Besides the quarterly Wildlife Track and Sign Survey which is one of the primary activities of the San Diego Tracking Team, we are also involved in a variety other research projects. For example, several of our member teams have remote camera studies in progress. We are also partnered with SDSU to collect deer scat from which DNA is extracted to study mule deer movement patterns. Furthermore, we have a partnership with the SoCal Lion research team from UC Davis’s Wildlife Health Center in which we are helping them to locate the mountain lions which may then be collared for their study. The SDTT even does focused studies at the request of others to answer specific questions about the wildlife in a particular area.

Our research projects also extend beyond field work. For the past three years, we have been honored to receive Blasker grants from The San Diego Foundation to support graduate students doing analysis of the data gathered in our wildlife survey. This year’s grant focuses on using GIS mapping techniques to evaluate patterns in habitat use.