Raptor View Research Institute

What Raptor View Research Institute does

Raptor View Research Institute (RVRI) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit research and education organization founded in 2004 by Rob Domenech and headquartered in Missoula, Montana. It conducts long-term field studies of raptors — primarily Golden Eagles, Ospreys, Turkey Vultures, and American Goshawks — along the Rocky Mountain Front, the Bitterroot Valley, and broader Western North America, with satellite-tracked Ospreys documented to wintering grounds as distant as Nicaragua and Cuba. Its technology stack is field-based rather than software-based: GPS satellite telemetry on 100+ Golden Eagles (one of the largest such studies globally), vinyl wing-tag and alphanumeric color-band sighting programs achieving a ~23% encounter rate, blood sampling and analysis for heavy metal contaminants (mercury and lead) across more than 500 Golden Eagles and 80 Bald Eagles, and stable hydrogen isotope analysis for natal origin estimation. The operating model relies on approximately 3 full-time staff (Executive Director, Senior Research Biologist, Science Director) plus ~10 seasonal field biologists compensated at $2,300/month with housing provided.

RVRI's revenue model is non-commercial: it is funded primarily by individual donations (including a $5,000 Giving Tuesday matching grant program), foundation capacity-building grants (notably from the Murdoch Charitable Trust, which enabled the May 2025 hire of Science Director Kylie Denny), and research collaborations with academic and conservation partners (University of Montana's Dr. Erick Greene, MPG Ranch, Montana Natural History Center, Inspired Classrooms). Its go-to-market is community-led: in-person field workshops for local schools, youth homes, and college students; a public-facing real-time GPS tracking portal at raptortracker.mpgranch.com; quarterly newsletters via Mailchimp; peer-reviewed scientific publication; and a citizen science wing-tag reporting program. Outputs include 19 consecutive seasons of the Montana Osprey Project, 20 years of Golden Eagle research along the Continental Divide, the 2019 Underwriters Laboratory Innovative Education Award for the WOW E-STEM program, and publications in Science, PLOS ONE, the Journal of Wildlife Management, and Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology. The organization explicitly states that all donations are tax-deductible.

Name

Raptor View Research Institute

Legal name

Raptor View Research Institute

Website

https://raptorview.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2004

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Raptor View Research Institute is a 501(c)(3) non-profit founded in 2004 in Missoula, Montana, conducting long-term field research on Golden Eagles, Ospreys, Turkey Vultures, and American Goshawks using GPS telemetry, banding, and contaminant analysis, while delivering raptor education programs to students, youth groups, and the general public.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Wildlife Conservation Research

NAICS

Sports and Recreation Instruction (61162), Nature Parks and Other Similar Institutions (712190)

SIC

Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731)

akta.pro primary industry

Wildlife Surveys & Movement/Connectivity Studies (e.g., Avian/Bat, Telemetry) (EUAHAHAH)

akta.pro secondary industry

Conservation & Research Lodges (Citizen Science, Field Stations with Guests) (THAAAHAJ)

Keywords

• Wildlife conservation research
• Raptor telemetry tracking
• Avian ecology education
• Raptor migration monitoring
• Wildlife education programs

Headquarters

HQ city

Missoula

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Donations and Fundraising: The organization relies primarily on individual donations, including a $5,000 matching grant program for Giving Tuesday campaigns, to fund raptor research and educational programs.
2. Capacity Building Grants: Received transformative Capacity Building Grant from Murdoch Charitable Trust to hire new Science Director and expand organizational capabilities.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

RVRI is a non-profit research and education organization that conducts long-term field studies of raptors including Golden Eagles, Ospreys, American Goshawks and Turkey Vultures across western Montana, using GPS satellite telemetry, banding, vinyl wing tags, color bands, and blood lead/contaminant analysis to model migration, habitat use and human-caused mortality. It translates its research into education through citizen science wing-tag reporting, on-site and virtual school programs including the Wings Over Water E-STEM curriculum, and a public real-time tracking website, funded by donations and grants.

