SENR Seminar Series welcomes Dr. Nyeema Harris

The SENR Seminar Series welcomes Dr. Nyeema Harris, Knobloch Family associate professor of Wildlife and Land Conservation and Director Applied Wildlife Ecology Lab, Yale School of the Environment, who will present "Our wildlife neighbors and urban ecology" on April 8 starting at 4:00 p.m. in room 103 Kottman Hall or via Zoom.

About the talk: Cities are highly heterogeneous landscapes of risks and rewards for wildlife, a duality that can induce changes in animal behavior. Species navigating urban environments may benefit from reduced natural competitors and food subsidies, but they must also mitigate heightened anthropogenic pressures (e.g., roads, lights). Despite the burgeoning field of urban ecology and a surge of research on behavioral ecology of fear, these works almost exclusively focus on predation or competition in subordinate species. The dearth of studies on fear in apex predators in urban environments limits our understanding of coexistence strategies and our capacity to anticipate ecosystem ramifications caused by behavioral consequences of urbanization. The Applied Wildlife Ecology (AWE) Lab tackles these challenges by investigating the coupling of human-wildlife interactions across spatial scales. In this interactive seminar, the audience will journey to explore the conditions carnivores face under dynamic conditions and environments within their geographic distributions as we anticipate mixed outcomes of coexistence and conflict scenarios. Projects highlighted will include environmental literacy in youth, eDNA mammal detections, dogs in urban parks, and varied fear responses by urban carnivores. Ultimately, my goal is to emphasize the vulnerability and interconnectedness of carnivore communities, nurture your appetite of nature through awe, and incite the desire for behavioural change that aids wildlife conservation. Everyone, across disciplines and demographics, is needed to ensure healthy places for wildlife and human populations and promote a culturally sensitive manifestation of coexistence.  

About the presenter: Dr. Harris studies carnivore ecology, behavior, and conservation. As an avid nature-lover, her most transformative experience stemmed from witnessing lions hunt in Kenya as a youth growing during her first job at the Philadelphia Zoo. In the work of her Applied Wildlife Ecology (AWE) Lab, she aims to facilitate exposure, broaden participation in who has agency and contributes to knowledge production, and stimulate an awe for the natural world. She completed degrees at Virginia Tech, University of Montana, and North Carolina State University as well postdoctoral training at UC Berkeley and WWF in Switzerland. She joined the faculty in 2021 at Yale's School of the Environment as an Associate Professor. Her work spans the globe and ecosystems including urban environments, the tropics and African protected areas. Ultimately, she strives to be a socially-relevant ecologist by implementing inclusive scholarship that contributes to promoting wildlife persistence and coexistence.