Sigit receiving the Spallanzani Medal from Craig Willis, chair of the Spallanzani Awards Committee (Photo copyright Sean Werle)

Congratulations to SEABCRU’s Sigit Wiantoro who was this year’s winner of the Spallanzani Fellowship from the North American Society for Bat Research (NASBR). The Fellowship is awarded “to persons of any age or career stage that show meritorious recent accomplishments that promote bat research, education, and/or conservation programs in their country”. Awardees can come from Africa, Asia, Caribbean Islands (US affiliated islands eligible), Meso-America, South America, Oceania (including US affiliated islands), and Eastern Europe.

The award brought Sigit to the 44th NASBR Meeting in Albany, New York (22nd – 25th October). As awardee, he was the second speaker of the entire conference, giving an excellent talk entitled “Diversity, Discovery and Conservation in Indonesian Karsts ” to a packed audience.

SEABCRU members have been recognized by NASBR with this award before — in 2010 Sara Bumrungsri was the winner, and Lim Boo Liat was one of the founding recipients in 2007, receiving the Senior Fellow award in recognition of contributions throughout his career.

Previous Spallanzani Awardees from SEABCRU — Sara (left) and Lim Boo Liat (right)