Bat Conservation International, based in Austin, Texas, deals in conservation, education and research initiatives involving bats and their ecosystems. Founded in by Dr. Merlin Tuttle in 1982, BCI employs a staff of more than 40 biologists, educators and administrators and is supported by over 14,000 members in 70 countries. The organization sponsors researches documenting the roles of bats in major ecosystems, supports training for graduate students in more than 33 countries and trains over 100 wildlife managers in bat management and conflict avoidance techniques. It offers a wide variety of bat conservation programs and workshops, such as bat conservation and management, acoustic monitoring, cave and mine gating and educator workshops. A member of Earth Share, BCI provides online information on bats, magazines, annual reports and literature database.