Where Wildlife Research Meets the Road
The Wildlife Connectivity Hub studies how animals use Oregon’s existing wildlife crossing structures and partners with agencies and nonprofits to support sciencebased planning for future crossings statewide. Our work helps identify what’s working today—and where new opportunities can strengthen connectivity across Oregon’s highways.
Delivering Insights that Help Wildlife & Transportation Coexist
Monitor
The Wildlife Connectivity Hub works directly with state and nonprofit partners to evaluate wildlife crossing structures along U.S. South Highway 97. By monitoring deer and elk use and analyzing deer-vehicle collisions, we’re discovering what’s working and where connectivity can be enhanced.
We’re also expanding monitoring to future crossing locations along the Santiam Highway. This provides a corridor-wide picture of wildlife presence and diversity, giving agencies the science they need to make informed siting decisions.
Decision Support
We advance wildlife crossing siting by applying a statewide decision support framework built on authoritative spatial data layers and comprehensive maps. This approach gives transportation and wildlife managers a clear, data-driven foundation for identifying effective locations for future wildlife passage projects that prioritize both safety and
Partners
Our work is strengthened through close collaboration with the Oregon Department of Transportation, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, and the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board. We also engage with multiple nonprofit partners across the state to support science communication and planning for wildlife passage projects.
Learn more about the science team helping wildlife and highways coexist
Corrinne Dombrowski, Project Manager
Corrinne has been studying wildlife crossing structures and deer-vehicle collisions since 2022—and even wrote her thesis on the topic. She’s passionate about developing science-based solutions that reduce this human–wildlife conflict, with the ultimate goal of helping both people and animals travel more safely.
Alex Holmes, Field & Camera Trap Project Lead
Alex is the newest member of the Wildlife Connectivity Hub. His work focuses on continuing the monitoring of wildlife crossing structures and the Highway 20 corridor, ensuring consistent, high quality data on wildlife movement. He is also developing a targeted object detection model to boost the efficiency and accuracy of camera trap processing across our projects.
Diana Popp, Spatial Analyst
Diana joined the team in 2023 to provide spatial analysis expertise for the Oregon Deer and Elk Crossing Prioritization Project, a collaborative decision support tool used to guide statewide crossing structure planning. She specializes in building spatial datasets and maps that bring wildlife movement into transportation decision making.
Contact Us
For further inquiries about the work we do, please see the Contact Us page, or reach out to the project manager Corrinne Dombrowski.