Employee Sustainability Spotlight: Lindsay Loftin

At the Office of Sustainability, we are regularly inspired by our colleagues' commitment to sustainable practices both in and out of the office and are excited to share their contributions with our broader Austin community. One employee worthy of such a shout-out? Lindsay Loftin, a Parks and Recreation Department's Culture and Arts Education Specialist, currently working at Zilker Botanical Garden. Lindsay goes the extra mile to help the City achieve its climate goals and safeguard one of Austin’s beloved wildlife species.

Lindsay has been tirelessly working to promote the conservation of bat habitats in Austin’s parks. Her mission is to raise awareness about the need to protect bats and to incorporate them into conversations about sustainability and conservation. Bats play a crucial role in pest control, plant pollination, and seed dispersal. Recent studies estimate that bats save over $1 billion annually in crop damage and pesticide costs in the United States corn industry alone.

Texas has the highest diversity of bat species in all of North America, and Austin's ecosystems play a large role in that diversity. Austin is often referred to as "Bat City USA," boasting the world’s largest urban bat colony under the Congress Avenue Bridge in downtown Austin. However, bats are currently among the most vulnerable animals globally, with 40 percent of all North American bat species either threatened or endangered.

"After spending time with bats at the caves of the Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center while working for the Watershed Protection Department, I've dedicated my life to educating the public about what it will take to support healthy populations of all of our local bat species in Austin," says Lindsay. "I’m passionate about speaking up about bats that live in foliage, caves, and dead trees, not only the more famous ones living under the bridge, though those need protection too."

Left to right: Lindsay presents at the Roots & Wings Festival; Lindsay speaks to colleagues about bats at the PARD Annual Conference; Lindsay receives her Master's degree.

Lindsay began volunteering with Austin Bat Refuge in September 2022, a local organization "giving bats a second chance through rehabilitation and release, conflict resolution, and education." Since joining the Austin Parks and Recreation Department’s Natural Resources Division last year, Lindsay has raked in a slew of accomplishments in support of her mission, including:

• Collaborating with Austin Bat Refuge to host a presentation for colleagues at the PARD Annual Conference on Best Practices for Creating Bat-Friendly Parks
• Presenting at the American Public Gardens Association Annual Conference in Fort Worth on Gardening for Bats
• Collaborating with Erin Cord from Bat Conservation International on plans to create intentional bat habitats with educational signage in Austin’s parks
• Hosting a presentation for the Roots & Wings Festival at Zilker Botanical Garden on bat-friendly gardening
• Becoming a certified Master Naturalist and earning her Master’s degree in Sustainability Studies from Texas State University

Lindsay explained that habitat loss is the primary threat to bats in Austin. If you would like to join Lindsay in supporting our local bat species, there are a few actions she recommends:

• Plant bat-friendly native trees, shrubs, flowering plants, and palms in their yards
• If you find a bat on the ground, call Austin Bat Refuge instead of animal control
• Consider volunteering with Austin Bat Refuge

We thank Lindsay for all she is doing to keep Austin batty! Learn more about what you can do to support a sustainable city.

Left: Lindsay and fellow Austin Bat Refuge volunteers on a boat under Congress Avenue Bridge at a volunteer appreciation event. Right: A photo of Shrubby Boneset (Ageratina havanensis) which Linday says is, "a great native to the Hill Country bat garden plant for attracting moths."