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Welcome to episode one of Research Rundown Sunday, where I give you the summary of scientific papers in wildlife and conservation, every sunday!

This week we’re looking at the paper “Sniffing out risk: effects of domestic dog scent on grey fox behaviour at the wildland–urban interface”, by Madelein Zuercher, Debra Shier, and Gregory Grether, published in Animal Behaviour September 2026 (DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2026.123667).

These researchers wanted to find out (1) does dog scent affect grey fox behaviour? and (2) do these responses differ between parks that allow versus prohibit dogs?

They concluded that their findings strengthens the case for dog-free zones, seasonal dog restrictions and enhanced leash enforcement in wildlife-sensitive areas, and as urban spread continues, efforts to minimise the impacts of domestic dogs will be essential for conserving biodiversity and maintaining ecological function in shared landscapes.

What do you think?

#dogparks #grayfox #wildlifeconservation #wildliferesearch #researchpaper

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Faced with a funding drought, UCLA biologist Dan Blumstein and his students are getting creative to raise money to continue field studies of marmots that have been running for 65 years.

Head to the link in our bio to learn more about how they're finding new ways to use the predominantly adult-content site OnlyFans to raise money for their rodent research. | 📸: Daniel T. Blumstein A marmot, a large, squirrel-like rodent with whiskers and furry ears, sitting on a tree branch.

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Calling all nature lovers! Join us at UCLA Stunt Ranch Reserve on Sept. 12 from 9:30 A.M. - 1 P.M. for a Biodiversity BioBlitz — a community event where participants help document local plants and wildlife by photographing and recording species in nature. 📸 🌿

Contribute to habitat conservation, make new friends and learn more about flora and fauna of the Santa Monica Mountains!

RSVP today at the link in our bio.

#BioBlitz #CitizenScience #CaliforniaBiodiversityDay #UCLAStuntRanchReserve

[VIDEO DESCRIPTION: Photographs and short clips of UCLA Stunt Ranch Reserve's flora and fauna, including: sweeping views from a mountainside trail; a rattlesnake slithering into a dirt hole surrounded by small pinks flowers; a yellow grasshopper in a dry brush; a bumblebee on a yellow flower; a Jerusalem cricket; a green lizard; two small birds skittering across the pavement; three mice; two yellow butterflies; and boxelder bugs huddled on a blade of grass.]

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The first rule of Fat Marmot Week? VOTE about Fat Marmot Week!

This Aug. 24-29, celebrate “survival of the thiccest” among the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory legends.

So who will rise above as the most marvelous OnlyMarms icon? Vote at the link in our bio!

Want to learn more about Fat Marmot Week? We have a link for that too.

[VIDEO DESCRIPTION: marmots in several outdoor settings as seen by researchers of the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory.]

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We invite you to learn more about the Ebony Project, a partnership between the UCLA Congo Basin Institute and Taylor Guitars. 🌱 🎸

This year, the project celebrates 10 years of environmental conservation, Indigenous knowledge and global collaboration.

Learn more in the latest episode of the UCLA College’s "Tell Us What You Know podcast." Link in bio. Two people measure the circumference of a tree trunk in a forest, with a “10 Years: The Ebony Project” graphic in the upper left corner.

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Restoring endangered ebony trees in Cameroon. Supporting local communities. The Ebony Project does all this and more. 🌱 🎸

The Ebony Project, a partnership between the UCLA Congo Basin Institute and Taylor Guitars, celebrates 10 years of environmental conservation, Indigenous knowledge and global collaboration.

We invite you to learn more about the project in the latest episode of the UCLA College’s "Tell Us What You Know podcast."

[VIDEO DESCRIPTION: Clips from Cameroon, featuring students, residents and sites where the Ebony Project is taking place.]

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Researchers across the country are facing budget cuts. @npr's Ayesha Rascoe (@ayesharascoespoke) with UCLA professor of ecology and evolutionary biology Daniel Blumstein who took an unconventional approach to continue funding a 64-year marmot study effort.

Tune in at the link in our bio. | 📸: Katie Adler A brown marmot sits on a rocky slope surrounded by green vegetation, looking upward.

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For 10 years, the Ebony Project, a partnership between the UCLA Congo Basin Institute and Taylor Guitars, has worked to restore endangered ebony trees in Cameroon while supporting local communities. 🌱 🎸

Recent UCLA graduate Dylan Simmons shares how the project revealed the powerful connection between environmental conservation, Indigenous knowledge and global collaboration.

Read her piece and learn more about the Ebony Project in the latest episode of UCLA College’s "Tell Us What You Know" podcast. Link in bio. Taylor Guitars co-founder Bob Taylor sitting on a stool with a guitar against a blue grid background that features an ebony tree sapling

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Scientific discovery happens in the field and in the lab. 🌱Many breakthroughs happen behind a computer screen. 💻From sequencing DNA🧬 to coding, modeling, collaboration and refinement 📖this is what modern agricultural research looks like. #codingbybluelight #blueglow #latenight #computationalbiology

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💥 cover story y’all 💥

thrilled to be part of the new CORAL ART-SCIENCE CONSORTIUM using art to inspire coral reef conservation • thanks + congrats to Mónica Medina @ucla @uclaeeb, Or Ben-Zvi @scripps_ocean, Oren Levy + fellow authors — and of course @sciencemagazine • visit coralartscience.org

📸: OUR CHANGING SEAS IV (2016-2019) by courtney mattison • glazed stoneware + porcelain • ~ 11 x 17 x 2 ft • private collection • © courtney mattison

#scienceadvances #ourchangingseas #coralartscience #artforconservation #sciart

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Today we celebrate the remarkable journeys of migratory birds like the White-crowned Sparrow.

Bird migration reminds us that conservation is deeply connected across communities, habitats, and borders. Protecting birds means protecting the ecosystems we all share.

At the Audubon Center at Debs Park we watched Kelsey and Tania from the Tingley Lab at UCLA tag birds! They are studing how these sparrows navigate landscapes and connect ecosystems across western North America. Using the Motus Wildlife Tracking System, researchers are uncovering new insights into migration, movement, and survival.

This spring, two White-crowned Sparrows tagged at the Audubon Center at Debs Park have already shared part of their journeys. One bird was last detected at Debs Park on April 7 before being picked up at Big Table Mountain on April 9. Another sparrow was last detected at Debs Park on April 14, then later detected at Altura in Northern California on April 30 before continuing into Oregon, where it was detected at Smock Prairie and Postage Stamp Butte on May 4.

Every detection helps tell the story of migration and reminds us how connected birds, habitats, and people truly are.

@uclaeeb @lacanariaroja @kelseyreck

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Have you ever wondered how scientists track bird migration? 🐦

This spring, the L.A. Zoo partnered with Kelsey Reckling and Tania Romero, PhD students from the #TingleyLab at the @uclaeeb, to study how L.A.'s light pollution impacts the migration timing in white-crowned sparrows.

Using the L.A. Zoo’s Motus Wildlife Tracking System (an amazing global radio telemetry network), the team is tracking movement patterns in urban versus rural areas. They've been busy banding birds, deploying Motus tags on white-crowned sparrows, and even collecting feathers to study post-fire effects on birds!

We're incredibly proud to support collaborative science that advances conservation far beyond our Zoo. 🌎

📸: Jake Owens & Anna Becker

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