Research

The Research Team at the Urban Ecology Center (UEC) studies urban ecology with a focus on wildlife in order to understand, evaluate, and inform the interconnectedness of the natural world and humans.

Through the process of collecting and sharing this knowledge, our goal is to impact actions taken at the individual, organizational, and community level to heal our natural world.

On this Page:

How we do it

The Research Team studies bats, insects, plants, snakes, fungi, birds, people, and a host of other critters! We focus on the following areas:

  • Urban Ecosystems
  • Biodiversity
  • Wildlife Biology
  • Habitat Restoration

Prioritizing collaborative, data-driven research, our team aims to provide the community with experiential opportunities to participate in and learn about our research. Design a community science project,  join us on a Fungi Foray, or stop by a Backyard Naturalist lecture!

Want to Learn More?

Take a look at the nature notes created by UEC Community Scientist, Heidi Meier, for summaries and interesting facts, and findings from her beetle surveys.

Nature Notes

Urban Ecosystems

Cities are the newest and fastest growing ecosystems on earth. Within them is a mosaic of habitats that support diverse communities of plants and animals.

As the world becomes increasingly urbanized, we are interested in understanding how humans and wildlife interact, how landscape changes impact wildlife, and the importance of urban green spaces.

Active Projects:

Biodiversity

Did you know that we’ve been surveying birds for over 20 years?

Our team monitors birds along with other animals (and fungi!) to better understand the diversity of life within the parks.

Long-term monitoring helps us keep track of shifts in community composition and changes in wildlife populations over time at the UEC, across Wisconsin, and throughout North America.

Active Projects:

Bird Walks

Help us monitor bird biodiversity! Interested bird watchers of all ability levels are invited to explore our branches on our weekly bird walks.

Rain or shine we’re out every week all year round. Hone your bird identification skills and contribute to our long-term bird monitoring.

Not on our weekly bird walk recap email list and want to keep up to date with the weekly species lists? Email Amanda at atokuyama@urbanecologycenter.org

Bird Walks

Wildlife Biology

We study wildlife behavior, ecology, and basic biology for the purpose of management and conservation.

Research topics include habitat use, migration patterns, population genetics, and species interactions.

Through the original research we and our community scientists conduct, we are able to make meaningful contributions to the broader scientific community.

Active Projects:

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Habitat Restoration

We work closely with our Land Stewardship team to understand the impacts their restoration efforts have on the wildlife that use the parks.

By monitoring “indicator species” (species that are sensitive to specific environmental conditions), we provide feedback on the success of stewardship. This helps identify ways to adapt our plans to better support these species and others.

Active Projects:

Backyard Naturalists Series

Join us every Friday morning for our virtual lecture series! Learn about wildlife, plants, sustainability, the night skies, and more.

Check out our previous lectures on YouTube

Support the series with a subscription! Our annual and seasonal subscriptions give you automatic access to all Friday lectures including guest lectures, discounted workshops and courses, a free monthly field trip (normally $20/trip), and a Subscriber Appreciation party (in-person). What a deal!

Sign up for the Series

Simplify your registration and become a subscriber to our Backyard Naturalist series.

Learn More

Annual Reviews

The Research Program contributes important data to the study of urban wildlife.

Data Requests & Availability

Much of our data can be found in free and accessible online repositories like eBird & iNaturalist.

If you are a student, researcher, or community scientist and would like help finding data we’ve collected or would like access to data held internally for a project or study, please contact GIS & Field Data Manager, Amanda Tokuyama (atokuyama@urbanecologycenter.org).

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Check out the annual reviews:

See the Reviews

Latest from our Blog

Native Animal of Wisconsin - Woodchuck

By
Urban Ecology Center
Staff
on
January 8, 2024
What?! No article about prancing reindeer or beautiful red cardinals?! We know, we know, but hear us out. We wanted to recognize an animal this month that we don't necessarily see in the winter, yet is living right under our feet.

Native Animal of Wisconsin - The Luna Moth

By
Urban Ecology Center
Staff
on
January 3, 2024
The beautiful luna moth (Actias luna) is a large white-bodied moth, with lime green-colored wings and pinkish legs. This Wisconsin native is found in the state from spring to summer and flies only in the evenings.

Volunteering to Inspire

By
Michelle
Milford
on
December 10, 2023
After talking about the Canada wildfires in school, Maxwell - a budding 6 year old environmental activist - gave a presentation to his family. His grandma, grandpa, mom, dad and brother listened as Maxwell shared, “Right now, the Earth is sad and sick. But if we help out, it will eventually turn into a happy, healthy Earth again.”

Galápagos: A Journey of a Lifetime

By
Matt
Flower
on
October 29, 2023
I had the pleasure of joining the Galápagos and Mindo Ecuador Eco-Travel trip through the Urban Ecology Center in April of 2023. For me personally, it was a trip of a lifetime. For me professionally, it was a profound experience filled with fascinating natural wonders.

UW-Madison Grad Student Collaborates with UEC to Map Park Biodiversity

By
Clare
Eigenbrode
on
September 1, 2023
Lindsey Bereckis, a graduate student in Environmental Conservation at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, partnered with the Urban Ecology Center to map species richness and biodiversity in the areas surrounding each of our three branches.
Read More