Rana Khayat

My PhD is an investigation of the cause and effect of wing tears on bats, and is being jointly supervised by Dr Robyn Grant, Dr Louise Melling, and Dr Kirsty Shaw. Bats are important species within ecosystems, and many initiatives are directed at conserving bats within their natural habitats. Bats face a number of threats, one of the most significant being that of wing tears, with around 30% of admissions to rehabilitation centres due to these types of injury.

My research aims are: i) to use genetic analysis to determine whether cat predation is the cause of wing tears by looking for the presence/absence of cat DNA at injury sites and also to produce DNA profiles of the cats involved; ii) to characterise wing tears using anatomy, histology and material testing techniques and iii) to study the flight behaviour of injured bats.

For more information and to get involved, please visit
http://bat-research-mmu.weebly.com