Achievement

Leap Cohort 4 completed a social network analysis of conservation organizations that work in the South Chicago/Calumet region. The goal was to explore how different conservation organizations interacted and worked together. This interdisciplinary project integrated social science research with landscape ecology and network theory. Results of the study showed that groups associated with a regional conservation alliance (Chicago Wilderness) had more connections in the network than other groups. Geographic proximity, of both office locations and shared field sites, also increased interactions. The study was published in the peer-reviewed journal 'Conservation Letters' in September, 2011.