text:  It's the Batathon's 16th year, and it's grown from a small gathering to, this year, 80 researchers from 50 institutions and more than a dozen countries. Simmons says this gathering is intensely collaborative, and it's yielded nearly 90 academic papers over the years. It's also really fun. I love it. It's just being in the field with the bats and the people in the forest. It's my favorite thing that I do. It's so good to see you again.