Education – A Houston Zoo Blog

The Collegiate Conservation Program at the Houston Zoo is an 8 week long conservation-education internship generously sponsored by ExxonMobil. We have introduced the interns on the Zoo’s Conservation blog and here on our Education blog.

Our final blog in this series was written by the intern herself,  Britney Burback.

Marsh Mania with Galveston Bay Foundation

Britney Burback is a recent graduate of Texas A&M University with a B.S. in Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences and a minor in Psychology. During her time at A&M, she worked in an Entomology Lab, studied abroad in Dominica, led in the student organization Impact Retreat and occasionally studied for class. Soon, she’ll finish the summer as a teacher for Camp Zoofari and welcome some new Aggies to the class of 2015. After that, she’ll continue the search for the elusive beast she has yet to see in the wild…the post college job!

I have been so blessed as a member of this internship–many thanks to the conservation and education departments at the zoo for putting together such a functional and fun program as well as ExxonMobil for sponsoring it. I have no doubt it will go on to inspire up-and-coming leaders in these fields.

We’ve done so many amazing things during our time-it’s hard to pick a favorite-but if I must, it would have to be getting to interact and learn from all of the unsung heroes in this field. Conservation may sound noble, but it is by no means glamorous work. It often involves long hours in uncomfortable locations.

These have been the moments I’ve enjoyed most in this internship-getting to see these dedicated and inspired individuals collectively come together for the singular goal of saving what they love and telling others about it. I’ve realized throughout this internship that conservation will not succeed without scientists and educators working together. We need to know about the ecosystems and species we’re losing, but we also need more than just researchers to care about them. That doesn’t happen without passionate people spreading their passion to others. However, I ‘ve also learned that it doesn’t take an expert to get people interested!

So, thanks again to everyone involved in this program from my fellow interns to those who’ve shared their corner of conservation. I’ve learned something from all of you!

The Collegiate Conservation Program at the Houston Zoo is an 8 week long conservation-education internship generously sponsored by ExxonMobil. We first introduced  some of our interns on the Zoo’s Conservation blog and since then have been posting the rest here on the Education blog!

Whitney Moore is a junior at Southwestern University in Georgetown, TX. A Bellaire, Texas native, Whitney is pursuing her bachelor’s of arts in environmental studies with a minor in psychology. Previously, Whitney was an intern in the Houston Zoo’s Education Department, and prior to that she was involved in the Houston Zoo’s teen volunteer program, Zoo Crew.

Taking down predator pens at the Attwater Prairie Chicken National Wildlife Refuge

My name is Whitney Moore and I am one of the Houston Zoo’s conservation interns. I am about to go into my senior year at Southwestern University and I am majoring in environmental studies. So far, my favorite part of this internship would probably be our trip we took to the Big Thicket National Preserve. We got to spend two nights in one of the most ecologically diverse areas of land in the United States, which was amazing. We hiked, swam, built a bridge, dug in the mud, played lots of card games, and experienced a little bit of what life was like working in a national preserve. Overall, it was a really great learning, as well as bonding experience for everyone, and was definitely one of the major highlights of the program.

The Collegiate Conservation Program at the Houston Zoo is an 8 week long conservation-education internship generously sponsored by ExxonMobil. We first introduced  some of our interns on the Zoo’s Conservation blog.

Attwater's prairie chicken National Wildlife Refuge

 

My name is Kate Wiemers and I have been participating in the Collegiate Conservation Program sponsored by ExxonMobil. I am a senior majoring in marine biology at Texas A&M University at Galveston and I plan to continue my education focusing on conservation.

This internship has opened my eyes to the world of conservation and what each project entails to become a reality. From the first steps of performing a SWOT analysis while writing a proposal , to lopping Chinese tallow in the Big Thicket, it has also showed me the ins and outs of conservation efforts. I have realized that many things must take place in a conference room before you actively search for mussels in river bank muck and that spending all day planting prairie grasses is only fun after you have learned the importance of your actions.

My favorite part of this internship has not only been almost stepping on an alligator snapping turtle (which let to an excited “turtle” dance), or plucking spartina alterniflora out of the marsh bottom sludge, but getting to know everyone involved with this program. Without all of us, it would not have been as exciting, interesting, and ultimately would not have had such an impact on my future.