[House] Inspiring Stories on International Women's Day

Fri Mar 8 16:50:13 PST 2019

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International Women’s Day

You may have noticed a dramatic gender shift on your Zoo visits in recent years, from animal and veterinary staff providing care, to scientists and conservationists conducting research, to senior staff playing a leading role in transforming zoological parks into centers of conservation and education. Where Zoo staff were once dominated by men, now more than 72% are female. It’s an astounding change, representative of the changing times. Here at SF Zoo, we are overwhelmingly female, with specialists as diverse as nutritionists and animal behaviorists. I want to celebrate and recognize all of our female employees on this International Women’s Day, who serve as inspirations and role models for our future generations.
Tanya M. Peterson
CEO and President
San Francisco Zoological Society

For those of you with aspirations to become a zoo director yourself someday, I hope you will enjoy this recent video produced by CareerGirls. https://youtu.be/xpWMRRsxY5g

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** Amber Rindy, Assistant Curator of Primates
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Growing up with a passion for animals, Amber’s role models were Jane Goodall and Dian Fossey, pioneers in the research and understanding of great apes. Having studied both anthropology and primatology, Amber supervises the primate staff and oversees enrichment and training, among other responsibilities. “Working with such a diversity of primate species, and truly getting to know them individually and on a deeper level is my favorite part of the job,” she said. “Doing our best to care for them is incredibly satisfying,” On this International Women’s Day, Amber looks to the strong, influential women in the field who have paved the way. For young girls hoping to work with primates in the future? “Start by volunteering, setting a goal and making sure you do things that you’re passionate about.”

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** Tracy Nappi, Curator of the Animal Resource Center
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Tracy can point to the one moment that cemented what would be her future career – when she held “Howie,” a striped skunk as a teen volunteer for the Zoo’s Nature Trail program, in 1989. That determination to work with animals followed her through her Zoo career working in the Animal Resource Center, which houses the ambassador animals used as educational outreach and the Nature Trail program. Progressing from volunteer, to education specialist, to assistant curator, and today as Curator of the Animal Resource Center over the course of her 30 years at the Zoo, allowed Tracy to develop and fine tune leadership skills that make the ARC one of the most successful and rewarding experiences for teen volunteers and future generations of animal care specialists. Tracy’s ability to engage and build a successful team of staff and volunteers, empowering youth and adults to follow their dreams.

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** Debra Marrin, Director of Training and Behavioral Husbandry
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When you’re a role model yourself, as one of the world’s foremost animal trainers and behaviorists, being able to continually mentor and teach others has been an opportunity like no other. Debra has paved the way since 1975 to understand how training can make a difference in animal wellness. Focusing on training and behavioral husbandry, Debra oversees animal enrichment and the animal training program, creating protocols and guidelines, and sharing the knowledge with the zoological community. As someone who has always loved animals, she found her calling and was inspired by Karen Pryor, one of the first female marine mammal trainers, and soon worked to develop voluntary medical procedures with marine mammals. She loves seeing the difference her work can make in an animal’s welfare, mentoring new animal care staff and developing innovative enrichment and training programs.

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** Bethany Krebs, Wellness Research Manager
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After graduate school studying behavioral ecology, Dr. Bethany Krebs has applied her unique skills and knowledge to the Zoo’s wellness research programs, training volunteers and designing data collection protocols. What does this all mean? “Ensuring all animals are happy and healthy,” said Dr. Krebs; “and furthering animal welfare science.” Growing up with an uncle who was a zoologist, she always loved animals, and knew what she wanted to do in life. Now building enrichment, like the recent rhinoceros shower, and observing animals as part of data collection and analysis, make her job extremely satisfying, especially when there is positive change and immediate feedback. For those who wish to follow in her footsteps, she recommends that kids “keep showing up” because eventually, they’ll get to where they want to be.

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** Carol Casey, Director of Nutrition Services
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Animal diets are not just making sure there’s enough food on the table, so to speak. It’s an incredibly complex science and Carol is one of the top animal nutritionists in zoos today, overseeing nutrition and animal diets, including hand-rearing babies, formulating and evaluating various species’ diets, looking at an animal’s energy level with calorie intake, and nutritional requirements for all. Carol has always had an interest in veterinary medicine, starting as a vet tech 29 years ago, and transferring her unique skills to nutrition within the past few years, as zoos have started to incorporate nutrition into their wellness initiatives. What makes her job most satisfying is getting to see the lifespan of some animals, seeing them born, mature and grow, through their geriatric stage. Carol has been around long enough to know each animals’ life history, which she feels is a true privilege.
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** Amy Phelps, Curator of the Children’s Zoo and Enrichment and Training Specialist
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Amy lived down the street from the Zoo, and growing up, she spent her time here, especially with the giraffes. From that time on, she has knew what she wanted to do in life, and inspired by her the first female field researcher, Anne Innis Dagg, Amy would find a career working with giraffe and other ungulate species for the past 20 years. Now, managing the animal staff and animals in the Children’s Zoo and assisting the Wellness Department in animal enrichment and training, she has truly fulfilled her career aspirations, making a significant difference in the lives of animals and working to enhance their welfare. For girls hoping to follow their passion working with animals, Amy said, ‘there’s no reason today that a girl can’t do what a boy can do. Focus on your passion, and work hard to get there.”
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** Jessie Bushell, Director of Conservation
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One of the most satisfying parts of Jessie’s job working in conservation is releasing wild frogs and turtles, after rehabilitating and rearing them, to help sustain wild populations. “Watching them hop or swim away is just so rewarding,” she said. After 23 years at SF Zoo, Jessie has turned her love of animals into making a difference for the animals in her care and their wild counterparts. Jessie studied biology in school, later earning her Masters in Conservation and Genetics, applying her knowledge and practical skills, and experience working as an intern, education specialist and supervisor at the Animal Resource Center, to her role as an Assistant Curator, to her role as Director of Conservation. She hopes to accomplish more, “pushing forward to keep wildlife around for the future.” Her suggestion for others who hope to follow in her footsteps is to “not be afraid of math and science, and not let themselves get pushed away from hard science.”
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