ETUK is one of the leading ecology training providers in the UK and strives to provide a range of field and online courses suitable for conservation and ecology consultancy. We provide a range of online courses including Habitat Management, Habitat Restoration, Managing Woodlands for Biodiversity, Reptile and Amphibian ID, Mammal ID, Invasive Species, Surveying for Protected Species, Phase 1 habitat mapping, and various bat courses. Most courses are UK-biased.  

The company is run by Sue Searle BSc PGDip MCIEEM who is a principal ecologist and senior tutor with over 20 years experience in the ecology sector. We are passionate about wildlife, wild places and encouraging people to progress their careers! 

Get 10% off all online courses by Ecology Training UK Ltd (ETUK)
if you book and pay online using this code: 8ZV1BNQH21AS. 

 

Introduction to Bats

Interested in bats and want to know more? Working towards your bat licence? This online course will cover much of the essential knowledge required to get a bat licence in terms of background knowledge on ecology, conservation, threats and legislation.

Course Description:

This introductory level course is delivered via video by Sue Searle BSc PGDip MCIEEM who has 20 years experience as a bat ecologist in the UK.

Topics covered in this course:

• Bat taxonomy and relationships to other mammals
• Bat biology including adaptations, life strategies, senses, physiological specialisations.
• Bat reproduction
• Bat food, feeding and echolocation
• Bat seasons, roost sites, hibernation, maternity colonies.
• Bat conservation – threats to bats including habitat loss, loss of roosts, pesticides and persecution
• Bats and rabies
• Bats and the law – legal status and licences

At the end of the course you will take a quiz and if you get over 70% you will receive a certificate.

Please note that in order to successfully apply for a bat licence you need to have a high level of survey experience and knowledge. This course aims to provide you with a good background knowledge of bats as you work towards your bat licence, but you will also need to put a lot of your own time and effort into achieving this, especially in terms of survey time.

What our students say about the course:

“Jam packed with useful and interesting information for anyone starting a career in bat ecology”

” A great introduction to bats with good coverage of a large range of subjects.”

“I have recently completed the online Introduction to Bats course which was fantastic. It was a very informative course and delivered very well, and I really liked the fact that I could stop and make notes at my own speed and research around the topic also. I really did learn a lot from the course and it has really encouraged me to do more of your courses so I can build upon this new knowledge, so thank you.“

The course is delivered as a video and you will also be provided with a handout of the talk. At the end of the course you will take a short quiz and if you get 70% or more you will receive a certificate.

Timings:

The running time of this video is 1hr 55mins but you will want to spend time stopping the video to take notes and do research so allow 4-5 hours to complete this.

Price: The course costs £105 (plus VAT) or £95 (plus VAT) if you book and pay online using the code 8ZV1BNQH21AS. 

How to book: You can book online at https://ecologytraining.co.uk/course/introduction-to-bats/.

 

Bat Transect and Emergence Surveys

Interested in bats? Working towards your bat licence? This course covers how to carry out activity surveys for bats including transect surveys and emergence surveys. It covers underlying principles, timings and duration of surveys, how to plan your survey, equipment needed, how to record your findings, and using bat detectors and it also has a practical demonstration of both an emergence survey and a transect survey.

Course Description:

This course comprises 3 videos:

Video 1: Bat Activity Surveys: Emergence and Transects classroom session giving underlying principles of how to plan and carry out surveys, timings of surveys, what you are looking for, equipment needed and health and safety considerations.

Video 2: How to do an emergence survey. Sue Searle, Principal Ecologist with 20 years bat experience takes you through the whole process of an emergence survey at a real site. Watch bats emerge and see how records are kept and what equipment was used.

Video 3: How to do a transect survey. Sue Searle takes you out to do a transect survey at a field/woodland site and shows planning the route, using bat detectors, stopping stations, making records of bat sightings and timings of the survey.

This is a great introduction to practical surveying of bats outside the roost.

Other courses that would complement this course is Introduction to Bats which covers the ecology, legislation, British bat species, bat habitats, conservation and more. Also Surveying Buildings for Bats which covers internal surveys of buildings, droppings, recording your findings and how to carry out an internal survey. Bats and Trees covers how bats use trees, what features to look for, survey methods and describing roost features.

Price: The course costs £92 (plus VAT) or £83 (plus VAT) if you book and pay online using the code 8ZV1BNQH21AS. 

How to book: You can book online at https://ecologytraining.co.uk/course/bat-activity-surveys-emergence-and-transects/.

 

Architectural Terms for Bat Workers

This self-study course has been designed to give you a broad knowledge of architectural terms, especially for bat workers and ecologists who have to describe and understand buildings, talk to architects and builders and design mitigation in buildings.

