As rewilding has entered the mainstream, increasingly
accepted by international organizations, it has had to negotiate an uneasy expansion from a
scientifically based conservation
method into an ambitious social program.
According to the Institute of Education Sciences (IES), the primary overseer of research within the Department of Education, «
scientifically based research» fits the following criteria: It randomly assigns its test subjects to comparable groups; it yields reliable, measurable data; if the study makes any claims about what causes its effects, it «substantially eliminates plausible competing explanations»; its
methods are clear enough that other researchers can repeat or extend them; and, finally, the study has been
accepted by a peer - reviewed journal or equivalent panel of «independent experts.»