On Thursday, January 26, Columbia Climate School hosted Dr. Nyeema Harris as part of the Emerging Voices in the Geosciences and Society Seminar Series. Professor Harris gave a talk about how human presence has impacted animals, specifically carnivores, across complex landscapes.

Dr. Nyeema Harris, Knobloch Family Associate Professor of Wildlife and Land Conservation at Yale University, was proud to identify herself as a carnivore ecologist. She gleefully shared with the audience an anecdote from her youth. At the age of 13, Professor Harris went on a trip to South Africa, where she watched, in close proximity, a pregnant gazelle getting torn to pieces by a pride (of lions). Rather than finding what she saw traumatizing, Professor Harris described the experience as “transformative.” And just like that, a girl born and raised in Philadelphia developed a life-long interest in wildlife.

Professor Harris is not solely focused on studying wildlife: she also cares deeply about exposing the general public to wild animals. This mission is reflected in a variety of her endeavors, such as collaborating with the Detroit Zoo to run a summer camp for children interested in wildlife, as well as directing the Applied Wildlife Ecology (AWE) Lab, where she has recruited a diverse team to broaden participation, access, transformation, and innovation.

To put it plainly, the talk aimed to address how carnivores interact with humans on different scales. As pointed out by Professor Harris, the importance of carnivores cannot be overstated. Whether we look at our society from a bottom-up or top-down perspective, we can always see the critical ecological roles carnivores play as they respond to pressures and disturbances from human activities. For instance, they both influence the regulation of pest populations and contribute to the study of disease dynamics.

Professor Harris’s research is guided by a series of questions: what mechanisms do wildlife employ to promote coexistence? How are intraguild interactions altered by human activity? How do niche attributes vary spatially and temporally? The answers lie in better conceptualizing human-wildlife interaction (HWI). The old theory viewed HWI as a conflict-coexistence continuum (that is, the interaction will either result in total conflict or peaceful coexistence). However, Professor Harris challenged us to look at the issue from a new angle, and treat it as a life cycle with dynamic scenarios.

Professor Harris broke down the rest of her talk into three sections to discuss how we can better study this life cycle. The first part concerned the use of textured range maps. At first glance, range maps, illustrating the boundary of different species, sound like a fantastic way to study animal behaviors. But here is the catch – the maps are not always accurate. For instance, a range map might tell you that no porcupines should be found in Michigan. This would be interesting as Professor Harris had a picture of a cute little porcupine with its rear sticking toward the camera, captured in, you guessed it, Michigan State.

Limited information is another problem with the current range maps. Researchers can only do so much if all they know is where an animal might appear. The same cannot be said for textured range maps. These combine various sources to create a multi-layered display that reflects the resources and threats a species might face. Showing us a textured range map of striped hyenas, Professor Harris could not help but comment on the wealth of information it contained, and the broad range of questions they could now ask. The audience clearly shared her opinion, as many, on seeing the map, became visibly excited as well.

Professor Harris then moved on to the second major point of her speech—synergism and antagonism. As a complete layman of the subject, I have concluded that this has much to do with how human intervention affects the natural predator-prey system. Professor Harris brought up her study in West Africa a few years ago. There the government set up a great number of “protected areas.” Nonetheless, the animals were not actually living in a safe haven. A threat loomed on the horizon – poachers. For instance, one camera set up by the professor and her team once caught a chimpanzee fleeing with fright. Four minutes later, its pursuer emerged. But instead of a lion or a cheetah or a hyena, it was a man, carrying in his hand a hunting knife and a rifle.  More evidence pointed toward human activities in these protected areas, such as elephants caught on camera with bullet wounds.

As humans have disrupted the original dynamic of predators and prey, it is only natural to take them into consideration. Professor Harris did just that, which yielded some interesting results. For example, she studied the cooccurrence of ungulates, or hoofed mammals, and how human intervention has impacted their survival. Surprisingly, poaching had a negligible influence on these animals. It was the livestock humans raised in these areas that proved to be a major threat. Consequently, as humans continue to operate in these protected areas, they are bound to further shift the ecological and social landscape, and often in ways previously unanticipated.

Finally, Professor Harris talked about studying animals in built environments, such as cities. The idea might sound silly at first: animals that live in their own territory should surely behave differently than those that live in our territory, so to speak. Nevertheless, according to Professor Harris, these urban dwellers are not as dissimilar to their rural counterparts as one would think. The rodents in Detroit are still warier of coyotes than the joggers and pedestrians; the carnivores still savor a protein-rich meal (though their feces indicate they have also developed an appetite for carbs found in the trashcans). If anything, these animals have only become smarter, more adaptable, and savvier when it comes to managing risks and resources.

Studying these animals in built environments comes with many benefits. For one thing, as urbanization continues and natural habitats dwindle, researchers will have more data to work with if they shift their attention to the cities. Moreover, new dynamics in a new environment promise new forms of conflicts to study – although in this case, it might be that between a child and the squirrel who stole their lollipop. Last but not least, further research is pivotal to preventing the loss of species. The animal world has sacrificed too much for the sake of human development. If these studies can save a species from becoming the next saber-toothed cat (with only its remains left for museum-goers to admire), then we should give our wholehearted support.

The one-hour talk felt like but seconds. Professor Harris’s speech was marked by her authenticity and humor; the talk was never in want of laughter. But what affected me the most was her infectious enthusiasm. I never considered myself an ecologist, and would never picture myself running around in West Africa. After the talk, I am having second thoughts.

Images via author and Bwog Archives