Dr. Edward Hurme

Movement and sociality in unpredictable landscapes 

I am a behavioral ecologist interested in the movement and sociality of organisms in relation to ephemeral resources. As a postdoc in Dina Dechmann’s lab, I will investigate the migration and mega-colony dynamics of the straw-colored fruit bat, Eidolon helvum, across sub-Saharan Africa in a project funded by the CASCB. This species is the only fruit bat known to migrate over large distances across the African continent and my research will focus on testing hypotheses for how and why this species migrates and seasonally forms large colonies.

I completed my PhD with Gerald Wilkinson at the University of Maryland, College Park. For my dissertation, I studied the foraging behavior of the Mexican fish-eating bat, Myotis vivesi. These bats fly far out over the open ocean to feed on small ephemeral schools of fish and shrimp. Collaborating with Yossi Yovel and Gerardo Herrera, I used on-board ultrasonic recordings with high resolution GPS to investigate social foraging behavior, behavioral path segmentation, habitat selection, and social call behavior.