I absolutely adore my job, and getting the chance to share my experiences with ambitious, talented kids is one of the best parts of my career. At Rolling Hills, I gave three presentations to three different 8th grade science classes and was available during lunch for students' questions. The focus of my presentations was applying science in zookeeping. I discussed species survival plans and breeding to create robust gene pools; we talked about using stem cells and surrogate moms to resuscitate an endangered species of rhino; we even shared a few laughs when I had to explain aphrodisiacs!
I loved the opportunity to answer questions for budding scientists: I met a future veterinarian, a future equine surgeon, and hopefully I encouraged some future zookeepers. I was also able to dispel some myths about zookeeping (no, we don't genetically engineer hybrid carnivores that will escape and reek havoc on Isla Nublar a la Jurassic World). My favorite part was seeing the spark of ambition light up the eyes of many students as I described the coolest parts of my job. Not every zookeeper gets to bottle-feed a baby tiger, but if you do, it makes all of the poop-scooping worthwhile.
According to Melissa Amacher:
Elise is a wonderful speaker who works very well with large class sizes. Her stories from her career with animals engaged my students throughout each period as they listened in awe. She has a dynamic presentation that can adjust to follow pathways of curious questions from students, while still hitting all of her content - a teacher's dream! I appreciated her prompt email correspondence and professional demeanor. She is a gift to share in any classroom, showing how the science we learn in school can be applied in fascinating ways in a career as a zookeeper. I look forward to working with her in the future.If any other teachers are interested, I am available for more school visits. Please contact me by posting a comment on this blog.