The course comprises of 3 modules, each covering different aspects of the topic:

• Module 1 House types, Roof structures, Window types
• Module 2 Roofing materials, Types of tiles, Roof lining materials, Loft insulation materials
• Module 3 External features, Wall terminology, Brickwork, Roofing terms, Churches, Bridges

Other Details:

Course format: There are 3 modules the links to which are given at the beginning of the course via email. Modules will include some quiz questions so that you can test yourself. At the end there will be a short quiz which you will complete and send to us to be marked and then you will be issued with a certificate if you reach a mark of 75%. If you do not you will be directed to more study to help you pass.

Time commitment: Each module would take around 1-3 hours depending on whether you do any further research. So you can study them all in one go or spread them out over a period of time. You have 4 weeks to complete the course.

Learning outcomes: By the end of the course you will: Have an awareness of a range of architectural terms that will be useful when assessing and describing buildings, writing reports, creating diagrams or discussing buildings with architects or builders on site. You will gain a wider knowledge of the subject that will help equip you for becoming a better ecologist and bat worker.

What our students say: “Thank you so much for offering this course, I found it really interesting and useful, and have recommended it to everyone I know.“ AE

“Another brilliant course! I’m always so stuck when I come to do building and bridge descriptions in reports so this has been so helpful, and I know that I am going to be using the cheat sheet all the time – that’s a really great resource so thanks for including that with the course content.” RM

“Thank you for the course, it has been very informative and helpful for me.” EW

“I really liked the course, It is very easy to follow and everything was very well explained, I have learned a lot and feel much more confident for my Bat surveys.” VC

Price: The course costs only £52 + VAT or £47 (plus VAT) if you book and pay online using the code 8ZV1BNQH21AS. 

How to book: You can book online at https://ecologytraining.co.uk/course/architectural-terms-for-bat-workers/.

 

Health and Safety Awareness for Bat Workers

As part of gaining a bat licence it is important to be aware of health and safety issues involved with bat work and how to reduce risks. In this course we will cover some of the most common hazards and risks associated with undertaking bat surveys. This course aims to raise your awareness of the risks of certain activities and how to keep yourself safe.

This self-study course will be split into 3 modules. An overview of these modules and what will be covered in each one is outlined below. As this is only an awareness course, we would encourage you to look into more thorough training on topics that you think may be particularly relevant to you in your job but we do provide a lot of useful video links to add to your learning.

Module 1:

• Night work – general hazards
• Lone working
• Working outdoors – general hazards

Module 2:

• Working in loft voids – hazards, asbestos, insulation
• Working at height – ladders, scaffolding and cherry pickers
• Driving – at night

Module 3:

• Working near roads
• Biosecurity – rabies and white nose syndrome
• Risk Assessments

Timings:

The course will be available for 4 weeks but all the modules will be sent at the beginning of the course so you can do them at your own pace – maybe do them all at once or spread them over and do one a week.

Price: £52 + VAT or £47 (plus VAT) if you book and pay online using the code 8ZV1BNQH21AS. 

How to book: You can book online at https://ecologytraining.co.uk/course/health-and-safety-awareness-for-bat-workers/.

 

Legislation for Bat Workers

Working in ecological consultancy or working towards your bat licence? Then this bat legislation course is essential!

Bats are fully protected by law and it is vital that we work within the law and also help our clients to do so.

In this course we cover the various aspects of bat legislation – its origins (the conventions and directives), the key pieces of legislation concerning bats, licensing, and how we apply legislation in our work.

There is a detailed breakdown of the different types of personal licence for bat workers and how to gain your bat licence as well as details on mitigation licences, the three tests, and when a mitigation licence is needed.

Case studies give you the opportunity to work through some scenarios and see what professional consultants did to move the project forward to a satisfactory and lawful conclusion.

• Module 1 – legislation, conventions and directives.
• Module 2 – licences – personal and development/mitigation
• Module 3 – applying the legislation to our work

This course is written by Sue Searle BSc, PGDip, MCIEEM who is a Principal Ecologist and has been a bat worker for 20 years and written over 70 bat EPSL’s. In this course she shares her skills, knowledge and insights into bats and the law.

What our students are saying about the course:

“Even though I’ve been a bat worker for a while now, I learned more from the course than I was expecting.” IM

“It was an incredibly useful and interesting course.” DC

How the course is delivered:

Once you book on the course you will receive instructions on how to access the modules, a handout of the modules and an end of course quiz. The modules are powerpoints hosted on ETUK’s shared drive and you are provided with links to access them.

