Dr. Winston Vickers is doing more than trying to save a few isolated populations of mountain lions in southern California, USA. He’s pairing hard science and data in an effort to establish and share best practices for how we consider wildlife, and the barriers we put before them. As an associate veterinarian at the Wildlife Health Center at UC Davis and co-principal investigator of the Southern California Mountain Lion Study, he's using new technology, precise monitoring, and solid science to help researchers and planners better understand and protect the big cats and their habitat. Developing best practices to accurately site wildlife crossings should improve the odds of survival of at-risk populations.