A Humanitarian Zookeeper Who…Sings to Wildlife?
As a great many of my friends and fellow Howard Hughes-ers are on a medical trajectory, I’m constantly reminded how unusual it is to be a Duke Bio major and to not be pre-med. I’m used to getting the question: “So, if you’re not pre-med, what on earth are you planning to do with a Biology degree?” Up until pretty recently, my response has been an eloquent: “Um…something to do with animals, but I’m not exactly sure what.” As you can probably imagine, that’s not a reassuring answer to parents worrying about their daughter’s ability to land a job post-education (or to me, for that matter). However, over the past year, I’ve heard about some things that truly inspire me and ignite passion in me, and the rough sketches of possible careers have begun to emerge.
One possibility I’m entertaining is to become involved in the zoo system. This appeals to me for two reasons: One, I believe that zoos (when run well) are invaluable tools for educating the public and fostering a respect for animals. Though I’m on the fence about whether or not it’s completely ethical to keep wild animals in captivity, I do know that most champions of wildlife and animal protection probably gained a love and appreciation for animals by being able to see them in zoos as children.
In a similar vein, I think zoos definitely have room for improvement. In the Animals and Ethics class I took last semester (which was oddly cross-listed under Women’s Studies, but I digress) I learned about some of the atrocities committed to animals in the smaller, less regulated, roadside stand type of zoos. Animals are kept in horrendous conditions, and these places either fly under the radar or slip by through loopholes in regulations. So, I’ve considered working to help improve and clarify the regulation of small zoos.
Another area that I’m passionate about is human-wildlife interaction. When I tell people that I want to work with animals, I can sometimes sense the person thinking, “That’s nice, but why waste your time on animals when human beings are starving?” While I’d never want to devalue human suffering, I don’t think we can adopt a “humans first” attitude either. Luckily, there are ways to look out for the interests of both. I read about one such initiative in
Well, there you have my dreams for the future. Come back next year and ask me what my plans are, and they may have changed completely. I still haven’t completely ruled out jumping ship from science altogether and going to live in the theatre world ;)
