The University of Chester is leading a groundbreaking research project on bats.

The team includes Dr Christina Stanley, Professor Tessa Smith, and PhD student Lucy Morison.

They are working closely with the Vincent Wildlife Trust and Professor Yu Shi at the University of Leeds.

They are exploring an innovative mix of technology, behavioural studies, and endocrinology - the study of hormones - to better understand how small-bodied bats respond to changes in their environment caused by humans.

The nanotechnology being developed in this project have the potential to revolutionise the way small-bodied animals are monitored across the world.

Dr Stanley will give a free public talk titled 'The Social Lives of Bats' on July 6 as part of the University's Festival of Ideas.

In her talk, she will delve into how some bats have surprisingly complex social lives, which include maintaining friendships and even sharing food to save other bats' lives.

The project, named the BATMAN Project, was launched in September of last year and is funded by a research grant from the Leverhulme Trust.

As part of this research, the team is developing a new kind of nanotechnology.

The team have collecting data from ten selected bat roosts in North Wales.

The data collection includes an analysis of the environment inside and outside the roosts, as well as collecting the bats' faecal samples to study their hormone levels.

Ultrasonic microphones have been installed inside the roosts to monitor movements and to understand the communications between the bats.

The role of bats in our ecosystem is vital, as they help control insect populations, assist in pollinating plants, and in spreading seeds.

Despite their protected status in the UK, bats face numerous threats, especially from sound and light pollution.

The team's research aims to develop ultralight, self-powered wearable devices.

These will monitor the movements of individual bats remotely, replacing traditional ID rings.

These devices will be powered by the bats’ natural movements, eliminating the need for heavy batteries.

Not stopping at tracking, the researchers are pushing boundaries by inventing species-specific methods to quantify hormone levels in bat faeces.

Dr Stanley said: "Our wearable devices will allow the movements, behaviour and social networks of individual small-bodied bats to be reliably quantified for the first time.

"The work on stress hormones overseen by Professor Tessa Smith will also pave the way for others to study stress responses in this species, therefore improving our understanding of human-induced impacts on bat welfare.

"In combination, these approaches will enable a giant leap forward in monitoring vulnerable species worldwide."

Professor Smith was grateful to all the partners involved, and said: "We would like to thank all the partners in this project who have enabled us to carry out such groundbreaking work to further understand the needs of the wildlife around us.

"Our novel work will make a significant contribution to the conservation of this fascinating, valuable UK species."