Urban wildlife education at North American colleges and universities

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Urban wildlife education at North American
colleges and universities

• Mark Wallace David Drake
• Texas Tech University University of Wisconsin

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History of wildlife management in academia

• U. of Wisconsin 1939
• Teaching/researching wildlife management
• Training agency biologists
• Game emphasis
• Habitat focus

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Urbanization and wildlife

• Wildlife adapting to human-dominated areas

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Urbanization and wildlife

• Wildlife adapting to human-dominated areas

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Urbanization and wildlife

• Wildlife adapting to human-dominated areas

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Urbanization and wildlife

• Wildlife adapting to human-dominated areas
• Increasing urban wildlife populations

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Urbanization and wildlife

• Wildlife adapting to human-dominated areas
• Increasing urban wildlife populations
• Increasing human-wildlife interactions

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Urbanization and wildlife

• Wildlife adapting to human-dominated areas
• Increasing urban wildlife populations
• Increasing human-wildlife interactions

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Urban wildlife management is more than wildlife
damage management
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Urban wildlife is more than wildlife damage
management

• Ecological theory

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Urban wildlife is more than wildlife damage mgt.

• Ecological theory
• Urban planning design

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Urban wildlife is more than wildlife damage
management

• Ecological theory
• Urban planning design
• Human dimensions
• Cutting edge of educating the publics
• Integrating nature and wildlife values into the
  ever more urban human environment

Wildlife ecology management
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Backyard habitat
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Ecological restoration of urban riparian
corridors
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Assessing urban wildlife education

• Adams et al. 1987 (Wildl. Soc. Bull. 15)
• 101 surveys mailed
• NA colleges and universities
• Wildlife curricula
• 10 Canadian schools
• No schools in Mexico
• 80 return

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Assessing urban wildlife education

• Drake et al. 2008 (unpub. data)
• 101 surveys
• Conducted by e-mail and phone
• NA colleges and universities
• Wildlife curricula
• 32 return

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Urban Wildlife Curricula
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Urban Wildlife Research
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TWS Student chapters
102 programs have student chapters Connecting
students to TWS
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Programs with Urban wildlife classtaught in
past 5 years
16 Programs Includes 3 not affiliated with TWS

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What do these courses focus on?

• Titles (in order of prevalence)
• Urban Wildlife Management
• Urban Wildlife Ecology and Management
• Adv. Urban Ecology
• Adv. Urban Ecosystems
• Target audiences (in order of prevalence)
• Upper division undergrad/grad student
• Graduate students
• Undergrad (non-majors)

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Urban Ecology

• Ecological perspectives on the city
• Trophic dynamics
• Biodiversity -homogeneity
• Gradients and ecological footprint
• Patch dynamics ecological traps
• Island biogeography
• Fragmentation sprawl
• Ecology of roads
• Evolving urban animals
• Invasive species

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Urban wildlife management

• Urban environment
• Urban ecology processes
• WM principles
• Population dynamics
• Habitat
• Urban wetlands
• Exotics invasive sp.
• Development fragmentation
• Urban planning conservation
• Human dimensions
• Wildlife damage mgt.

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Why have urban wildlife curricula failed to grow?

• Curricula changes are often slow
• Profession still sees urban wildlife as animal
  damage management
• Some questions we might ask ourselves
• Why has urban forestry grown?
• Follow the urban forestry model?
• What is the funding mechanism?

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Future of Urban Wildlife Management

• What should the urban wildlife biologists tool
  box include?
• Basic ecology
• Traditional wildlife management tools
• PEOPLE SKILLS
• Cross-disciplinary experience with
• Planners
• Designers
• Municipal governments
• Economic linkages

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Acknowledgements

• Maybe a nice background pic of good urban
  wildlife habitat
• U Wisc logo
• Drake class
• Other??