Ben-David works for change

Merav Ben-David, professor of wildlife ecology, has spent 17 years at UW working to increase global awareness and inspire students to take action.
Ben-David’s love of wildlife has been a part of her life for as long as she can remember.
“Ever since I was very, very young, I loved animals,” Ben-David said. “I realized that I prefer working with wild animals, and that is what I concentrated on.”
Originally from Israel, Ben-David earned her undergraduate and master’s degrees there before earning her Ph.D in Alaska. She then spent five years doing field work before coming to research and teach at UW.
“I have been here since 2000, so 17 years,” Ben-David said. “I don’t regret it; this has been a very nice place to work at.”
Ben-David teaches several classes in the zoology department, including the wildlife program capstone, which is a wildlife-ecology management course that involves lots of hands-on experiences.
“We teach them in that course all of the techniques and theory and methods and approaches they need to have when they graduate and hopefully go on to grad school or take a job,” Ben-David said.
Ben-David also teaches a field course during spring break each year that travels to various locations in the western U.S. to work with wildlife.
“This last spring break we went to California,” Ben-David said. “The year before we did the greater Yellowstone ecosystem, and the year before that we went to southern Texas. It is always a fantastic trip.”
In addition to these responsibilities, Ben-David helps to teach a course on writing in the biological sciences and occasionally teaches a graduate seminar.
Another important aspect of Ben-David’s work at UW is her research. Ben-David said conducting research is one thing that helps her be a better professor.
“Without doing research we cannot be very good teacher,” Ben-David said. “You have to be immersed in the field that you are supposed to teach in order to be the most effective teacher.”
Ben-David’s research centers on the effects of global change on carnivores. She is especially interested in the many things humans do to change the environment, from activities such as agriculture to logging to pollution.
“Global change is not just climate change,” Ben-David said. “My interest is in how such changes influence native animal populations.”
She spent over 25 years studying the effects of logging on marten and ermine populations and their prey and has also done several projects centering on polar bears and otters.
“The questions may be different, but the interest is on how what we do as humans influences native carnivore populations,” Ben-David said.
Research is something that Ben-David finds personal joy and satisfaction in.
“I really enjoy being out in the field,” Ben-David said. “You build a connection when you’re out there with the natural world. It is one of the most satisfying things, being able to observe systems, even when we are causing changes in them.”
Another one of Ben-David’s passions is skijoring, which is a type of cross-country skiing that involves dogs. The sport is done on skate-skis, and a team of dogs in mushing harnesses pulls the skier. Ben-David called this high-speed skiing experience, “my sport.”
“When we have snow I go out every morning before work and skijor for an hour or hour-and-a-half before coming to work,” Ben-David said. “We have some wonderful trails up by Happy Jack.”
Ben-David is also the faculty advisor for the Wildlife Society on campus. She is a member of a non-partisan lobbying group called Citizen Climate Lobby, which endeavors to promote understanding of climate-related issues.
She also recently became a member of the 500 Women Scientists organization, which works to promote gender equality and data-based decision making in the sciences.
As she looks to the future, Ben-David hopes to continue to find ways to promote global understanding of climate-related issues.
“Coming from Israel, working in Africa for five years, doing my Ph.D in Alaska, and travelling all over the world, I feel that we need to increase our understanding of global issues,” Ben-David said. “We need to understand that what we are doing here effects people’s lives and the environment all over the world.”
Through her teaching, research and community involvement, Ben-David is working to make this hope a reality.