The Past, Present and Future of Conservation Detection Dogs

Join us for an insightful talk by Kayla Fratt, co-founder of K9 Conservationists and NSF Graduate Research Fellow at Oregon State University. Fratt specializes in training dogs to detect scat, animals and plants as part of cutting-edge research in conservation science. Her work involves collecting crucial data for global projects, from jaguar studies in Guatemala to coastal wolf research in Alaska. Kayla will discuss the evolving role of detection dogs in ecological research, emphasizing their increasing importance since the late 19th century. Through real-world examples, she’ll explore how these dogs contribute to data collection and the future possibilities for conservation research. This event is free and open to the public. Don’t miss the chance to learn how dogs are revolutionizing how we gather data to protect our planet.