Interview 4487 – Caption Index: 175
I think if I relied on anybody for insight in the animal world, it was probably Jim Dolan in San Diego. He was probably my go-to guy. Read More
I think if I relied on anybody for insight in the animal world, it was probably Jim Dolan in San Diego. He was probably my go-to guy. Read More
Was Dr. Fisher a mentor or other people outside the profession?… Read More
I think there were some significant mentors for me during this time. In tropical America, Dr. Nick Gale, was a very strong influence on my life. He was a DVM, PhD, doctor of public health, he was a civilian employee in the United States Army in the area of the… Read More
Was there anybody that when things got tough for you had a decision that you got on the phone and you kind of talk with them?… Read More
Was there a commitment to professional growth?… Read More
You mentioned conferences, ’cause that costs money. There was, it was absolutely essential that the zoo grow professionally. It was doing that in terms of the staff it was taking on, it was doing that in terms of the capital improvements. The, so the staff needed to have interchanged, needed… Read More
During this time did you have mentor or mentors outside of the zoo itself?… Read More
At that time as curator were you or just senior staff involved in the budgeting and policy making at the zoo?… Read More
During the time that the zoo was, during the time the zoo was under the park district’s management, the director was solely responsible for the budget. There were a bunch of codes in budget items. Read More
Each of the curators would be asked for a major pieces of equipment or major expenditures, or to put forth what conference or meeting would you like to go to next year, how much would that cost?… Read More
There was a overall collection budget. And the largest part of that collection budget was, were the funds to purchase animals, for animal purchase and for animal transportation. And we all fed out of that, so to speak, pot, and that largely was determined by the director, but in concert… Read More
It was all part of logical growth. Read More
And still you were making daily rounds?… Read More
Still making daily rounds or a lot more meetings, or a lot more interactions. The zoo society was coming into its own. As a friend of the zoo, as a supporter of the zoo required more public relations, more special presentations, more donor tours, which all took time away from… Read More
Your relationship with that individual, now that you’re the more experienced guy?… Read More
I had no difficulty with any changes that were made in the staffing. I saw that as an opportunity to share what I knew and to learn from them based on their experience at other institutions, and by and large, I think we were very compatible. Read More
Did you find that in the position of curator now, that you had to do more managerial practices, were you more interested in that, were you losing your animal interaction or did it essentially, again, stay the same?… Read More
The growth from zoologist to curator, and then the addition of professional staff caused, or me in particular, and I think the rest of the curators to take a step away from what we like to do best, because we had to become managers. We had to become, essentially, people… Read More
The new staff brought experience with them, brought some of these ideas with them. And I think the zoo gradually evolved and had to evolve particularly with the capital improvements that were being made. We, our role changed significantly in that our emphasis went to conservation and went to education. Read More
And these people that were coming in, they were bringing that philosophy, I mean, for example, when the senior curator, general curator left, did they replace that position?… Read More