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About Us
Kitizen Science was founded to build a better evidence base about how targeted sterilization programs affect the size of free-roaming cat populations in urban and suburban North America with the applied goal of learning the most effective ways of reducing free-roaming cat overpopulation using cat-friendly methods. As an innovative, tech-enhanced citizen science program, we developed the world's first smartphone app for collecting data for photographic mark-recapture population studies.
Research Questions
Traditional research spends a large amount of money collecting data to publish articles in paywalled scientific journals that are read only by academics — an opaque process followed by inaccessible results. In contrast, Kitizen Science was created to conduct applied research on a smaller budget, transparently, to help solve real world problems. Pairing rigorous population ecology research methods with volunteer-driven data collection and processing, we were interested in these important questions.
Are sterilization programs effective at reducing free-roaming cat populations? There is a collection of published research showing that spay/neuter programs can reduce feline shelter intake, feline shelter euthanasia, and cat-related nuisance complaints, and some mathematical modeling studies that support spay/neuter as an effective management strategy, but there is little evidence (one way or the other) about whether spay/neuter programs can reduce free-roaming cat numbers. Long term controlled experiments – the gold standard of research – have not been previously conducted on the impact of spay/neuter programs on free-roaming cat numbers in North America.
How do levels of sterilization coverage vary in their impact on free-roaming cat populations? We wanted to know the real world “tipping points” of sterilization coverage that must be reached to see a population decline in free-roaming cats. Statistical simulations have made a range of estimates regarding the proportion of intact (unsterilized) cats that would need to be sterilized to see a reduction in cat population sizes, but the results of these models have not been field tested.
How long after implementing a sterilization program can we expect to see a decrease in cat numbers? Spay/neuter management of free-roaming cats allows for animals to live out their lives without reproducing. Because there are widely varying claims about the life spans of free-roaming cats, it's hard to know how long it takes for cat populations to start declining from natural causes without long term field studies.
How do the answers to these questions change in different contexts? We wanted to learn whether sterilization is more effective at reducing free-roaming cat populations in hotter locations or cooler locations, urban habitats or suburban habitats, higher income or lower income neighborhoods, and more. There are many variables that might influence the success of spay/neuter programs, which is why we originally hoped to get funding to conduct more than just a single study of a single location.
Our unique approach was designed to keep our overhead low and mobilize citizen science volunteers, allowing us to gather more data at a reasonable cost.
Unfortunately, we were unable to get continued funding to dig into some of the deeper study questions we hoped to answer over the long term.
Who We Are
Director and Chief Cat Scientist
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Sabrina Aeluro is an animal lover and former shelter and clinic volunteer who went back to school to become a science-based, professional-strength cat lady. She got hooked on the idea of doing applied animal welfare research to address knowledge gaps and improve data collection practices in the spay/neuter world. Sabrina loves the growing movement of collaborations between "cat people" and "wildlife people," and wants to see those on both sides sharing their skills and knowledge so we can more effectively reduce cat overpopulation using cat-friendly methods. At the University of Washington in Seattle, Sabrina earned a Bachelor of Science in Biology with minors in Microbiology and Environmental Science in 2018, an Applied Animal Behavior Certificate in 2019, and a Graduate Certificate in One Health in 2020. She has taken additional coursework in wildlife science, ecology, and statistics. Sabrina enjoys travel, hiking, gardening, vegan cooking, scuba diving, and her two special needs kitties, Fig and Lychee. Her website is aeluro.com. |
Other Board Members
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Dr. Brad Crauer's clinical interests include building bridges between private practice and shelter medicine, effective and efficient HQHVSN (High Quality High Volume Spay Neuter), epidemiology in a shelter setting, population management, growing knowledgeable and skilled practice ready veterinarians. Dr. Crauer earned his Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine from Iowa State University in 1991, and has since worked in private practice, hurricane disaster response, served as the Chief Medical Officer of the Seattle Humane Society, and in-house veterinarian at the Wenatchee Valley Humane Society. He is currently an Assistant Clinical Professor at Kansas State University's College of Veterinary Medicine where he teaches Animal Shelter Basics and the Shelter Medicine rotation and operates the Shelter Medicine Mobile Surgery Unit to bring affordable spay/neuter to regional shelters and rescues. Dr. Crauer splits time molding young veterinary minds in Manhattan KS and relaxing in the mountains or on the waters of the Pacific Northwest. He shares his life adventures with his wife, two Katrina rescue cats (Tuna/Louis) and a reservation swamp dog (Squish). |
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Dr. Jennifer Buchanan discovered her love for animals growing up on a cattle ranch in Southern Oregon. After earning her Doctorate in Veterinary Medicine at Oregon State University in 2010, she jumped right into shelter medicine, taking a position at Seattle Humane Society. During her time there she continued to evolve with the shelter and developed protocols and policies based on the newly published ASV guidelines. It was through this work that she became invested in community cat welfare and next joined the Feral Cat Spay/Neuter Project. She now works at the Kitsap Humane Society and is currently pursuing her Master’s degree through the University of Florida. Dr. Buchanan is proud and excited to be a part of Kitizen Science because she recognizes the need for long term, sustainable and humane community cat management practices. By focusing on evidence-based studies and maintaining a balanced viewpoint she hopes to support high quality research that can be used to build bridges between all animal and ecological advocates. In addition to work and school, Jennifer enjoys hanging out with her kids (two and four-legged) in the forest behind her house and playing table-top games with her husband after the kids are in bed. |
Financial Supporters
Kitizen Science's initial development was made possible by funding from our Director, Sabrina Aeluro, as well as donations from the public.
In 2020, we won a $175,000 grant at the 2020 Petco Innovation Showdown, with an additional grant of $45,000 in 2021. Thank you to this unique fund for new ideas in animal welfare, made possible by the Annenberg Foundation & Wallis Annenberg PetSpace, ASPCA, Best Friends Animal Society, Dave & Cheryl Duffield Foundation, The Jackson Galaxy Project, Maddie’s Fund®, Mary Jo & Hank Greenberg Animal Welfare Foundation, Michelson Found Animals Foundation, the Petco Foundation, and PetSmart Charities®.
In 2023, The Humane Society of the United States awarded us a grant to support us as we analyze data and write up our results.
Contact Us
Contact us via email at kitizenscience@gmail.com
Please note: we are not a spay/neuter clinic, nor are we a provider of funding, nor can we help you re-home animals.