Heinzel receives fellowship to study wolves

Cornell College senior Lily Heinzel is passionate about wildlife conservation, and now she’s getting a new field research opportunity as one of the first to be awarded a Fellowship from the International Wolf Center.

Heinzel, a biology and applied statistics double major, has been awarded the Dr. L. David Mech Fellowship, which is a $6,000 stipend plus an additional $4,000 for field research expenses.

“I feel so honored to represent my family, women, and inspired young scientists with the research this Fellowship will fund,” Heinzel said.

This summer she’ll be working with researchers who specialize in canine genetics at Michigan Technological University. The team will study the conservation genetics of wolves in the Great Lakes region of Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan.

“I will be working in Dr. Kristin Brzeski’s lab at Michigan Technological University using genetic sequencing to estimate baseline genetic variation, ancestry, relatedness, inbreeding, and gene flow of gray wolves,” she said. “My statistics degree will come in handy when the genotyping is complete and RStudio is used to analyze the data for peer-reviewed publication. It is important to establish a baseline of regional gray wolf population structure and genetic health prior to any new management action in the state of Michigan.”

Throughout her years at Cornell, Heinzel has used the block plan, One Course At A Time for 18 days, to her advantage and made connections with faculty who have supported her research goals, such as this one. 

“Cornell’s small campus and the ability for me to be independent and have access to resources and amazing facilities have allowed me to pursue research and my degree at the same time,” she said. “Craig Tepper in the biology department, he’s the genetics professor, there’s absolutely a correlation between me liking biology and Craig Tepper. And Tyler George, the statistics professor, has made so much possible for me. I feel at home here at Cornell and feel supported by the professors and my friends here.” 

A love for wolves all along

This isn’t the first time Heinzel has studied wolves. In fact, she started exploring the species when she was only 16. She followed in her grandfather’s footsteps who worked with Mech, a senior research scientist who has studied wolves and their prey since 1958, on an early project.

When she came to Cornell, she fell right in line with the biologists in Russell Science Center. She worked with the Off-Campus Studies Office to enroll in a course in northern Minnesota as a first-year student that counted as a full Cornell credit, Wolves and Northwoods Carnivores, where she spent time outdoors in the winter studying wolves. The following year, she went back as a teaching assistant for that class. 

Heinzel explains that much of the wolf population was exterminated when European settlers arrived in the country. The mammal was placed on the Endangered Species list in 1973 but was taken off in 2020. In February of 2022, a federal judge overturned the decision and placed wolves in many states back under federal protection.

“I think a lot of the problems we have today as a human society are because we no longer have predators,” Heinzel said. “Putting the wolf back into the ecosystem puts it more in balance. I think one of the keys to future human enjoyment of anything is coexisting with nature, and I think working with wolves is a great way to start.”

Heinzel will consider wolf hunting zones during her research and how they impact numbers and genetics. She’ll also work with the Michigan DNR and plans to engage the nearby Keweenaw Bay Indian Community’s Natural Resources Department, which also has a wolf management plan.

Currently, Heinzel is also waiting to hear back from schools across the U.S. where she has applied to continue her studies in conservation genetics when she graduates from Cornell.