathering in Minneapolis to a virtual-only meeting format.

Registration (Ends April 14th, 2026 at 5 pm CST):

Virtual: $20.00. Link for the virtual meeting will be distributed about a week before the meeting.

Call for Abstracts (Deadline Extended to April 9th, 2026):

We are now accepting abstracts for oral and poster presentations.

We encourage professionals, students, and researchers to submit abstracts for virtual oral and poster presentations. The schedule for oral presentations will be provided in the final agenda prior to the meeting.

The deadline for abstract submission is Thursday April 9th, 2026 (5pm CST).

Abstracts will be accepted by email. Please email your abstract submissions to BOTH Dr. Allen Kurta (akurta@emich.edu) AND Dr. Joe Johnson (joseph.johnson@uc.edu). Please label the subject line as "2026 MWBWG Abstract" and include the abstract as an attachment in Microsoft Word format.

All individuals submitting abstracts must be registered for the meeting to be eligible to present. Indicate in the email whether the preferred presentation is oral or poster. Abstracts should include name, organization, address of authors, and a title. Underline the name of the author who will be presenting the poster or talk. The Abstract should (1) state the principal objective(s) and scope of the investigation, (2) briefly describe the methods employed, (3) summarize the results, and (4) state the principal conclusions. The abstract should be less than 300 words.

Follow these format guidelines when preparing your abstract (see example below):

Title should be all capital letters, bold, and centered at the top of the page.
Include names and current addresses of authors after the title, and underline presenter's name.
Indicate student status with an “*” symbol after the last name of the student who is entering the student competition. Use an asterisk only for the student entering the competition. The student who is entering the competition should be the first author on the presentation
Italicize addresses of authors.
Use 12-point Time New Roman font.
Use 1-inch margins on all sides.
Left justify authors and text only.

EXAMPLE:

ALLEGHENY WOODRAT (NEOTOMA MAGISTER) HABITATCHARACTERISTICS IN VIRGINIA

Michael T. Mengak, Steven B. Castleberry, and W. Mark Ford.

D.B. Warnell School of Forest Resources, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602 (MTM, SBC); USDA Forest Service, Northern Research Station, Newton Square, PA 19073 (WMF)

Guidelines for Oral Presentations

A total of 15 minutes will be allotted for presentations, including time for answering questions (3 min). All oral presentations will be shared by presenters on their own screen. Further instructions to follow ahead of the meeting for presenters.

Poster Guidelines

Presenters will share posters on their own screen. Format for the session will involve sharing your poster, discussing your project, and answering questions as people flow in and out of your virtual room. Poster text should be legible on your shared screen, with ability to zoom in if needed. Format details will be sent out to selected posters. Maximum of 25 posters will be accepted for this meeting.

Information should be well organized and concisely presented. Most posters include the following sections: Abstract, Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results and Discussion, Conclusions, Literature Cited.
Keep written text to a minimum (remember the rule of thumb “less is more”). “Bullets” and short phrases are effective.
Consider using no more than six illustrations (large graphs, flow charts, diagrams, and photographs). Keep captions and legends short and informative.

MWBWG T-shirt Sale

To help support Minneapolis community members, T-shirt sales this year will be donated to Neighbors Helping Neighbors, a Twin Cities based mutual aid network that connects community members with volunteers ready to help with groceries, rides, rent assistance, and other essential support during challenging times.

T-shirts will be mailed out approximately two weeks after registration closes to allow for print time.

BUY YOUR SHIRT(S) HERE!

Program Overview

This year's annual meeting will occur virtually. A link will be distributed to meeting participants approximately one week before the meeting dates. Agenda times are in Central Standard Time. Please note time may be adjusted to accommodate the number of presentation submissions we receive.

Wednesday April 15th, 2026

10:00 - 10:20 AM	Welcome
10:20 - 11:30 AM	State Updates
11:30 - 12:00 PM	State Panel Q&A
12:00 - 1:00 PM	Lunch Break
1:00 - 3:30 PM	Oral Presentations

Thursday April 16th, 2026

9:00 - 10:00 AM	Post-WNS Perspectives
10:00 - 10:15 AM	Break
10:15 - 11:15 AM	Poster Session
11:15 - 1:00 PM	Lunch Break + Wildlife Acoustics and Titley Breakout Sessions
1:00 - 2:00 PM	Federal Updates
2:00 - 2:15 PM	Awards
2:15 - 3:00 PM	State Lead Breakout Session
3:00 - 4:00 PM	Business Meeting

Midwest Bat Working Group upcoming events

2026 Midwest Bat Working Group Annual Meeting & Poster Session (04/15/2026)