2026

At Western’s Centre for Animals on the Move, we’re working to protect wildlife and the ecosystems we all depend on by studying why animals move, where they go, and how they get there. A key part of increasing protection is educating the public about wildlife and the habitats they rely on. Each year, billions of animals, including birds, ungulates, bats, fish, butterflies, marine mammals, and sea turtles travel hundreds or thousands of kilometres to find places to breed, feed and rest. Animal migration isn’t just a spectacular natural event; it’s a sign of ecosystem health. When species can move freely across landscapes and oceans, they pollinate crops, fertilize forests, move nutrients between land and sea, and even help regulate the climate. The “cog and wheels” of Nature’s land mechanism that Aldo Leopold wrote so eloquently about need to be able to move to serve their ecosystem functions properly.

If migrations falter, it signals deeper problems like declining insect populations, deforestation or warming seas that threaten food security and biodiversity. Protecting migration pathways means protecting the natural systems that sustain us, and ensuring these incredible journeys continue require smart conservation strategies that safeguard animals along the way.

Western is internationally recognized as a leader in animal movement and migration research, particularly in the study of bird migration. At the Centre for Animals on the Move (CAM), we investigate how environmental change and human activity influence animal movement. With climate change and urbanization reshaping habitats, understanding these patterns is critical to protecting Canada’s wildlife and preserving natural migration systems. Our work brings together interdisciplinary expertise from bird neurobiology to fisheries science to track movement of species across space and time. A new Western-led project is enhancing the Motus Wildlife Tracking System — a global network that follows migratory animals and insects with tiny radio tags — by improving capabilities and expanding Canadian coverage, making it the most powerful land-based animal tracking tool in the world.

Outreach and public education are fundamental priorities for the CAM, and its 20+ faculty and dozens of graduate students regularly engage in outdoor outreach activities, such as visits to the Long Point Bird Observatory and other natural areas for hikes and bird watching. These events help us connect people to nature and give us an opportunity to educate them about wildlife, ecology, and conservation principles. We have found that a major barrier to participation and enjoyable experiences by people from a wide diversity of backgrounds and economic circumstances is lack of access to optics and other field supplies like rubber boots. When we have the opportunity to loan binoculars to participants it has a very profound effect, allowing them to see birds and other wild animals in ways many have never experienced before.

We are requesting funding to purchase a high-quality bat detector. These small microphones and software allow people to hear and visualize the spectrograms of ultrasonic bat echolocation calls on a cell phone. These detectors will allow bat experts and CAM faculty member Dr. Erin Fraser to lead new evening bat ecology outreach programs.