Meet our grantees

Wild Animal Initiative funds academic research on high-priority questions in wild animal welfare.

The goal of our grants program is to fund research that deepens scientific knowledge of the welfare of wild animals in order to better understand how to improve the welfare of as many wild animals as possible, regardless of what causes the threats to their well-being.

We showcase our grantees and their projects here and continuously update this page as new projects are added.

Seed, Least concern, Fish, United States, Trinidad and Tobago, Physiology, Ichthyology, 2024, Not published Wild Animal Initiative Seed, Least concern, Fish, United States, Trinidad and Tobago, Physiology, Ichthyology, 2024, Not published Wild Animal Initiative

Are populations that are well-adapted to their environment less stressed than those that are not?

Grantee: Ryan S. Mohammed

Institution: Auburn University

Project summary

In this pilot study, wild-caught guppies will be exposed to an apparent threat of predation as researchers transfer water from a tank containing a common predator (pike cichlid) into their tank. The amount of water transferred from the predators’ tank will be varied to simulate a range of predator densities. Cortisol levels will then be measured in the guppies’ tissue and tank water. These tissue and water cortisol measurements will be compared to develop a protocol for inferring the cortisol levels of fish based on non-invasive water measurements. The researchers hypothesize that the strength of the guppies’ physiological stress response (cortisol) will vary with apparent predation risk.

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