This week we talk to Domhnall Finch from the University of Sussex about bats, and how landscape features such as hedgerows, roads and lighting affect the rare greater horseshoe bat. We ask how our changing landscapes are affecting our only flying mammal, and Domhnall tells us about his data collection both monitoring greater horseshoe populations in underground caves, and investigating how bat activity is affected by road traffic noise.

For a Planet PhD first, we bring a debate point to the podcast: do we actually need bats? (no spoilers.... but tequila)

We discover that not all bats hang upside down, we confirm that everything comes back to insects, and (in the outtakes) we learn how to pronounce ‘Domhnall’.

Find out more about Domhnall’s research on his Twitter and Instagram: @Domhnallfinch