Bat boxes project secures Pine-Richland student's Girl Scout Gold Award

A Pine-Richland High School senior and longtime Girl Scout’s latest project has volunteers going batty for conservation.

Lauren Schwab of Troop 58011 in Wexford assembled bat roosting boxes for the Latodami Nature Center in North Park.

“I’ve always had an interest in protecting animals and the environment, so this project seemed like the perfect way to contribute,” she said.

The project is for her Gold Award, the highest achievement in Girl Scouts. Schwab will receive the award at a ceremony in May.

Bat populations are declining worldwide at an alarming rate, but there are many things that people can do to aid in their survival.

Schwab held a workshop where she instructed people on assembling the bat roosting boxes. The workshop was part of her three-pronged plan to raise awareness and contribute to bat conservation efforts.

“We ended up making 20 bat boxes, which are these large bat habitats (that) provide shelter and protection from the outside weather and predators for the little brown bats that make themselves at home in North Park and around Allegheny County,” Schwab said.

She received donations from volunteers and local businesses for the project.

The boxes are about 2 feet tall and 4 feet wide. They are made of T1-11 siding, furring strips, metal flashing, and roofing shingles.

The bat roosting boxes were installed throughout the park in the spring and summer of 2022.

“What’s unfortunate is the reason that these bats need protection is because their homes are being destroyed for new houses. These boxes are a good way for them to coexist with us instead of ending up making nests in your attic,” Schwab said.

She recruited volunteers to monitor the boxes around the park and record what they saw on a spreadsheet accessible via QR codes attached to each box.

“The QR codes were made by a local small business, so it was good that we were able to help the community in that sense as well,” Schwab said.

The final part of her project was a class that Schwab held to help educate people on the importance of bats for the environment.

“We had some nature lovers and some people who thought they wouldn’t even like bats, and everyone ended up enjoying it,” she said.

The project began in 2022 when Schwab contacted Meg Scanlon, an interpretive naturalist at the Latodami Nature Center. Schwab and Scanlon’s goal for the project is to impress upon the public how vital bats are for the ecosystem.

“Lauren did an excellent job of sourcing materials, cutting the wood to size, and also providing public educational programs in order to actually build the boxes. We were very happy with how the boxes turned out.”

The boxes are expected to last at least 10 years.

“There’s very little to no maintenance required on the boxes, which makes it easy for homeowners to construct their own for their property,” Scanlon said.

Though this particular bat box design is new to the park, bat boxes have existed in some capacity in North Park since the 1970s.

“Over the years, we’ve found that of the design plans that are available online from the gaming commission, the small bat boxes really serve no purpose. The large boxes are the ones that attract the bats due to the temperature control that the large boxes offer. The small boxes do not warm up properly and do not provide enough protection. Bats cannot modify their location within a small structure to accommodate themselves. The large boxes do a great job of accomplishing all of that to encourage the bats to come and stay,” Scanlon said.

Schwab has been in Scouts since first grade.

“My parents have definitely been my biggest supporters in my Girl Scout journey. They always encouraged me to keep up with it. They were also my biggest motivators for this project,” Schwab said.

Doug Schwab couldn’t be prouder of his daughter’s time in Girl Scouts.

“Seeing Lauren progress from Daisy through her Girl Scout Gold Award project brings enormous pride to me as her father,” he said. “Her journey took her along a path filled with so many good times made possible by the great Girl Scout leaders she had along the way. Her own dedication to stay with scouts through the end and help others all while earning The Gold Award allowed her to take a leadership role and will help her to improve our future.”