You are given all the module links when booking so you can study the course at your own pace.

Is the course assessed?

Yes, to receive a certificate you will need to complete the end of course quiz and if you get 70% or more you will receive a certificate. If you get below 70% you will be directed to further specific study.

Price: £92 + VAT or £83 (plus VAT) if you book and pay online using the code 8ZV1BNQH21AS. 

How to book: You can book online at https://ecologytraining.co.uk/course/legislation-for-bat-workers/.

 

Surveying Buildings for Bats

Interested in bats? Working towards your bat licence? This short introduction to surveying buildings for bats will be both relevant and interesting! If you are working towards your bat licence it is one of the elements you need to cover.

We have designed this course to give you foundation knowledge of the principles of surveying buildings for bats and includes ‘going out’ to assess a couple of buildings. It is in the form of videos hosted by a Principal Ecologist and experienced bat worker with over 20 years’ experience.

The course covers surveying buildings for bats which is both interesting and informative and forms part of your training for a bat licence.

It covers a range of useful topics including identifying bat signs, basic architectural terms, health and safety, how to carry out a survey, data recording and licensing. You will gain lots of tips and information to be able to carry out bat surveys (with a licensed bat worker). At the end of the course is a short quiz for you to complete. If you get over 70% you will receive a certificate.

Other Details:

Who is the course aimed at?

• People who want to pursue a career in conservation or ecological consultancy.
• People who want a better understanding of surveying for bats.
• People interested in working towards their bat licence.

Course format: This short course is in two parts and delivered as videos prepared by a bat worker with over 20 years’ experience.

Video 1 covers the principles behind surveying for bats in buildings – identifying bat signs, health and safety, survey aims, roost type assessment, data recording and licensing.

Video 2 you go out with an extremely experienced bat worker to explore two sites and to show you how to carry out an internal and external survey of a building, what to look for, how to assess the site and what conclusions were reached. This video also covers some basic architectural terms in order for you to be able to describe buildings. (There is another course available called Bats: Architectural Terms for Bat Workers available on our website).

At the end of the course there will be a short quiz which you will send to us to be marked. If you get over 70% then you will be issued with a certificate of attendance.

Time commitment: Allow around 4 hours to study the materials and look up references.

Learning outcomes: By the end of the course you will have an awareness of the principles behind surveying buildings for bats. You will gain a wider knowledge on the subject that will contribute towards gaining a bat licence.

Price: The course costs £92 (plus VAT) or £83 (plus VAT) if you book and pay online using the code 8ZV1BNQH21AS. 

How to book: You can book online at https://ecologytraining.co.uk/course/surveying-buildings-for-bats/.

 

Surveying Trees for Bats

This self study course is aimed at consultant ecologists and arboriculturalists and aims to raise awareness and gain skills when assessing trees for bats.

Bats are fully protected by law and it is important to have a good understanding of them when working in woodlands or on individual trees.

The course will cover bat legislation, use of trees by bats, survey methodologies, how to recognise trees used by, or potentially used by bats, and mitigation that can be used when bats are found to be present.

We will cover assessing trees from the ground and when aerial tree climbing is appropriate. A Principal Ecologist with 20 years of bat experience will be your tutor.

The course is in the form of a video, handout and quiz and will be both ‘classroom’ based and your tutor goes out into the field to show you how to assess trees for bats from the ground.

Once you have seen the video there is a short quiz and this will be marked by the tutor and if you get over 70% you will receive a certificate.

Please note that a basic understanding of UK bat species and ecology is helpful for this course.

What our students say:

“Thank you for the surveying trees course it was really interesting and clear to follow.”

Timings:

Video playing time is 1hr 43 mins. We suggest you allow 4-5 hours for watching the video, taking notes and researching.

As soon as you book you will receive the materials needed.

Price: The course costs £92 (plus VAT) or £83 (plus VAT) if you book and pay online using the code 8ZV1BNQH21AS. 

How to book: You can book online at https://ecologytraining.co.uk/course/surveying-trees-for-bats/.

 

How to book

Get 10% off all online courses by Ecology Training UK Ltd (ETUK)
if you book and pay online using this code: 8ZV1BNQH21AS. 

You can book on-line on https://ecologytraining.co.uk/courses/.

Once you have booked, we will e-mail you to confirm that your booking has been received and you will then be able to start the course straight away. 

Need an invoice?

If you are a company and require an invoice do NOT book here but email us instead: ecologytraininguk@gmail.com. You will need to give us your company details and purchase order (if you have one) and we will raise an invoice. Joining instructions will be sent separately.

Questions?

Email ecologytraininguk@gmail.com or call Sue on 07818073660.