Get Involved With UWIN

How to Get Started

1. Review Protocols

Review this page and explore UWIN's standardized research protocols for camera trapping, acoustic monitoring, and tick sampling. Staff will help determine which methods align with your project goals.

2. Reach Out to UWIN

Next, share your research goals, location, and how UWIN might support your urban wildlife work. Contact us here.

3. Design Your Study

Work with UWIN staff to adapt the sampling framework to your city's unique characteristics. We’ll assist with site selection, equipment recommendations, and tailoring protocols to your local landscape and community.

4. Start Collaborating

Begin collecting data and gain access to the UWIN database, training resources, and a collaborative community of researchers tackling global urban wildlife questions.

View Protocols
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“UWIN lets us take an enormous step towards understanding why wildlife live where they live, not just in one spot, but anywhere.”

- - Seth Magle, Senior Director, Urban Wildlife Institute

Research Protocols

UWIN protocols are designed to capture variation in species ecology and behavior across a gradient of urbanization. Network staff work directly with partners to adapt these frameworks to their unique communities.

Please note, partners are welcome to implement one or more of these protocols and there is no requirement to participate in all of them.

The heart of UWIN's research lies in monitoring wildlife with camera traps.

Partners establish sites along urban gradients to capture variation in species ecology and behavior.

Guidelines

  • Establish sites along an urban gradient

  • Sample across diverse habitat types (built area, agriculture, grass, forest, etc.)

  • Establish > 30 sites (~1000m apart) or > 50 sites (~500 - 1000m)

  • Monitor sites regularly with seasonal sampling preferred

  • Collaborate and share data with partners

Resources

Camera Trapping Protocol 

How to Set Up a Camera Trap (Video) 

Equipment Recommendations 

camera trapping protocol uwin

Camera Trapping

acoustic-sampling-uwin

Acoustic Sampling

The Network has advanced techniques to systematically monitor birds with autonomous recording units (ARU's), specializing in AudioMoths.

Through collaborations with BirNet and WildTrax, we've streamlined acoustic data annotation.

Guidelines

  • Establish sites along an urban gradient

  • Sample across diverse habitat types (built area, agriculture, grass, forest, etc.)

  • Establish > 30 sites (~1000m apart) or > 50 sites (~500 - 1000m)

  • Follow UWIN’s ARU programming schedule

  • Potential expansion to bats and amphibians monitoring

Resources

Acoustic Sampling Protocol 

UWIN tick sampling protocol

Tick Sampling

Partners investigate the relationship between mammal host communities, tick densities, and tick-borne disease.

Using camera traps and 'tick-dragging' to collect specimens and communicate findings with local health officials.

Guidelines

  • Establish > 5 sites along an urban gradient

  • Conduct 2-3 tick-drags during peak activity months

  • Test specimens for disease-causing bacteria

  • Report findings to local health officials

Resources

Tick Sampling Protocol 

A monkey camera trap image using UWIN Research Protocols
Wildlife photo from a small animal at night time as taken by a camera trap image using UWIN protocols
A moose lying on the ground in a forested area with sunlight filtering through trees.
Wildlife climbing a tree at night moving onto power lines, as captured by camera traps

What You'll Need

Joining UWIN is a collaborative process. Before you start collecting data, we work with you to make sure your project is set up for long-term success.

The Path to Partnership

Study Design

Work with UWIN staff to develop a sampling framework suited to your city. Each design will capture the local urban gradient and available habitat types, with consideration for your team’s research goals.

Study Site Approval

You've identified your sampling sites, established relationships with the relevant landowners or land managers, and confirmed reliable long-term access.

Land Access & Permissions

Documented permission from all relevant landowners or land managers is required for each site. Partners must also comply with local laws and regulations.

Signed MOU

Before accessing the UWIN database and shared network data, all partners sign a Memorandum of Understanding with Lincoln Park Zoo's Urban Wildlife Institute.

Partner Commitments

Regular Monitoring

Partners commit to consistent, long-term data collection. Seasonal sampling is preferred to capture temporal variation in wildlife communities.

Communication & Community

Partners are expected to attend at least one Quarterly Call per year and actively participate in the UWIN Slack channel.

Collaborative Research

Any multi-city research using shared UWIN data must be approved by the Research Committee. Reuse of previously shared data for a new project requires explicit agreement from the original data contributors and from UWIN.

Partner Resources

  • Access to data from across the network

  • Scholarship and granting opportunities

  • Opportunities to author high impact publications and reports

  • Training and guidance from staff on: data gathering, analysis, and visualization, publishing, and project management

  • Guidance on outreach: coordinating with landowners, media outlets, and local constituents

  • Media attention and added visibility for your projects

  • Networking in a collaborative community of like-minded colleagues

  • Access to UWIN-related lesson plans, syllabi, and activities for students from grade school (K-12) to collegiate levels

  • Access to training materials for students and volunteers

uwin camera trap rotating wildlife image

  • "Being a partner at UWIN has allowed me to develop research at a much more efficient rate. For example, the incorporation of the UWIN sampling protocols made decision-making easier when starting out with the camera traps. The interdisciplinary scientific collaborations established with UWIN colleagues have also led to more robust interpretation of our results and to a faster development of future research ideas by combining strengths in terms of methodological expertise."

    — T.C, Postdoc Student

  • "UWIN has truly revolutionized urban wildlife research. Not only is it one of the most successful large-scale research collaborations that I'm personally aware of, producing dozens of highly impactful research articles, but it has also catapulted the careers of many of its members. I know I would not be where I am today without joining UWIN, and it remains one of the best academic decisions I have ever made, not only for me, but also for my students."

    — A.G, Research Professor

  • "UWIN finds its strength in being an open, collaborative research network that standardizes collective urban wildlife research while allowing individual researchers to pursue their own unique questions. It's flexible while being scientifically rigorous at the same time. Its vast geographic footprint allows greater questions about humans and wildlife to be asked and answered in a way that no one research lab could, and its deep pool of highly competent research scientists is always eager to support new research questions."

    — J.W, Conservationist

  • "Since 2020, 29 undergraduate students from Hendrix College have worked on the Central Arkansas Urban Wildlife Project, the Little Rock node of UWIN. Through managing cameras in parks, tagging photos, and asking individual research questions using our dataset, which they then present the results of at regional and national conferences, they develop skills that propel them into the next phase of their careers. These students have gone on to graduate school, ecological consulting jobs, veterinary school, field technician positions, and more. Thus, UWIN provides opportunities for student development alongside revealing the patterns and processes of wildlife ecology in our cities."

    — M.C, Professor 

  • "Participating with UWIN helped me expand my ability to contribute to ecological research within my Park Ranger role and made me feel more connected to my passion for wildlife ecology. Later on, I used UWIN partner data to study the occurrence of coyotes and gray foxes across different land cover types throughout the United States. UWIN's vast network and resources allowed me to complete a masters thesis without any funding."

    — D.G, Doctoral Student

  • "Joining this group in 2019 has been the best decision and most impactful on my now 20 year career. It has provided me a "new" start through the foundational network and support this groups provides to justify both to myself and my administration that this growing subdiscipline is important not only to large metropolitan cities in more populous states but mid to smaller cities in more rural states. The collaborations and professional friendships developed during this time have been career and life-changing. I will be forever grateful to the UWIN team!"

    — A.R, City Lead

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