That's me on the far left. From left to right, Dr. Jerry Bigham - Director for the OSU School of Environment and Natural Resources, Trish Raridan Preston, Career Counselor for OSU SENR, Dr. Bob Gates - Wildlife faculty, Suzi - Jeff Swanagan's wonderful wife, Jeff Swanagan - Director for the Columbus Zoo, and David Graham - Chief for the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Wildlife
By Dan Turoczi
We hear it all the time from professors, advisors, and our career counselors, but internships and networking really are important, and actually they go hand in hand.
The other day I was flipping through the latest edition of Animal Keepers Forum (AKF), a professional publication put out by the American Association of Zoo Keepers (AAZK) and realized that five people I know had contributed articles just to this one issue. I flipped through some older issues that I had, and found five more articles written by people that I had either worked with or met. That really got me thinking about networking, as I hadn’t realized that I had done much of it, but as it turns out I had met most of these people just by working with them during my internships.
The first article that I had noticed was by Shane Good, President of AAZK National,
Membership in professional societies is priceless in terms of networking opportunities
who also happens to be a keeper I worked with while interning at Cleveland Zoo. Shane is a great contact to have, he is the National President of AAZK and has plenty of ties to keepers all over the country, and makes him a great resource to have while job hunting. Over spring break I went to Detroit with Shane and another keeper from Cleveland to attend the Detroit AAZK chapter’s 25th anniversary party. While I was there I met a keeper named Marilynn Crowley, who co-wrote an article for AKF. I also met a keeper from Binder Park Zoo who had written an article in an older edition of AKF.
There were two additional articles in that most recent edition of AKF from people that I had met while working at Cleveland, one by a veterinarian and another by one of the elephant keepers. Two of the education interns that I had worked closely with while interning had even contributed an article to the forum. Although not on animal care, they wrote an article about a pressing environmental issue, palm oil plantations. Interning at Cleveland is also what led me to join AAZK. For two years I have been a member of a professional organization in my career field, and I really think that it has helped give me some added insight into the field.
Another article in that issue was by a keeper that I met while interning at the Wilds last winter. Jonnie is a keeper from the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore, and spent a few days working with the rhino keeper at the Wilds as part of a rhino keeper exchange program. Jonnie has been a great contact. She helped me compile a browse list for the Wilds and has sent me information on how to build enrichment items for rhinos, and I still keep in contact with her.
My supervisor at the Wilds had written an article for a past issue of AKF as well. He has also been a great person to talk to, and has given me a lot of insight into how populations of particular species are managed, and what it takes for zoos to work together to maintain genetically viable captive populations.
These are just a few of the people I have met and use as contacts to answer questions, or as references on resumes. I’ve met them all through different internships at various facilities, and at the 2009 SENR Recognition Banquet I even served as the student liaison to the keynote, Jeff Swanagan Executive Director of the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium. I even ran into Jeff less than a week later at a run held by the Wilds, just an example of how tight professional circles can be, and how important it is to get into them before you graduate.
< Editor’s Note: Students who are completing the internship courses here at Ohio State in the School of Environment and Natural Resources are required to submit two blog posts during the course of their job. Dan had two internships this year and has been blogging quite a bit for us. He has wonderful insight on how important internships and networking are to your future success. Thanks for sharing Dan and our congratulations upon your graduation this quarter! Best of luck on your zoo keeper career! >
