Two environmental studies professors at NYU recently launched the Wild Animal Welfare Program, which will study the impacts of human-made development projects and climate change on wild animal populations. The program, which was announced at the end of September, will address the lack of academic research on wild animals.

Jeff Sebo, a professor in the environmental studies department and co-director of the Wild Animal Welfare Program, said that the program is in its initial phases this semester, but that he hopes to collaborate with colleagues in the field to further the project’s mission.

“Improving our interactions with wild animals is very important, but we currently lack the knowledge, power and political will that we need to do that work effectively,” Sebo said.

Researchers in the program will oversee projects that analyze how wildlife research is conducted, and examine the intersection between species conservation and welfare. The program will partner with the NYU School of Law and the Grossman School of Medicine to identify the legal procedures that can improve animal welfare and determine changes in city infrastructure that may benefit wildlife.

“Mammals, birds, fishes, molluscs and many other animals live in complex, dynamic ecosystems,” Becca Franks, co-director of the program, said in a press release about the program’s launch. “Human activity is increasingly impacting these ecosystems, along with all the animals within them. These realities raise important questions about wild animal welfare.”

Steinhardt and CAS junior Chloe Tanuwidjaja — the president of NYU’s Animal Welfare Collective, a student-led activism initiative — said she is optimistic about the program’s goal to improve advocacy for excluded wildlife. The AWC recently protested NYU’s dining service provider for its animal welfare practices.

“AWC is confident in the program’s mission to bridge the research and policy gap between domesticated and wild animals,” Tanuwidjaja said. “ Education is the first step to change, and we hope that the program will shed light on the long overdue need to protect local and global wildlife.”

Sebo said the program is looking to collaborate with NYU students and faculty in other fields such as the humanities, social sciences and natural sciences, in order to advance research and outreach in the field.

Contact Adria Luo and JessaRose Beeman at [email protected].