Greetings, Enjoying the Chat - Sharing an intro

I have enjoyed this stimulating and entertaining forum to reconnect with my passion - and thought I would formally give an intro...

I grew up on a small dairy farm in Northern California. My interest in nature led to degrees in biology, and I date myself in saying I wanted to be a blend of Jane Goodall, Marlin Perkins and Joan Embery! In college I was a Keeper’s Aide and docent at the Sacramento City Zoo. That was an era with wild caught primates and big cats in metal cages while flamingos tread in chlorinated “pretty” pond water. In the 1980’s I was an Animal Ambassador at Marine World Africa USA. What a thrill to watch zoos and animal entertainment parks evolve with improved exhibit quality, selective animal choices, wealth of behavioral enrichment, captive breeding programs and an emphasis on educating visitors. Through the years I had varied jobs in environmental services, community outreach, public education with regular and special needs programs, while always holding my passion for wildlife and education.

Today I live on the Central California Coast. As a member of Nature Sounds Society and the National Association for Interpretation, I encourage “Listening”. I volunteer at the local natural history museum where I assembled audio recordings to enrich docents’ interpretation of taxidermy bird life mounts of wildlife and helped organize ‘Sounds of Science’ educational outreach event. Presently am interested in improving accessibility and interpretive experiences for low/no vision guests of zoos, museums, parks and nature centers with audio description and other techniques. Zoos have come a long way with so much to celebrate, as those in Zoo Chat know! It is a joy to take my grand nephews and nieces to share my favorites— lemur antics, emu booms and tiger chuffs.



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Welcome!

 

Welcome!

 

Welcome to ZooChat!

 

Welcome!

 

Welcome!

 

Welcome.

 

Welcome! I grew up in Central California (Salinas) before moving to Los Angeles in 1991. I remember Marine World well from summer trips there with my family. Looking forward to hearing your insights.