My Research Story

I am currently an Assistant Professor of Forestry at Tuskegee University in the Forestry, Wildlife, and Fisheries Program in the College of Agriculture, Environment, and Nutritional Sciences. I use participatory science and geospatial tools to help understand problems within the complex social-ecological system of the built environment. My research interests include forest resources & ecosystem services, human-wildlife conflict, landscape use/change, climate change, and environmental health, all through an environmental justice lens.

I am interested in the historical societal structures that influence where wildlife is currently found in cities and the present-day policies that will affect where wildlife is found in the future. Urban and rural areas are constantly changing as humans modify the built environment to adapt for the future. Variables such as human migration within and out of cities; built environments changing to adapt to climate change; shifting human/plant/animal communities; residential and commercial yard management; vacant lots; rezoning and gentrification; all have the potential to impact where birds and other wildlife are found within cities. I am interested in using geographic information systems to look at past, and current patterns to help plan for cities that are sustainable, resilient to climate change, and mutually beneficial for people and wildlife.

My Educational and Research Evolution

I am a graduate of Tuskegee University's 3+1 Environmental Science and Natural Resource Bachelor of Science program and North Carolina State University's Fisheries and Wildlife Conservation Biology Master of Science program, and Geospatial Analytics doctoral program. During my time at NC State, I was a part of the Reconciliation Ecology Lab, Public Science Cluster, a USGS Southeast Climate Adaptation Science Center Global Change Fellow, and the Cooper Public Science Lab.

My research interests primarily centers on urban bird ecology. Through my master’s project, I found that citizen science point count datasets can detect underlying socioeconomic variables, but they can also reflect volunteer bias if data collection protocols are not uniform in spatial sampling. I am very interested in how human culture and bias impacts avian habitat and distribution in cities. I am especially interested in the intersection of environmental justice and conservation; looking deeper at how environmental and social justice issues impact wildlife distribution, and how people value the environment.

My doctoral work at NC State's Center for Geospatial Analytics, examined spatial data gaps in environmental participatory projects to better understand conservation and nature gaps in urban neighborhoods. I examined barriers to participation and developed new methods to increase engagement in science from diverse audiences.

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Urban Ecology

Urban ecology is the study of ecological processes in urban environments. Cities are complex ecological systems because the human element controls a large proportion of how cities function. Cities need to be studied not just for the harmful effects of people on wildlife and the environment, but also on ways that cities can be mutually beneficial for people and wildlife. Greenspaces within urban environments serve as ecological oases for wildlife that have adapted to live in cities, as well as for migratory bird populations. Many birds and other urban wildlife also use front and backyards as habitat, and depending on the city, residential yards can make up a large portion of the green habitat matrix in urban areas. However studies have shown that present day greenspaces are not equally managed across all socioeconomic gradients. Many historical systemic structures, such as redlining, have contributed to this unequal distribution of greenery, and therefore habitat, across the urban matrix. I am interested in understanding how this unequal spatial distribution, management and investment impacts people and wildlife occupying urban spaces.

Birds and Community

Birds are a great focal species for studying the relationship between people and the environment. Birds can be found on every continent, which allows people to study them on an individual basis (residential yards), community basis (within local parks and greenways), and across multiple cities, making them an excellent focal species for multi-city comparisons and understanding differences within and between cities. Birds are wildlife that can connect all people no matter their age or ethnicity. Globally people are interested in watching and protecting birds through both individual actions and policy. This makes birds a great focal species for community engagement and community science projects with the additional benefit of broadening participation in science and communicating research with the public.

Geospatial Analytics

I received my PhD in Geospatial Analytics at North Carolina State University's Center for Geospatial Analytics. Geospatial Analytics is an intersection of Data Science and Geography. I used geospatial analytics to examine spatial data gaps in large-scale participatory environmental monitoring projects (eBird, iNaturalist, CoCoRHAS, Christmas Bird Count etc). I investigate spatial bias in project participation and its impact on our understanding of nature in urban areas. My work showcases how the lack of project participation, and as a result, the lack of data in high-density and majority BIPOC neighborhoods impact our understanding of conservation and management needs in cities. Check out my publications below to learn more about my work!

My Publications

8. Perkins, D., Mahmoudi, D., Henry, E., & Cooper, C. (2026). Geography of race and income shape spatial data gaps in two national participatory science projects. People and Nature, 8, 1485–1498. https://doi.org/10.1002/pan3.70307

7. Allf, B, Perkins, D., Bai, J., Cooper. CB. 2025. Participatory Science in the Field of Ornithology. Chapter in New Perspectives in Ornithology. Oxford University Press.

6. Cooper, C., Hunter, D.L., Archer, J.-M., Caballero-Gomez, H., Hawn, C., Johnson, V., Lee Jenni, G., Osborne Jelks, N., Leggett, Z., Pandya, R., Patel, N., Perkins, D., Ramírez-Andreotta, M. and Rasmussen, L. (2024) ‘A Positionality Tool to Support Ethical Research and Inclusion in the Participatory Sciences’, Citizen Science: Theory and Practice, 9(1), p. 28.

5. Carlen, E. J., Estien, C. O., Caspi, T., Perkins, D., Goldstein, B. R., Kreling, S. E. S., Hentati, Y., Williams, T. D., Stanton, L. A., Des Roches, S., Johnson, R. F., Young, A. N., Cooper, C. B., & Schell, C. J. (2024). A framework for contextualizing social-ecological biases in contributory science data. People and Nature, 6, 377–390. https://doi. org/10.1002/pan3.10592

4. Perkins, D., Nichols, L., Dunn, R. 2023. Considerations for using Participatory Science in Urban Biodiversity Research. Chapter in Urban Biodiversity and Equity Conservation, Management, and Environmental Justice in Cities. Oxford University Press.

3. Grade AM, Chan NW, Gajbhiye P, Perkins DJ, Warren PS (2022) Evaluating the use of semi-structured crowdsourced data to quantify inequitable access to urban biodiversity: A case study with eBird. PLOS ONE 17(11): e0277223. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0277223

2. Mahmoudi, D., Hawn, C. L., Henry, E. H., Perkins , D. J., Cooper, C. B., & Wilson, S.
M. (2022). Mapping for Whom? Communities of Color and the Citizen Science Gap. ACME: An International Journal for Critical Geographies, 21(4), 372–388.

1. Terpin, B., Perkins, D., Richter, S., Leavey, J. K., Snell, T. W., & Pierson, J. A. (2019). A scientific note on the effect of oxalic acid on honey bee larvae. Apidologie, 50(3), 363-368.