THE Lois Webster Fund
Supporting Colorado Non-Game Wildlife Research, Education, and Conservation
It was always Lois’ dream to create this fund and, when her friends and family generously donated on her 75th birthday in 1995, the Lois Webster Fund (LWF) was started, giving life to her dream.
To further its impact, each year the LWF relies on the contributions from generous donors to enable researchers to: find answers to questions important for conservation; engage learners of all ages in research; educate about Colorado non-game wildlife and threats to their populations; and, provide support for restoring and managing habitats and populations of our beloved Colorado non-game wildlife.
Give and help carry Lois Webster’s inspiration forward. We thank you (non-game wildlife does, too)!
Purpose
To fund Colorado non-game wildlife research and education projects that lead to conservation of these species and their habitats.
History
Since its founding in 1995, the Lois Webster Fund (LWF) has awarded 72 grants totaling over $167,319 to non-profits, students, and teachers associated with higher education and schools, as well as local, state, and federal public land and natural resource agencies. Grantees are required to partner with like organizations, thus ensuring the LWF grants have impacts far beyond their face value.
Current Projects
2025
The 2025 Dinosaur Ridge Hawk Watch recorded 3,144 migrating raptors representing 17 species during 495 observation hours between March 1 and May 10. This represents a 46% increase over 2024 and the highest seasonal count since 2002.
Dinosaur Ridge Hawk Watch is Colorado's only long-term raptor migration monitoring site contributing to the Raptor Population Index (RPI), a collaborative initiative analyzing population trends across 80 North American monitoring sites
The 2025 season added substantial observational data to this long-term dataset, supporting research into changes in raptor abundance and migration activity. Continued standardized monitoring is essential for distinguishing annual fluctuations from longer-term population trends and informing conservation efforts.
The project also supported community science and education, engaging more than 1,300 visitors and providing hands-on raptor identification and migration monitoring experiences.
Led by Rocky Mountain Wild, Colorado Bat Watch conducted 14 summer emergence counts at seven roost sites in 2025, supported by 34 community science volunteers. The project addresses critical gaps in bat population monitoring, particularly as Colorado's bat species face increasing threats from white-nose syndrome, habitat loss, and climate change.
The project established standardized monitoring protocols aligned with the North American Bat Monitoring Program (NABat), allowing data to contribute to broader assessments of bat population trends.
Findings will help land managers identify and protect important maternity colonies, evaluate habitat management strategies, and monitor potential population declines associated with white-nose syndrome and other threats.
The project also demonstrated the value of community science in expanding statewide monitoring capacity. Future research will explore acoustic monitoring techniques that could provide more continuous, efficient assessments of colony size and seasonal activity.
Lois Webster Fund support helped fund a Field Technician and Community Science Intern, providing essential capacity for field surveys, volunteer coordination, and data collection.
How do drought and pollution silently affect migrating birds?
Megan Miller’s research at CSU Pueblo, supported by the Lois Webster Fund, explores the sub-lethal physiological impacts of climate events on songbirds. By measuring oxidative stress—a balance between harmful molecules and antioxidants—across species and diet types, Megan is investigating how extreme weather, wildfire smoke, and food availability affect migratory survival. In 2024, her team banded over 1,500 birds and collected oxidative stress data from more than 600 individuals, including during a wildfire smoke event. Early lab results suggest a potential link between poor muscle condition and elevated antioxidant activity, with more data analysis underway. This work could reveal how different bird species—and even their diets—may buffer or worsen the impacts of a changing climate. Final analysis is expected by summer 2025, offering insights that could guide conservation priorities for vulnerable migratory species.
Are Birds and Bugs Out of Sync?
The study focuses on montane meadow habitats near Gothic, Colorado, where previous research documented a 47% decline in insect biomass and a 61% decline in insect abundance over 35 years.
This research aims to identify whether changing climate conditions are creating food shortages during critical breeding periods for migratory songbirds, particularly sparrows and warblers—two groups experiencing significant population declines.
Findings will help Colorado Parks and Wildlife evaluate climate-related threats to montane breeding birds and identify priority habitats for conservation and management. The project is also intended to establish a foundation for long-term monitoring of climate-driven changes in bird–insect interactions.
Support from the Lois Webster Fund helps advance this research, including field surveys, insect sampling, and the collection of ecological data needed to inform science-based conservation decisions in Colorado's mountain ecosystems.
Past Projects and Reports
Please review past projects dating back to 2002 and download the reports.
Apply for a Grant
The Lois Webster Fund (LWF) was established in 1995 as a committee of Denver Audubon to support Colorado non-game wildlife research and education projects that lead to the conservation of these species and their habitats. LWF typically funds projects ranging from $500-$5000. This year the LWF has a total of $19,000 to award. Awards are for one year, but successful grantees may reapply for additional year(s) of funding.
See this link for previously funded projects and final reports.