In a research collaboration with government biologists and university educators, K—12 students in the Cle Elum-Roslyn (CER) School District in eastern Washington are investigating where cougars go when their habitat gives way to new housing developments. Now in its seventh year, Project Cougars and Teaching (CAT) is taking the education and science partnership a step further by incorporating civics into the environmental education curriculum. Through this model, students become civically engaged by conducting field investigations of the indigenous cougar’s ecology and making public presentations to the community.