“Over the last [seven] years, we at the Wildlife Conservation Society have come to this class and posed questions that we don’t have an answer to,” Wilkie told students on one of his many visits to Clark. “And every year, you’ve done an amazing job, developing conservation solutions that our programs have taken back to the field and used.” Throughout the semester, students provide monthly progress reports to Wilkie and GIS specialist Danielle LaBruna. Each May, they relay their findings to a roomful of Wildlife Conservation Society professionals at the organization’s Bronx Zoo headquarters. Field conservationists from across the world join the conversation via Webex. Last year’s class helped the WCS with conservation issues in the Arctic’s Northwest Passage and Patagonia’s continental shelf in the southwest Atlantic Ocean. The Patagonia team focused on illegal fishing of the Argentine shortfin squid in one of the largest fisheries in the world, near Argentina and the Falkland Islands. Fed by currents from warm
Clark’s conservation solutions are used in the field. South American and cold Antarctic waters, this nutrient-rich area in the vast continental shelf produces huge phytoplankton blooms, the basis of the ocean’s food chain, and sustains large populations of elephant seals, Magellanic penguins, albatrosses, whales, and other species. Wilkie directed students to develop a model to help the Argentine government predict and monitor illegal squid fishing in its exclusive economic zone — the area within 200 miles of the country’s coast — and in marine protected areas. He also asked the students to map shipping patterns across the continental shelf to determine which ships might be illegally fishing. The Argentine government “is open to moving the shipping lanes for conservation reasons if we can provide this information,” Wilkie noted. “The Clark University results can definitely help frame the conversation around patrolling for illegal fishing,” LaBruna said. “The students’ work is of interest to our field staff, and provides a
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platform for further engaging with the Argentine government on how to approach patrolling of existing and future marine protected areas.” Less than a year after the students’ presentation, Argentina had created two more marine protected areas, totaling more than 32,000 square miles.
Home on the range This spring, Clark students turned their attention to identifying land that might support free-ranging bison. They examined a number of factors like parcel size, elevation, and proximity to water sources while also researching precipitation and vegetation conditions. The students determined land ownership (government, tribal, or private), and considered which owners might be more amenable to hosting free-range bison. The WCS already is working closely with the Blackfeet Nation to expand bison herds in Montana. Like the iconic African elephant, North American bison — significant and symbolic in Native American culture — at one point faced extinction. Due to the Westward Expansion and unregulated hunting, the bison population plummeted from an estimated 30 million to only 325 buffalo at the end of the 19th century. But for now, the bison’s future seems more stable than that of the African elephant. Since founding the American Bison Society in 1905, the Wildlife Conservation Society has been involved in efforts to save North America’s largest land animal. About 500,000 bison roam the American Plains, although most of them are bred by private ranchers for meat. Only 20,000 live on conservation lands; of those, 15,000 are free-ranging. The Clark students’ research identified nearly 21,000 square miles of potentially suitable, year-round habitat for free-ranging bison, which could expand to 48,000 square miles in the summer. That’s more than a third of Montana. In central Montana, the students identified large parcels around the American Prairie Reserve where highly suitable rangelands could be linked together via private, tribal, and federal partnerships. “This is fantastic. I hope you realize how much work you’ve put into this,” Wilkie told the students this spring. “This is a great template for looking at places outside of Montana. Our bison coordinator is hoping to do bison expansion further out, in the Southwest and Rocky Mountain West.” Clark students continue to apply GIS technology in service to vital wildlife preservation efforts across the globe. Their data may be gathered from high in the sky, but the impact is felt wherever humans and animals co-mingle — in the sea and on the ground, especially where the elephants walk.