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Paper short abstract

Through sound-based surveys with "bat detectors," volunteer conservationists navigate shared landscapes with local wildlife. This research examines how these sound-based survey methods shape multispecies conservation and allow a more-than-human "conversation" surrounding urban ecosystems.

Paper long abstract

Conservation is often framed as a human-led process, yet ecological resilience relies on multispecies collaboration. This research explores the multivocal process of bat conservation in Greater Manchester, made in collaboration with local conservation non-profits who work to protect bat roosting sites from urban development. Through sound-based methods, volunteers and conservationists “listen” to bats via bat detectors, converting echolocation into data audible for human "listening."

This paper examines how acoustic ecology and multispecies anthropology intersect—how listening becomes an act of conservation, and how bats, through their sonic participation in the "conversation," shape human environmental practices. Drawing on field recordings, interviews with conservationists, and sensory ethnography, this project interrogates how conservation knowledge is produced through technological mediation, embodied listening, and human-wildlife interactions.

By positioning bats not just as subjects of conservation but as co-agents shaping urban ecologies, this research rethinks traditional conservation frameworks. It argues for multimodal methodologies, blending sound, film, and participatory ethnography, as tools for rethinking environmental stewardship and ecopolitical sovereignty beyond human-centered paradigms.