Bat Specialists
Stephanie Dippenaar began working with bats in 2011 doing an Anabat course with Dr Sandie Sowler and after several years of working alone she aligned herself to Birds Unlimited in 2015. She comes with many years experience in academic research, bat survey work and monitoring.
In order to stay at the fore-front of bat technology and methodology Stephanie attends yearly Bats & Wind Energy workshops arranged by Natural Scientific Services (NSS), The Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT) and SABAAP.
Her fieldwork and bat-identification skills were honed by Chris Corben - creator of the Anabat Detector and writer of the Analook bat identification software.
She has attended courses in the management and care of bats that have been injured by wind turbines with Dr. Elaenor Richardson as well as mist-netting and bat handling courses with Dr Sandie Sowler.
Stephanie was a plenery speaker at the 4th Wind Power Africa Conference and Renewable Energy Exhibition at the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC).
Her talk was centred around Bat Impact Assessments in South Africa: An advantage or disadvantage to wind development EIAs.
In 2015 Stephanie joined forces with avian specialists, Rob Simmons and Marlei Martins, in order to expand the service she offers.
Stephanie Dippenaar
Bat Specialist
Stephanie achieved her BA in 1986 and her BA Hon (Geography) in 1987 from the Univ of Stellenbosch and went on to get her Masters in Environmental Management (MEM) in 1999 from the Univ of the Free State.
She is a Professional Member of the South African Institute of Ecologists and Environmental Scientists (SAIEES) and holds memberships with the South African Bat Assessment Association (SABAA) and the International Association for Impact Assessment - South Africa (IAIASA).
From 1989 to present, Stephanie has held lecturing positions in the Environmental Sciences and Geography at the University of Namibia, the Windhoek College of Education, University of Limpopo, and is presently lecturing at the University of Stellenbosch in Cape Town.
She has assisted in avian studies at the Max Planc Institute (Radolfzell-Germany) as well as the Swiss Ornithological Institute, working in the Arava Valley, Israel.
She is an Earthlife Africa media officer, a Member of the Board of the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, involved in the Blue Swallow Project for Birdlife SA, doing environmental management plans for the CSIR and is on the Evaluating Committee for the EMEM Awards (Environmental practice of mines in SA).
For Stephanie’s CV please see PDF at top of page.
