The scope and influence of Ducks Unlimited’s conservation programs have expanded dramatically over the last decade. Ducks Unlimited is now designing and implementing programs that affect entire landscapes and geographical regions; melding programs across international boundaries in the United States, Mexico and Canada; assisting non-North American wetland conservation agencies and programs; increasing their abilities to influence conservation-friendly governmental policies and legislation; and facilitating the flow and transfer of scientific information to all conservation professionals.

The Institute for Wetland and Waterfowl Research (IWWR) was formed in 1991 by Ducks Unlimited Inc. of the United States, Ducks Unlimited Canada and Ducks Unlimited de Mexico. It was established to amalgamate Ducks Unlimited’s research and evaluation activities in the United States, Canada and Mexico under a single administration. The mission of the IWWR is to help guide conservation of waterfowl and wetlands by developing and sustaining a premier program of research and by educating professionals in wetland and waterfowl biology. The objectives of the IWWR are to: discover new information that will help solve fundamental problems facing North American waterfowl and their habitats; to develop highly skilled professionals in wetland and waterfowl conservation biology and; to communicate the results of IWWR research and other important information on wetland and waterfowl biology and conservation.

Since 1991 the IWWR has published 94 papers and worked with 60 graduate students from 26 universities on more than 107 research projects. In 1996-1997 the IWWR supported 86 research projects throughout North America (see map). Forty-five of those are located in Canada. These projects cover a wide variety of topics ranging from researching common eiders and their intertidal habitat in eastern Canada to studying the development of avian botulism in Canadian prairie wetlands. A list of all IWWR-funded projects along with information on research staff and publications can be found on the IWWR homepage at www.ducks.ca/iwwr/.