Product overview

Raptor View Research Institute (RVRI) is a non-profit raptor research and education organization focused on long-term studies of raptor populations and ecology across Western North America. RVRI conducts field-based research including banding, GPS telemetry, and satellite tracking of raptors (golden eagles, ospreys, American goshawks, and turkey vultures). Their work focuses on migration studies, population monitoring, and environmental contaminant research rather than commercial product offerings. They share their tracking data publicly through collaborative scientific platforms.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Golden Eagle Research Program Continuous field study of Golden Eagles across Montana and the western United States, using GPS transmitters and wing tags to model habitat use and migration, with associated blood lead and contaminant sampling to inform conservation policy and land management decisions.
• Montana Osprey Project Long-term Osprey banding, nesting, and satellite telemetry study in western Montana, including heavy-metal contaminant testing of nestlings and tracking of individuals to distant wintering ranges, now in its 19th consecutive season.
• Montana Turkey Vulture Project GPS telemetry study of Turkey Vultures in the Intermountain West, tracking individual movements and contributing migratory data to the broader western raptor dataset.
• American Goshawk Project GPS telemetry study of American Goshawks in western Montana launched in 2023, outfitting adult birds with transmitters to characterize annual movements and habitat use.
• MPG Ranch Raptor Migration Counts Long-term seasonal hawk counts at MPG Ranch in the Bitterroot Valley (both spring and fall seasons), staffed by three hawk counters each season and producing detailed tallies such as 3,799 migrating birds across 383 hours in the Fall 2024 season.
• Raptor Education Program Free hands-on outdoor and virtual education programs for local schools, youth homes, summer camps and college students, providing exposure to raptor ecology, banding techniques and conservation science through field trips to Osprey nests and online lessons delivered with Inspired Classrooms and MPG Ranch.
• Wing Tag and Color Band Reporting Service Citizen science reporting service that engages the public in tracking tagged raptors, providing RVRI with encounter data on marked Golden Eagles, Bald Eagles and Ospreys across migration routes and wintering grounds.

Quantifiable outcome

• Tracked Ospreys to wintering ranges as far as Nicaragua and Cuba
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and minor.

• MPG RanchcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2012Partnership began in 2012 to track Ospreys to their wintering grounds via GPS transmitters. MPG Ranch hosts the Raptor Migration Project in the Bitterroot Valley where hawk counts are conducted. The ranch also provides the real-time tracking platform (raptortracker.mpgranch.com) for viewing eagle, Osprey, and vulture movements.
• Dr. Erick Greene (University of Montana)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2006Partnership with former University of Montana ecologist Dr. Erick Greene beginning in 2006 to closely examine causes, locations, and effects of mining-related heavy metal contaminants on Ospreys and river ecosystems.
• Montana Natural History CentermajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborated to create multidisciplinary E-STEM education programs called Wings Over Water (WOW) for middle and high school students. The program has been used by teachers across the nation.
• Inspired ClassroomsminorGTM or Marketing PartnerPartnered to provide virtual lessons and experiences to educators who want to engage learners with authentic raptor research experiences, reaching thousands of students in real time.
• Ornithology ExchangeminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorJob board for listing seasonal field positions such as raptor migration observer/ hawk watcher positions.
• Texas A&M Natural Resources Job BoardminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorJob board for listing seasonal field positions for raptor research projects.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• The Peregrine Fund: Non-profit raptor research and conservation organization focused on recovery of peregrine falcons and other raptors through captive breeding, telemetry, and field studies. Comparable as a non-profit running multi-decade raptor telemetry and population monitoring programs.
• Institute for Bird Populations: Non-profit scientific organization running long-term bird monitoring programs such as MAPS across North America. Closely comparable as a science-driven non-profit producing banding, demography, and population trend data for landbirds and raptors.
• HawkWatch International: Non-profit raptor conservation organization running long-term migration counts and scientific studies across western North America. Direct comparable to RVRI's Golden Eagle migration research; notably, RVRI board member Steve Hoffman founded HawkWatch International.
• Bird Conservancy of the Rockies: Non-profit focused on bird conservation through monitoring, banding, and habitat research across the Rocky Mountain region. Directly comparable geographic and species overlap, plus a strong education program similar to RVRI.
• Hawk Mountain Sanctuary: Non-profit raptor conservation sanctuary that conducts long-term autumn migration counts and raptor research in Pennsylvania. One of the oldest continuous raptor migration monitoring sites globally, comparable to RVRI's MPG Ranch hawk counts and Golden Eagle fall migration study.
• Montana Natural History Center: Regional non-profit providing natural history education programs, including the Wings Over Water (WOW) E-STEM partnership with RVRI. Direct partner and comparable in delivering environmental education to Montana and nationwide students.

Broad incumbents

• American Bird Conservancy: National non-profit focused on bird habitat conservation across the Americas. Comparable in conservation science and policy work, though with a broader taxonomic lens than RVRI's raptor focus.
• National Audubon Society: Large national non-profit conducting bird and habitat conservation, including raptor-focused initiatives and citizen science programs. Much larger scale but adjacent in mission around raptor conservation and public education.
• Cornell Lab of Ornithology: Large-scale ornithology research and citizen science institution operating eBird, Birds of the World, and large bird-monitoring programs. Broader in scope than RVRI but highly comparable in combining biological research, citizen science, and public education.

Others

• MPG Ranch: Private conservation ranch in Florence, Montana that hosts the Raptor Migration Project and real-time raptor tracking platform used by RVRI. Not a research peer but the central operational partner enabling much of RVRI's field work.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/raptorviewresearchinstitute
• Instagraminstagram.com/raptorview
• Xx.com/raptorview
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/raptor-view-research-institute

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Raptor View Research Institute