About Us

WildResearch’s mission is to build, train, and educate a community that contributes to conservation science.

We believe that community is the cornerstone of effective conservation science because it motivates and empowers people to contribute, and it’s fun too!

Citizen Scientist Meets Professional Biologist

At WildResearch, we develop and run citizen science programs because it enables us to conduct conservation science research while offering skills to our membership, and engaging the public with the nature around them. Our programs are developed and run by the WildResearch Board of Directors, a group of dedicated professional biologists and graduate students who have the skills and knowledge to develop innovative and impactful citizen science programs. WildResearch programs simultaneously provide our volunteers with hard-to-obtain skills in conservation science, so that they can go on to conduct their own research. All WildResearch programs and events are run on a volunteer-basis with the help of occasional seasonal employees.

History

WildResearch was founded in 2010 by a group of six biologists and graduate students from Simon Fraser University. The group wanted to create a platform where biologists could contribute independently to conservation science. WildResearch’s first citizen science program was the Iona Island Bird Observatory, followed shortly thereafter by the BC Poorwill Survey (now the Nightjar Survey). Our Butterfly Monitoring was initiated several years later, along with a variety of workshops and events that brought our community together.

Scope

The majority of WildResearch programs and events take place in Vancouver, British Columbia where the organization was founded and our headquarters are located. As our programs grow and we are increasingly recognized as leaders in citizen science, our scope is expanding across British Columbia and western Canada. Data and results from all three of our programs are shared nationally and internationally.