Understanding how bats live, move and interact.
I'm Dr Annabel Dorrestein, a behavioural ecologist investigating how bats navigate landscapes, form social relationships and respond to environmental change. Combining field ecology with technologies such as GPS tracking, drones and acoustic monitoring, I answer fundamental ecological questions while helping generate the evidence needed for effective conservation.
At a glance
Annabel at a glance
- Focus
- Bat behaviour, movement, ecology & conservation
- Fieldwork
- Across Australia, the Pacific, Europe, North, Central & South America
- PhD
- Western Sydney University, 2023
- Based on
- Christmas Island, Australia
- Methods
- GPS & radio tracking, mist-netting, harp trapping, banding, behavioural observation, social network analysis, acoustics, thermal drones, statistical modelling & coding
- Roles
- · Christmas Island Bat Alliance, Founder
· Pacific Bat Conservation Network, Secretary
· Christmas Island Flying-fox Advisory Panel, Member
· Australasian Bat Society, Member
· Global Union of Bat Diversity Networks
· Bat Conservation International Scholar
My story
Conserving threatened species starts with understanding individual animals. Why they choose one tree over another. How they navigate across landscapes. Whether they remember feeding sites. How they form social relationships. These are fundamental behavioural ecology questions, but they also underpin effective conservation.
I am a behavioural ecologist studying how threatened bats live, move and organise socially, using ecological research and emerging technologies to generate evidence for conservation. I collaborate with people and organisations around the world to turn scientific knowledge into practical conservation outcomes.
During my PhD at the Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, Western Sydney University, I investigated the ecology and social organisation of the critically endangered Christmas Island flying-fox (Pteropus natalis), the island's last endemic mammal. Combining movement tracking, behavioural observations and drone technology, I revealed how this species roosts, forages and moves across its island habitat, providing evidence to support its ongoing conservation.
Beyond my own research, I'm passionate about strengthening the collaborations that conservation depends on. I founded the Christmas Island Bat Alliance, contribute to international bat conservation initiatives, and support capacity building through training and knowledge sharing with field teams across the Pacific
I'd love to connect and collaborate, and I'm always excited to help turn ambitious ideas into meaningful outcomes — let's talk →
Research interests
Expertise
Behaviour, ecology and conservation
For me, every research question starts with the same curiosity: why does an animal behave the way it does? By understanding individual decisions, we can better protect populations and the ecosystems they support.
01 · Behaviour & movement ecology
How bats move, interact and survive
Understanding how individual behaviour shapes the ecology and dynamics of bat populations.
Research focus
- Movement ecology — How animals navigate landscapes, select resources and respond to environmental change.
- Social organisation — How individuals interact, form groups and influence population processes.
- Individual variation — Why animals differ in behaviour and how this affects survival.
02 · Wildlife monitoring & surveys
Finding and monitoring threatened populations
Developing reliable methods to detect, monitor and assess populations.
Research focus
- Population monitoring — Measuring abundance and distribution where traditional methods are difficult.
- Detection — Understanding when species are detected — and when they are missed.
- Conservation assessment — Generating evidence for management decisions.
Technology for conservation challenges
Applying emerging technologies and quantitative tools to answer difficult ecological questions.
Research focus
- Remote sensing — Using drones and thermal imagery to observe wildlife at scales previously impossible.
- Movement modelling — Analysing how animals use landscapes through space and time.
- Ecological data science — Turning complex datasets into conservation insights.
Conservation through collaboration
Research only creates impact when knowledge is shared.
I work with conservation organisations, government agencies and field teams to translate ecological research into practical conservation action.
In the field
What this research looks like in practice
A few seconds from the field, showing why I love this research so much!
Research collaborations & affiliations
Projects
Projects in action
A few projects where research has translated directly into conservation action.
Project
Studying a critically endangered flying-fox
Studied the social organisation of the critically endangered Christmas Island flying-fox, including their roost site functions, activity budgets, and movement patterns. I developed and contributed to multiple survey methods. The study revealed previously unknown social organisation of this species and the resulting evidence base now underpins the species' ongoing conservation management.
Explore projectProject
Seeing the invisible: thermal drones for flying-fox conservation
Used drone-acquired thermal video imagery to detect foraging flying-foxes and estimate population size across large, difficult-to-survey landscapes. Published in Austral Ecology, the approach is now informing habitat-use studies for island-endemic bat species.
Explore project
Project
Building conservation capacity across the Pacific
Developed and delivered field training in bat-survey methodology for Samoa's national bat survey team, building lasting in-country monitoring capacity, work that continues through my role representing the Pacific Bat Conservation Network at global leadership meetings.
Explore projectPublications
Selected publications
Recognition & media
Awards, grants and press
A selection of publications, grants and press coverage.
Selected grants & awards
- Harry Bloomfield Postdoctoral Matching Scholarship2023
- Best Student Presentation, Australasian Bat Society Conference2022
- Bat Conservation International Student Research Scholarship2020
- Verne and Marion Read Bat Conservation Award2020
+14 more grants & awards
Get in touch
Have an opportunity, idea or conservation challenge?
I'm always interested in opportunities to collaborate, whether that's a research position, conservation project, consultancy, training opportunity, speaking invitation, or simply a conversation about bats and biodiversity.