FYI: Want to help your local wildlife and community? Join our project as a volunteer! Local volunteers are invited to take part in the Coexist Project, a nationwide programme monitoring human-wildlife encounters in the UK. The project takes a multidisciplinary approach, combining cutting-edge technology, field methods, and community engagement to understand where and why these encounters occur. We bring together local residents, universities, councils, and wildlife organisations to support human-wildlife coexistence in an ever-changing world. What will volunteers do? You will join our team and be trained to help monitor wildlife behaviour in your local area, such as deploying and checking equipment (e.g., trail cameras, puzzle feeders, or acoustic recorders). You will also help us distribute fliers within these same locations to encourage residents to complete a short (<10min) online questionnaire about their experiences and attitudes towards local wildlife. You will help record local environmental characteristics, such as the presence of food, shelter, and other resources available to wildlife. Finally, you will help manually code and upload your observations to our secure online dashboard where councils and conservation partners can use the data to help guide locally tailored strategies to promote coexistence. All equipment will be provided, and we will train you through a series of workshops, video tutorials, and online guides before you begin. Why it matters: Urban growth, climate change, and nature restoration are changing where wildlife live in the UK, creating more opportunities for people and wildlife to encounter each other. While many human-wildlife encounters can be positive or neutral (e.g., bird watching), others can lead to conflict (e.g., animals raiding gardens, bins, and chicken coops). Nationally, human-wildlife conflicts cost over £500 million per year to manage, yet many of these costs could be reduced through early detection and simple preventative measures where wildlife and people can both benefit. Local authorities, such as councils and conservation organisations, often lack the resources to systematically monitor these human-wildlife interactions, limiting their ability to help communities respond with early, locally tailored strategies to reduce conflict and promote coexistence. By enabling residents to take an active role in helping to collect data within their local area, the Coexist Project opens a two-way dialogue between communities and local authorities, helping to guide more effective, targeted actions while giving residents an active voice in shaping how wildlife and communities thrive together. How much time is required? Volunteers will typically spend at least 25 hours in total, which includes your training and ideally starting whenever you are available. While the time commitment is important to ensure data are collected reliably and on time, individual tasks can be broken into short, flexible sessions, and the specific days and times can be arranged to suit your availability within each week. Who can volunteer? You must (1) be 18 years or older, (2) have a smartphone and computer for data collection, (3) be able to travel (~1-5km) to sites within your local area, (4) be able to commit at least 25 hours of your time, (5) be physically able and willing to work safely during daylight hours and in variable weather, and (6) have a keen interest in wildlife and outdoor activities. What’s in it for you? Volunteering with the Coexist Project lets you make a real difference to local wildlife and your community. By joining the team, your observations will help local authorities, such as city councils and conservation organisations, understand where and why human-wildlife interactions occur. This information can then be used to help inform effective and environmentally responsible strategies to support people and wildlife living together. You will gain hands-on experience in wildlife monitoring and citizen science. You will see how data and technology are used to understand and reduce human-wildlife conflicts, and you will develop practical skills in animal observation, field methodology, and environmental problem-solving with other like-minded volunteers. Ethics and governance. The Coexist Project is ethically approved by the University of Hull and complies with all GDPR and animal welfare regulations from the UK government. All study sites have landowner permission and local authority involvement. Interested? Questions about volunteering should be directed to Dr Blake Morton (b.morton@hull.ac.uk<mailto:b.morton@hull.ac.uk>) at the University of Hull. Staff profile: https://www.hull.ac.uk/staff-directory/blake-morton Dr Blake Morton | Lecturer Behaviour & Ecology Research Group Department of Psychology University of Hull, HU6 7RX, UK Email: b.morton@hull.ac.uk<mailto:b.morton@hull.ac.uk> Web: https://www.blakemorton.co.uk/ Bluesky: @drblakemorton.bsky.social Best wishes, Pawel ------------------------------- Dr Pawel Fedurek (he/his) Lecturer in Psychology Behaviour and Evolution Research Group (BERG) School of Psychology, Faculty of Natural Sciences University of Stirling Stirling, FK9 4LA Scotland, UK @pawel-fedurek<https://bsky.app/profile/pawel-fedurek.bsky.social> @berg-stirling<https://bsky.app/profile/berg-stirling.bsky.social> Staff webpage<https://www.stir.ac.uk/people/1080868> | BERG webpage<https://www.stir.ac.uk/about/faculties/natural-sciences/our-research/research-groups/behaviour-and-evolution-research-group/> I aim to reply within 3 working days (my working days are between Monday and Friday). ________________________________ Scotland’s University for Sporting Excellence The University of Stirling is a charity registered in Scotland, number SC 011159