Conservation Conversations

Name:  Allison Gould

Class Year:  2021

Hometown:  Pittsburgh, PA

Internship:  Conservation and Science Volunteer Intern

Location:  Cleveland Metroparks Zoo

  

            Hello from Cleveland! I am about a month into my internship with the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo’s Conservation and Science Department. So far, I have enjoyed every minute of my internship. I have gotten to meet many people from around the zoo and help with a variety of projects. On my second day, I jumped right in to help with World Turtle Day. I stood with a keeper in a turtle costume so kids could take pictures with her. Other activities that day included box turtle crafts, biofact stations, and a donation station.

World Turtle Day photo ops - me with Ms. Turtle

           

Just yesterday, June 21, I helped with World Giraffe Day. I was at the storytelling station where we had giraffe biofacts, a Twiga Tracker (a solar powered satellite tracker that attaches to a giraffe’s ossicones+), and I passed out buttons that said “Stand Tall for Giraffe” to the guests. Guests could collect a small sticker on their button at each station they visited. These stickers represented guests “tracking” their way through the zoo like the Giraffe Conservation Foundation tracks giraffe in the wild with the Twiga Trackers.

World Giraffe Day "Stand Tall for Giraffe" buttons

The Cleveland Metroparks Zoo has six key conservation programs that they focus on to help secure a future for wildlife. The six Future for Wildlife (FFW) programs are Andean bear, Asian turtle, giraffe, gorilla, illegal wildlife trade, and lion and cheetah. Within the zoo, there are also internal engagement FFW teams of zoo staff and volunteers that plan events and fundraisers and report on conservation updates. These teams make sure that everyone at the zoo that is interested in supporting conservation efforts has the opportunity to be involved. I have even been able to go to planning meetings with Team Giraffe and Team Andean Bear and marketing meetings for World Giraffe Day.  

            In the Conservation and Science Department, I work partly as a conservation intern and partly as a research volunteer. On the conservation side, I work with Emily and Kym on any projects they may need help with. My first big project was compiling a list of “conservation successes” and achievements of the zoo’s many global conservation partners. By searching through the partners’ websites and annual reports, I not only learned about the work that they are doing, but I also gained an appreciation for the importance of their work and the obstacles they are tackling. I have also helped Kym by editing and reviewing a number of documents for the Andean Bear Conservation Alliance annual report and for the Andean bear AZA SAFE application. The Cleveland Metroparks Zoo is a leader in Andean bear conservation, and the SAFE program would allow for greater participation in Andean bear conservation across AZA institutions.   

            On the research side of things, I have assisted in a number of ongoing research projects that are conducted by the graduate research associates here. About once a day I go around the zoo to collect data for the ongoing Animal Visibility Study (for bears and the African Savanna species) and the Giraffe Space Use Study. The Visibility Study is an annual project to assess the visibility of animals that visitors usually report that they cannot see on exhibit. The Giraffe Space Use Study is also an annual project to address where the giraffes spend their time in the exhibit when the guest feeding deck is open versus closed. I was also able to help with a multi-institutional giraffe body-scoring project. I brought in my camera and took photos from multiple angles of two of the zoo’s five giraffes. The photos will be sent to an outside researcher that is pooling data on giraffe body conditions in zoos. I have been very lucky that the C&S department has allowed me to bring my skill sets to the table with these kinds of creative opportunities. 

Left: Bo rear view       Right: Jhasmin right side view

            As a volunteer intern, I also go to weekly meetings with the seasonal keepers. Each meeting consists of a presentation from a leader within the zoo. We have had meetings about animal record keeping, enrichment and training, conservation, and the on-site animal shows. These meetings are especially beneficial because they give us the opportunity to hear from all different aspects of the zoo’s operations and to learn about the many kinds of jobs available within a zoo. Additionally, the seasonal keepers and I are all working on independent research projects. We have had multiple research planning meetings and it has been fun to hear about the others’ projects and how their data collection is going. My project is still in the works - it will be a guest survey to gather a baseline understanding of public feelings and perceptions about zoos.  

Seasonal keeper meeting on the Zoo’s conservation programs with Kym

            Every day here is different. Some days bring many meetings, others are more open for me to work on projects and tasks. Here are a few of the exciting things I have been a part of so far:

·        Sat in on two webinars with Kym about reporting environmental law violations and combating wildlife crime.

·        Weekly chats with Kym about anything and everything that I have observed, want to learn, or just talk about.

·        Attended a monthly department meeting and a bi-monthly general employee meeting with all zoo staff.

·        Attended a brown bag lecture by and had lunch with Maurice Ngiramahoro, Conservation Education Coordinator of the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund in Rwanda.

            The summer is going by fast, but I can’t wait to get started on data collection for my project and see what the rest of my internship brings!