Women in Science: Katy Goodwin

Katy pilots a boat out on Lake Superior, heading to a bat monitoring site on one of the Apostle Islands.

Photo by Katy Goodwin

By Ariana Bulatovich

Katy Goodwin is a research biologist based out of North Dakota State University. She is affiliated with the National Park Service’s Great Lakes Inventory and Monitoring Network which partners with national parks all around the Great Lakes region. At an early age, Katy loved animals and nature. When she was in high school, she intended to become a veterinarian. She soon realized that since she enjoyed being outdoors so much, studying wildlife was a better fit. Katy received her Bachelor's degree in Biology from Carleton College, and her Master's degree in Environmental and Conservation Sciences from North Dakota State University.

In 2001, Katy began her work with the National Park Service (NPS) as an intern at Isle Royale National Park. In the years following her internship, she continued on as an NPS volunteer and seasonal technician. After a few years working for a private environmental consulting firm, she had an opportunity to collaborate again with the NPS, first as a graduate student and now as a biologist and project coordinator. Through these various positions, Katy worked on a variety of wildlife projects including studies of birds, fish, beavers, otters, and bats. She is currently working on a project focused on acoustic monitoring of bats. Acoustic detectors are placed in different habitats at Great Lakes national parks to record the echolocation calls of passing bats. Each bat species has a different call. By examining the frequency, shape, and other characteristics of the calls, biologists can often identify which bat species was recorded. These recordings help to determine the distribution and behavior of bats. Katy says, “It's fascinating to see what we can learn just by taking the time to observe the world around us.”

Katy carefully positions the microphone for the acoustic monitoring device.

Photo by Taylor Pichler

This is the sixth year that parks in the Great Lakes Inventory and Monitoring Network have been monitoring bat populations. Katy and her team are finding great information about which bat species are present in the parks and where they are located. White-nose syndrome (WNS), a disease caused by a fungus that was most likely introduced from Europe, has dramatically impacted bat populations in the Eastern and Midwestern United States. Researchers call the disease “white-nose syndrome” because of the white fungus which grows on the nose, skin, ears, and wings of infected bats. WNS affects bats when they are hibernating. Infected bats are more active during the hibernation period. This means that they expend more energy and use up their fat reserves more quickly, reducing their chances of surviving the winter. Monitoring programs like the one Katy and her team work on help us understand how bats are doing in the face of this disease. Katy encourages everyone to learn about bats and their place in our ecosystem. She says, “They are creatures to be admired, not feared!”

Katy always planned on working in a biology or ecology field, but she didn’t think she would be focusing on bats. She reminds future “women in science” to be open to trying different experiences. She says, “give yourself time to find out what kind of work you really enjoy, and create a strong professional network - these connections and collaborations will help you go far.”

Throughout her career, the vast majority of Katy's colleagues were respectful and supportive. That said, she did receive comments from some individuals suggesting that as a woman it would be unsafe for her to work in remote natural areas, or that she was not physically strong enough to do her job. Katy has continued to prove all these comments false, by working outside, in the national parks for most of the last nineteen years!