-----Original Message-----
From: Cheryl Jones <cheryl.ca...@verizon.net>
To: varl...@listserv.vt.edu
Sent: Sat, Oct 24, 2009 9:03 pm
Subject: USFWS awards $800,000 in WNS grants
USFWS awards $800,000 in WNS grants
The USFWS announced $800,000 in grant awards for WNS-related
projects, following this past summer's Request For Proposals (RFP)
with a July 31 deadline. (See news release below) Nearly $5 million
worth of applications were received. While this money will certainly
help, the gap points out the need for significantly more funding for
research, monitoring, surveillance, prevention, and mitigation. This
is why we are still lobbying Congress for money in the 2010 federal budget.
We were particularly pleased to see projects from Dr. Hazel Barton
and Dr. Thomas Kunz funded, as previous awards of NSS grants from
the WNS Rapid Response Fund laid the groundwork for these successful
applications. Your donations at work - leveraging significantly
larger amounts of funding.
Peter Youngbaer
NSS WNS Liaison
_______________________
NEWS RELEASE
Office of Public Affairs
4401 N. Fairfax Drive, Suite 325
Arlington, VA 22203
Phone 703/358 2220 Fax: 703/358 1930
October 26, 2009 Contacts: Valerie Fellows, USFWS 703/358 2285
Pamela Baker-Masson, National Zoo 202/633 3084
Fish and Wildlife Service Awards $800,000 in Grants
to Explore Cause, Control of White-Nose Syndrome in Bats
At an event held in conjunction with the Smithsonian Institution's
National Zoo in Washington, DC, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
today announced 6 grant awards totaling $800,000 going toward
research efforts to explore the cause and control of white-nose
syndrome, a wildlife health crisis of unprecedented proportions that
has now killed more than a million bats in the Northeast and remains
unchecked.
"These grants will provide critical funding to help the Service and
our partners find the cause, find a cure and stop the spread of this
deadly disease," said Interior's Deputy Assistant Secretary for Fish
and Wildlife and Parks Jane Lyder. "Bats are an incredibly important
component of our nation's ecosystem, and the loss of even one
species could be disastrous for wildlife, agriculture and people."
One of the bat species currently affected by white-nose syndrome is
the endangered Indiana bat. White-nose syndrome has been documented
in six counties in Virginia and West Virginia and is now within the
range of two additional endangered bat species, the Virginia
big-eared bat and gray bat. The Endangered Species Act protects six
bat species in the contiguous United States.
Federal and state biologists, academia, researchers and
non-governmental partners have been overwhelmed by the unanticipated
effects of this wildlife health crisis, but are committed to finding
answers before species are lost forever.
The Fish and Wildlife Service provided the grants through the
Preventing Extinction program. The Service selected recipients from
among 41 grant proposals totaling $4.8 million for research into
WNS. "We are very pleased and hopeful about the work funded by these
6 research grants. Our only regret is that we were unable to fund
many more of the project proposals that could lead us to answers
about what is killing our bats and how to control this devastating
problem," said the Service's Jeremy Coleman, Ph.D., national
white-nose syndrome coordinator.
One of the grants was awarded to the Smithsonian's National
Zoological Park to establish a captive population of the Virginia
big-eared bat at the Conservation & Research Center near Front
Royal, Virginia. There are only 15,000 Virginia big-eared bats
remaining in a few caves in West Virginia, Virginia, Kentucky and
North Carolina. White-nose syndrome has already infected some of the
caves in this area, and if it continues, this bat subspecies could
likely become extinct. The Conservation & Research Center to the
National Zoo has developed a multidisciplinary team of scientists,
veterinarians, nutritionists and curators who are working with the
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and West Virginia Division of Natural
Resource to establish this insurance population of Virginia
big-eared bats, thereby buying time to determine the cause of, and
cure for, this disease. Bats in this population may eventually be
needed to re-establish the subspecies in the wild. Virginia
big-eared bats have never been kept or bred before in captivity, so
lessons learned from this project will be of broad interest to
agencies and organizations if white-nose syndrome in wild bat
populations makes it necessary to consider captive breeding of other
bat species.
The other recipients of the white-nose syndrome funding include the
following:
Analyzing Indiana bats to determine their susceptibility.
Sybill K. Amelon, Ph.D., USDA Forest Service, Northern Research
Station; Guy Knudsen, Ph.D., University of Idaho; Sara
Oyler-McCance, Ph.D., U.S. Geological Survey, Rocky Mountain Center
for Conservation Genetics and Systematics; and Lori Eggert, Ph.D.,
University of Missouri. This project focuses on assessing the impact
of white-nose syndrome on the genetic viability of Indiana bats.
Identifying compounds to stop the fungus associated with white-nose syndrome.
Hazel A. Barton, Ph.D., Northern Kentucky University, and Kevin
Keel, DVM, Ph.D., University of Georgia. This research is on the
propagation and decontamination of white-nose syndrome in the environment.
Examining immunity and body composition in white-nose syndrome
affected bats versus bats unaffected.
Thomas H. Kunz, Ph.D., and Michael D. Sorenson, Ph.D.; Center for
Ecology and Conservation Biology, Boston University, Massachusetts.
This project will focus on Immune function, body composition and
genetic correlates of bat white-nose syndrome.
Developing a rapid WNS diagnostic test.
Alison Robbins, MS, DVM, and Donna E. Akiyoshi, Ph.D.; Tufts
Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine, Massachusetts. This funding
will support the generation of Geomyces destructans specific
monoclonal antibodies.
Identifying the genetics of white-nose syndrome affected little
brown bats to predict at-risk populations before white-nose syndrome hits.
Deborah D. Iwanowicz, Ph.D., and Tim King, Ph.D.; U.S. Geological
Survey, Leetown Science Center, West Virginia. This project will
expand our understanding of white-nose syndrome in the Northeastern
Vespertilionidae with emphasis on the little brown bat.
Additional information about WNS may be found at
http://www.fws.gov/northeast/white_nose.html.
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Permanent email address is mmin...@illinoisalumni.org
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