Interview 26791 – Caption Index: 136
Was he still there?… Read More
Was he still there?… Read More
No, he was long gone. Read More
Can you kind of give me an overview about how the zoo director position became vacant and you were able to be put in that?… Read More
Yeah, it’s the title, right. And you indicated that you were hired by the zoo director, Lex Salisbury. Read More
That’s the title?… Read More
So you’re the zoo director?… Read More
We didn’t talk titles, we just talked about, are you still okay?… Read More
And I said I’m fine, I’m okay. But they wanted to reward me and give me that. And the new CEO was part of that title change, when he came in, he changed many titles and that was just one of them so. Read More
Why so many titles?… Read More
Okay, nothing really changed, but that was the advent of a new CEO and politically, it was appeasing me because I also put in for the CEO position, and there was only two of us, and I didn’t get the job. And so they wanted to make sure that I… Read More
What, was it different responsibilities?… Read More
In 2012, you’re still vice president, but now you’re dealing with animal science and conservation, added responsibilities, are you still doing the collection?… Read More
Yeah, added responsibilities and more of a focus on conservation than previous. It was time for the institution to start to ramp up. It’s conservation, and still today, the primary program is the Manatee Rescue and Rehab. That’s a big program. It’s over a million dollars a year. And it’s… Read More
So they gave me those additional responsibilities. So that was kind of the umbrella then that was the complete umbrella over all of the animal care facets. And the veterinarians reported to me. And it just kind of tidied up the organizational chart a lot. From there, in 2015, you… Read More
Same responsibilities?… Read More
Right. Read More
Yeah. Yeah, again, it was what the organization recognized. I was an officer now, you know, so as far as contract signing and those responsibilities, that allowed me to be in that position. Which the board certainly approved because they wanted to make sure that we had a robust officer… Read More
I had to basically rework the staff, and change titles, and do all kinds of things to get it to the standards that I thought it should be at. And with support from Lex, he was very supportive of that whole thing. So basically, I would say professionalizing the small… Read More
Yeah, I think visually very appealing. I mean, you know, coming into Florida where, you know, you look at a plant, it grows because of the tropical environment. So visually, a very pretty zoo. behind-the-scenes, a lot of issues, a lot of issues with exhibits, as I always characterized it,… Read More
And you then were promoted to the title Vice President and Director of Collections?… Read More