A brief introduction to urban ecology and a take home references for students interested in getting started in learning more about urban ecology. It also contains my contact information if your organization or school group is interested in having me come talk to your students.

1. The Guide To
Urban Ecology
Danielle N. Lee
Department of Biology
University of Missouri – St. Louis
Become an urban ecologist, your backyard
and local parks are your laboratory!
What is urban ecology?
Urban ecology is the study of plant and animal
communities in cities. Wild animals and plant
communities have successfully lived alongside
people on our
• Backyards
• Local parks
• Nature areas
• Parking lots
• Empty lots A toad I found in Forest Park, St. Louis, MO summer 2009.
What education do you need to become an Ready to get started?
urban ecologist?
You can study urban wildlife now. After-school Firefly Watch Project
programs, summer programs, and online https://www.mos.org/fireflywatch/
programs offer many chances for you to study A summer survey of fireflies you see in your
urban wildlife and meet scientists. neighborhood. Your research is added to the
Outdoor experiences such as nature hikes, worldwide database.
bicycling, rock climbing, swimming, collecting
wildflowers, fishing, bird watching, nature Celebrate Urban Birds
journaling, and photography are a great way to http://www.birds.cornell.edu/celebration/
get started. You can also volunteer to help with Multiple hands-on programs to attract birds,
a neighborhood biodiversity survey. preserve habitat, and help scientists collect data
about bird populations.
What sort of education do we have? Young Bird Watchers
• High School: Take science and math http://www.aba.org/yb/
courses including biology, chemistry, This is a bird watching club for young people.
physics, and trigonometry Missouri Department of Conservation
• College: Major in Biology, Zoology, http://mdc.mo.gov/nathis/
Botany, Fish & Wildlife, Environmental Offers classes in fishing, outdoor education,
Science, and Conservation wildlife watching. You can also order free
materials, magazines, and activity booklets.
What skills do you need?
• A love of nature and spending time Or visit my webpage. Try out an activity, ask
outdoors helps. questions, and share your own Backyard
Biology experiences.
• Curiosity about how plants and animals
Urban Science Adventures! ©
interact in nature.
http://urban-science.blogspot.com
• Patience and attentiveness. You’ll have
Danielle N. Lee
to sit still and be quiet to notice all of the
dnlee5@ymail.com
different plants and animals that call
your neighborhood home.