Announcing the Wildlife Inclusive Local Development (WILD) Lab

A Project of the NYU Wild Animal Welfare Program

Thanks to a generous grant from the New York Community Trust, the NYU Wild Animal Welfare Program is thrilled to announce a first-of-its-kind project at the science-policy nexus: the Wildlife Inclusive Local Development (WILD) Lab.

The WILD Lab is an applied research and outreach initiative dedicated to advancing the welfare of wild animals in urban environments by aiming to understand how urban infrastructure affects wild animals, and how governments and communities can respond.

Our work will involve interdisciplinary research and cross-sectoral collaboration with four main areas of focus:

  • Scientific research: Investigating the impacts of urban infrastructure and land use practices on wild animal welfare in cities

  • GIS mapping: Producing spatial maps documenting urban wildlife and the ecological factors that may influence their wellbeing

  • Policy analysis: Conducting policy analysis and developing guidance for integrating wild animal welfare into local policies

  • Education & outreach: Convening stakeholder dialogues and programs to build a broad coalition for positive change

The lab’s principal investigator will be WAWP co-director Jeff Sebo. Mal Graham will serve as science coordinator, Adalene Minelli as policy coordinator, and Audrey Becker as lab administrator. This core team will be joined by many additional collaborators both internal and external to NYU.

Key institutional partners will include the Center for Environmental and Animal Protection (NYU Arts & Science), the Guarini Center on Environmental, Energy and Land Use Law (NYU Law), the Office of Sustainability (NYU), and Wild Animal Initiative, among many others.

You can visit our website to learn more about the project.

Our team can be reached by email at wildanimalwelfare@nyu.edu.