I was involved in a visitor survey while we were there to learn what the visitors like. And this was in the infancy, really, of us actually studying what the visitors thought, and now that’s a big field as well. But back then we didn’t really study the visitors. All… Read More
So you’re now thinking zoo administration, but you’re thinking, “I want to be a zoo director” or you’re just thinking the zoo administration?… Read More
When did you start thinking about leaving the medical side of the profession for going into zoo administration?… Read More
Well, I’d been a zoo vet for eight and a half years. And it’s kind of funny, I used to tell people that you can only see so many primate diarrheas before you’re kind of done with primate diarrhea. And that is a lot of what you see in primates,… Read More
And so I was learning all about design and strategic planning. We went through two strategic plans while I was there. So strategic planning, and design, and construction, and all of those aspects. And I was blessed that Satch Krantz let me be involved in all of the aspects of… Read More
Oh, absolutely. Because when you first start at a zoo and you’re a zoo veterinarian, you’re not mindful of all the things it takes to actually run a zoo. We think the thing about being a zoo veterinarian, or any veterinarian for that matter in any facility, is that you… Read More
Your primary focus is on that individual animal that’s sick or needs your help that day, right?… Read More
And so you’re more on an individual basis. One of the reasons why I did the studbook was because I wanted to be on a broader basis, I wanted to help the species at large as opposed to just the individual animal. And that actually led to why I became… Read More
It didn’t matter to me. I think that was one cool thing about my upbringing is that I talk to anybody, it didn’t matter. Read More
So what were you learning while you’re doing this, about the zoo medical profession when you’re doing this job?… Read More
And were any of these lessons being learned at the time helpful once you became a zoo director?… Read More
But there was no in-house, full-time veterinarians in most zoos. So for starters, there weren’t many zoo vets. I think at that time there was 46, 48, something like that in all the zoos in all the country. And then women, there were very few. I think maybe I can… Read More
And you’d go to these director’s retreats, we had a once a year meeting where we’d go to these director’s retreats and talk about all the issues that we dealt with on a daily basis. But it was fun because it’s the only place I’ve ever been to where the… Read More
Did you tend to work more closely or speak with your women professional veterinarians at the time, or it just was even?… Read More
Now are you one of the few women veterinarians at this time in the profession?… Read More
Absolutely, oh yeah. Well for starters, there weren’t many veterinarians period. when I went to the Lincoln Park Zoo, Dr. Tom Meehan was the only veterinarian there. Now they have a ton of veterinarians. We’re here at Brookfield, they have 12 veterinarians, it’s crazy. But back then, like I said,… Read More
And so this was his comfort zone. Being in that exhibit was his comfort zone. That was his home. And so he tried to crawl back in. Well unfortunately the ladder didn’t hold like it did on the way up. And it knocked over, and he fell down, he broke… Read More
I mean, I think that’s one of the most fun things about zoos is that the animals don’t read the book, right?… Read More
And they don’t read a book. So, you’d walk in every single day and I would have an interviewer ask me, “What’s a typical zoo day?” There is no such thing. You never know what you’re gonna be dealing with when you walk in that door. It could be a… Read More
Right?… Read More