Val has her Bachelor of Science degree in Architecture and minor is Real Estate Development from the University of Maryland, College Park. She is receiving her Master of Architecture degree from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Her graduate school work has been focused on a wholistic design approach of designing for communities as well as nonhuman species that are critical to the environment. This has ultimately led to her thesis work, the Bat Canopies.
The Chicago Academy of Sciences’ Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum is a nature center located in Lincoln Park, Chicago, Illinois, alongside the North Pond. The museum focuses on the relationship between people and nature through collaboration, education, research, and exhibition.
Lincoln Park Zoo’s Urban Wildlife Institute has been monitoring and collecting data about the bats flying around and inhabiting Chicago. Bats around the U.S. have been threatened by white-nose syndrome, a fungal disease that has a 90% mortality rate for some bat species. These creatures are extremely important to our ecosystem. Bats are essential for controlling pests, with each bat eating about 1,200 insects per night; pollinating plants, like agave and bananas; and seed dispersal. They are in need of their own habitat in an urban environment that prevents the overlap of living space between bats and humans.
Working with the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum and Urban Wildlife Institute, the Bat Canopies are featured along the west side of the North Pond to allow engagement between people and bats while providing necessary habitats for the Chicagoland bat species. The Bat Canopies will be maintained and monitored by bat researchers and scientists who will study the creatures and provide information to the public to spread awareness about bats and how to better protect them.