Hidden Life
An undergraduate-led research project sets out to discover a hidden side of Houston — the one that wild creatures call home.
I grew up on a farm close to nature, and I spent a lot of time outside. Wildlife and biology were regular dinner table topics. One reason I became a biologist was my fascination with the natural world around me. I wanted to explore and learn everything about it.
What I couldn’t have known is that one of the most rewarding projects I’d pursue as a biology professor would be studying wildlife not in the wilderness but in our own urban backyards.
Meeting Our Neighbors
If you are like many of my students who grew up in this city, you might be surprised to learn that Houston is home to all sorts of wildlife: coyotes, armadillos, bobcats, wild hogs, deer and foxes. We also have plenty of rabbits, opossums, raccoons and, of course, squirrels. These creatures’ habitats are often hidden in plain sight: city parks, groves along highways, bayou greenways, golf courses and other slivers of greenspace.
Two years ago, I began teaching an advanced undergrad ecology and evolution laboratory course in which undergraduates learn how to find, document and catalog Houston wildlife, contributing their research to the Urban Wildlife Information Network.
“Because the research we collect is contributed to the national Urban Wildlife Information Network, students are adding their original observations to the broader body of science around urban wildlife ecology.”
I was inspired to embed a research project in my undergraduate courses by my time as part of the faculty team facilitating UH’s Galapago! Research-Based Learning Abroad program. After spending a semester studying the geology, ecology, evolution, history and sociology of the Galápagos Islands, a group of 20 to 30 UH students and four biology and Honors College faculty travel to the Galápagos Islands, where students contribute to ongoing research projects with scientists at the Galápagos Science Center. I saw firsthand how that experience inspired, empowered and excited them to pursue biology and nature in new ways. It made me wonder — could we replicate that experience in Houston?
In 2020, I launched the Hidden Life of Houston, a one-semester undergraduate course designed like a graduate research study. Students set up trail cameras at 25 different sites around Houston, following a spatial array that ranges from the urban center to the ex-urban fringe, to capture the wildlife that lives with us in the city. When we started, we expected to see the usual suspects — squirrels, rabbits, maybe a coyote or two. But we soon discovered that Houston is home to a much greater diversity of wild species than we had previously imagined.
Making Inquiries
Every student loves the fun of taking that SD card out of the trail cameras and seeing what they captured. What elusive thing have we found that we might not otherwise have seen? I wanted to leverage this natural curiosity to help lead students toward conducting real scientific inquiry. Each semester, students must come up with a question, which our trail cameras will collect data to answer. One class asked if the abundance of armadillos living in Houston was affected by the 2021 winter freeze. By analyzing our image capture of armadillos, we were able to put data to the hypothesis that (thankfully) the armadillo population wasn’t overly affected by the weather event.
This kind of research project is not typically offered at an undergraduate level. But teaching undergraduates — and freshmen in particular — is kind of my specialty. What I like about undergrads is that they don’t know what questions they aren’t supposed to ask. They will ask questions that seem completely obvious to them, and often they are fundamental questions in our field. They are just starting out in their career path and trying to figure out what they want to do. I see a lot of energy and enthusiasm, particularly in first-year students, that I really enjoy.
Learning to Love the World
Because the research we collect is contributed to the national Urban Wildlife Information Network, this project allows students to be involved in authentic research. They are uncovering new information and adding their original observations to the broader body of science around urban wildlife ecology. It’s very important to me for students to be able to give oral presentations about their science and write a formal scientific manuscript, even if they’re not going to become scientists. It deepens participants’ understanding of what real science is and how it is conducted.
This course has marked the beginning of scientific careers for several students who have gone on to graduate school or internships with scientific research organizations. But even if students go through the course and don’t decide to pursue biology, they all leave with a deeper appreciation of the world around them.
After all, you can’t help but look at your city in new ways when you know that hidden amidst the office buildings, houses and concrete highways is an urban ecology teeming with wild creatures.
Ann Cheek is an instructional professor of biology and biochemistry at the University of Houston, where she leads The Hidden Life of Houston, an ongoing study into Houston’s urban wildlife.
