We are down to our last 2 specialists…meet our 2nd to last today!
Name: DeAndra Ramsey
Department and Title: Education; Education Programs Specialist
DeAndra with an African pygmy falcon
Job Description: Everyday I find ways to promote conservation by educating the public about wild animals, wild places, and the issues facing both. I get to be around the animals I love as well!
Hometown: Friendswood, TX
Favorite animal and why? I love all bats! They are such amazing creatures and they are often misunderstood. Bats have incredible adaptations that allow them to fill various roles in the ecosystems including pollinators, seed dispersers, and insect controllers. The world’s smallest mammal is a bat: the bumblebee bat which is less than an inch long full grown. They have amazing social structures. Vampire bats will even adopt orphaned vampire bat pups and raise them up with their own pups if the other mother dies. I can go on and on about beautiful bats!
Favorite class to teach at HZI: I love teaching Zoomobiles to older audiences. I get to go out into Houston and interact with the public while educating them about the amazing natural world in which we live. I enjoy teaching the older audiences because I get to dive into more of the “nitty gritty” science of all my topics and discuss things more in detail. The older audiences also tend to ask more questions of me that I might not know, which leads me to more research and learning on my part.
How long have you worked at the Houston Zoo? Since May of 2010
Describe your education and experience prior to working at the Houston Zoo: I attended Friendswood High School. Upon graduating, I attended Texas A&M University in College Station. While there, I was given the opportunity to work with pallid bats and also conduct research in West Texas with bat populations around the Big Bend area. This work lead to my discovery of all the amazing aspects of bats and my love for them! I graduated with my B.S in Biomedical Science and then moved back to the Houston area. I obtained a job as a basic researcher in urological oncology at Baylor College of Medicine. I also started tutoring students ranging from 5th grade to college students in science and reading. But of course my favorite subjects to tutor were the sciences! After working in the lab for 4 years, I decided that it was time to get back to my passion: animals. So I came to the Houston Zoo!
DeAndra on a ZooMobile program
What do you enjoy most about working in the EduTeer Department? I enjoy the fact that I can combine my passion and my talents. From a very young age, I have had a passion for animals and conservation that was nurtured by my mother. She also shared my passion and always encouraged me to follow it where ever it might take me. Here in the EduTeer department, I get to revel in that passion every day. I also have always enjoyed science and teaching. I feel very comfortable teaching and tutoring and speaking to people of various ages. And if I get to speak about anything dealing with science, even better! Plus, every single one of my colleagues is amazing and I love the fact that I get to come to work in a department with people who share my love of the natural world!
What animals do you have at home? I have a house full of carnivores. I have 2 cats, Poly and Jack, which were both rescues from the SPCA. And yes, Poly should be spelled that way (short for polychromatic). I have 2 ferrets, Billie (named after Billie Holiday and she is a girl) and George. Billie was purchased from Petco and I went and got George from the SPCA. And last but not least we have Condi, our beta.
Tell us a fun fact about yourself: I love to knit, bake, read, and garden.
Check back next week and meet our last (but certainly not least) Education Specialist!
No related posts.
