For the second year, we’re excited to extend the opportunity to the WILDLABS community to partner with undergraduate student teams from the University of Maryland to help tackle real-world conservation challenges.

I teach a Capstone course in the University of Maryland’s Environmental Science and Policy Department, where teams of 6–8 undergraduate students are paired with a real-world client for an entire semester (Jan-May). Each team works under faculty mentorship to conduct applied research that addresses an environmental science and/or policy problem tailored to the client’s needs.

Our students are particularly strong in:

• Desk-based research (literature reviews, policy analysis)
• Data analysis, including GIS mapping and analysis
• Synthesizing findings into frameworks for decision-making.

Past team deliverables have included policy recommendations, communication and outreach materials, curriculum development, and analytical summaries. These teams can be especially helpful if you have existing data that needs final processing, synthesis, or preliminary analysis, (e.g. our recently completed project on paw laterality in red wolves and coyotes).

The range of topics that Environmental Science and Policy teams can work on is fairly broad. If you have an idea, even if it’s still taking shape, I’m happy to meet and explore whether it can be developed into a clear scope of work for a student team.

We are aiming to have client partnerships established by January 23.

If you’re interested or would like more details, please feel free to reply here on the forum or reach out directly by email at [email protected].