I grew up on a farm close to nature, and I spent a lot of time outside. Wildlife and biology were regular dinner table topics. One reason I became a biologist was my fascination with the natural world around me. I wanted to explore and learn everything about it.
What I couldn’t have known is that one of the most rewarding projects I’d pursue as a biology professor would be studying wildlife not in the wilderness but in our own urban backyards.
Meeting Our Neighbors
If you are like many of my students who grew up in this city, you might be surprised to learn that Houston is home to all sorts of wildlife: coyotes, armadillos, bobcats, wild hogs, deer and foxes. We also have plenty of rabbits, opossums, raccoons and, of course, squirrels. These creatures’ habitats are often hidden in plain sight: city parks, groves along highways, bayou greenways, golf courses and other slivers of greenspace.
Two years ago, I began teaching an advanced undergrad ecology and evolution laboratory course in which undergraduates learn how to find, document and catalog Houston wildlife, contributing their research to the Urban Wildlife Information Network.
“Because the research we collect is contributed to the national Urban Wildlife Information Network, students are adding their original observations to the broader body of science around urban wildlife ecology.”
I was inspired to embed a research project in my undergraduate courses by my time as part of the faculty team facilitating UH’s Galapago! Research-Based Learning Abroad program. After spending a semester studying the geology, ecology, evolution, history and sociology of the Galápagos Islands, a group of 20 to 30 UH students and four biology and Honors College faculty travel to the Galápagos Islands, where students contribute to ongoing research projects with scientists at the Galápagos Science Center. I saw firsthand how that experience inspired, empowered and excited them to pursue biology and nature in new ways. It made me wonder — could we replicate that experience in Houston?
In 2020, I launched the Hidden Life of Houston, a one-semester undergraduate course designed like a graduate research study. Students set up trail cameras at 25 different sites around Houston, following a spatial array that ranges from the urban center to the ex-urban fringe, to capture the wildlife that lives with us in the city. When we started, we expected to see the usual suspects — squirrels, rabbits, maybe a coyote or two. But we soon discovered that Houston is home to a much greater diversity of wild species than we had previously imagined.
Making Inquiries
Every student loves the fun of taking that SD card out of the trail cameras and seeing what they captured. What elusive thing have we found that we might not otherwise have seen? I wanted to leverage this natural curiosity to help lead students toward conducting real scientific inquiry. Each semester, students must come up with a question, which our trail cameras will collect data to answer. One class asked if the abundance of armadillos living in Houston was affected by the 2021 winter freeze. By analyzing our image capture of armadillos, we were able to put data to the hypothesis that (thankfully) the armadillo population wasn’t overly affected by the weather event.
This kind of research project is not typically offered at an undergraduate level. But teaching undergraduates — and freshmen in particular — is kind of my specialty. What I like about undergrads is that they don’t know what questions they aren’t supposed to ask. They will ask questions that seem completely obvious to them, and often they are fundamental questions in our field. They are just starting out in their career path and trying to figure out what they want to do. I see a lot of energy and enthusiasm, particularly in first-year students, that I really enjoy.
Learning to Love the World
Because the research we collect is contributed to the national Urban Wildlife Information Network, this project allows students to be involved in authentic research. They are uncovering new information and adding their original observations to the broader body of science around urban wildlife ecology. It’s very important to me for students to be able to give oral presentations about their science and write a formal scientific manuscript, even if they’re not going to become scientists. It deepens participants’ understanding of what real science is and how it is conducted.
This course has marked the beginning of scientific careers for several students who have gone on to graduate school or internships with scientific research organizations. But even if students go through the course and don’t decide to pursue biology, they all leave with a deeper appreciation of the world around them.
After all, you can’t help but look at your city in new ways when you know that hidden amidst the office buildings, houses and concrete highways is an urban ecology teeming with wild creatures.
Ann Cheek is an instructional professor of biology and biochemistry at the University of Houston, where she leads The Hidden Life of Houston, an ongoing study into Houston’s urban wildlife.
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