By Karina Mazhukhina | Oct 21, 2015

From reusing dog blankets to shipping lab waste to a special recycling center, one UW lab is going the extra mile to make sustainability a priority in the workplace.

The Center for Conservation Biology is unlike most labs at the UW. For one, it tests wildlife feces that a crew of dog detectives have collected. From the samples, researchers are able to identify what types of pressures certain populations are facing, including toxicity levels, diseases, and dietary factors. The amount of information contained in the feces enables researchers to make population estimates of certain species in any given area or discern which environmental factors are having a negative effect on them. The center also works with other types of samples for DNA-based wildlife forensics, such as testing siezed ivory to find out where elephants are being poached.

The Center for Conservation Biology puts sustainability at the forefront, whether researchers are conducting DNA analysis to figure out what types of toxins female orca whales are encountering or measuring the stress levels of wolves. The lab's efforts have earned it a Silver rating in the Green Laboratory Certification program.

"We do as much as possible to be sustainable," said Rebecca booth, the Center’s lab manager. "We recycle anything and everything possible, even going to the extent of shipping certain lab waste plastics to a special recycling center to ensure our footprint is as small as possible."

That’s not all – the UW lab chooses products that are sustainable and environmentally friendly, including dog food and toys. They also reuse supplies, donate the ones that are no longer useful, look for used items or equipment before purchasing new ones (including dog blankets and towels), and lump orders together to minimize separate shipments.

"We plan ahead on orders to ensure nothing is wasted," added Booth.

One of the programs of the Center for Conservation Biology is Conservation Canines— a nonprofit dedicated to training these dogs to track animal droppings. The scat samples found by the dogs are then taken to the Center for Conservation Biology to be tested. Just like the lab on the Seattle campus, the Canines Conservation program also works to keep its dog training facility in Eatonville environmentally friendly.  

"We plant native plants around the training facility and work hard to control all the invasive plants coming in," said Heath Smith, the facility’s program coordinator. "All of the dog waste is also composted and used on site – acting as fertilizer for the plants."

To learn more about these dog detectives and just how far they’ve traveled to find scat, read "Poop-sniffing canines are saving endangered species" on our blog.