About
The Lab
The Applied Wildlife Ecology (AWE) Lab is a diverse team with a passion for carnivores, conservation, and community. Our work focuses on the relationship between carnivores, their prey, and the ever-changing environment. At the AWE Lab, we believe that authentic, rigorous research can only be accomplished with the involvement and support of the community. This is where you come in. We need your help to guide and add to the research happening in your backyard.
Since 2017, the Applied Wildlife Ecology (AWE) Lab has been studying the wildlife living in Detroit metro parks by using a set of remote research cameras to collect images of the animals passing by. Through the Wildlife Neighbors program, you will help advance the research by identifying animals in the camera images, asking the research questions you want to know about the wildlife in your city, conducting projects to answer those questions, and sharing your results with your community and beyond.
Check out the map to see which parks have cameras and what wildlife has been spotted!
*Please note that the camera locations on the map are adjusted to protect the exact location of the equipment
The Detroit Zoological Society
The Detroit Zoological Society (DZS)—a renowned leader in humane education, wildlife conservation, animal welfare, and environmental sustainability—operates the Detroit Zoo and Belle Isle Nature Center. Its mission includes inspiring our diverse community with engaging, meaningful, memorable experiences and equitable opportunities that encourage appreciation and stewardship of nature. The DZS’s Berman Academy for Humane Education is a one-of-a-kind initiative that incorporates the principles and practices of humane education into all of its educational programming. Its mission is helping people help animals.
DZS educators accomplish these missions by providing inquiry-based humane education experiences that prepare people to be humane community members who take action to help other people, animals, and the environment. Wildlife Neighbors, a collaboration between the Applied Wildlife Ecology Lab and the DZS, is one of these experiences.
Pilot Program
Wildlife Neighbors aims to contribute to our understanding of the elements of effective, impactful programming. It is our hope that across the different program models offered, Wildlife Neighbors will increase participants’ environmental understanding, inspire the next generation of STEM professionals, enhance access and representation in a historically limited field, and instill empathy and passion for local wildlife and the environment. And ultimately, the goal is for Wildlife Neighbors to serve as a pilot program for expansion to other cities, ecology labs, and research organizations around the United States. Click here to learn more!
How Wildlife Neighbors Is Funded
Wildlife Neighbors is supported by a National Science Foundation (NSF) award through the Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) program in the Division of Research on Learning (DRL #2153843). You can learn more here!
Contact Us!
We would love to hear from you! Contact us if you have any questions or would like to discuss collaborating on the Wildlife Neighbors program.
The Applied Wildlife Ecology (AWE) Lab is a diverse team with a passion for carnivores, conservation, and community. Our work focuses on the relationship between carnivores, their prey, and the ever changing environment. At the AWE Lab, we believe that authentic, rigorous research can only be accomplished with the involvement and support of the community.