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Zoo InternQuest is a seven-week career exploration program for San Diego County high school juniors and seniors. Students have the unique opportunity to meet professionals working for the San Diego Zoo, Safari Park, and Institute for Conservation Research, learn about their jobs, and then blog about their experience online. Follow their adventures here on the Zoo’s website!
Interns were lucky enough to meet with Mr. Peter Gilson, a Reptile Keeper and Educator Guide here at the San Diego Zoo. Mr. Gilson gave us a behind-the-scenes tour of the Galapagos tortoise exhibit, the Amphibian Building, and the Reptile House. This was a very fulfilling experience, and I learned many things about the wonderful world of reptiles, and how people can get a job in the field. Let’s hop right in!
In 2007, Mr. Gilson began his career at the Zoo by becoming a Program Aid for the Education Department. During this time, he also obtained a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Science from Point Loma Nazarene University. Through his college, he was able to coordinate an internship with the Herpetology Department at the Zoo. During the internship, Mr. Gilson worked at the Zoo’s Institute for Conservation Research where he was able to study reptiles, such as the Caribbean rock iguana, and amphibians, like the mountain yellow-legged frog. In 2011, the Zoo hired him as an Educator Guide. Success!
Being an Educator Guide allows Mr. Gilson to work with the reptiles he loves while also ensuring that every day is unique and interesting. His job entails leading tours of the Zoo (like he did for us!) and giving educational presentations at schools and other similar places around San Diego County. While giving these presentations, he usually brings a reptilian animal ambassador. An animal ambassador is an animal that represents the Zoo and has been specifically trained to interact with their keepers and trainers. These animals are a good way to keep kids interested in the different topics Mr. Gilson talks about during his presentations and programs. He advises anyone else who might want to go into his line of work to study up on herpetological taxonomy (that’s like reptile jargon) for the different species so that you are able to communicate with other keepers. Based on the sheer amount of reptile and amphibian species, that sounds like a challenge! He also says previous hands-on experience (such as internships or volunteer opportunities) is helpful when obtaining a career caring for reptiles and amphibians.
Sometimes an opportunity will present itself to Zoo employees that seem impossible to pass up. One of these opportunities came to Mr. Gilson in the form of a two-week trip to Fiji! This was not a relaxing beachfront vacation, though. While there, he worked with a Fiji banded iguana conservation organization to help create educational programs. These programs will help spread awareness of the many endangered Fijian iguana species and get their population numbers back up to a stable level. Mr. Gilson also worked with island rangers to design curriculum that would, hopefully, reduce the amount of poaching and illegal trade of iguanas.
Mr. Gilson loves his line of work, and that’s clear to see when looking at his smiling face while he scratches a Galapagos tortoise’s neck or holds a green tree frog. His love for reptiles stems from the fact that they are so misunderstood when compared to other animals. Most people see reptiles as slithery, slimy, and gross creatures that are as lacking in personality as they are scaly. This is most certainly not true. Just spending a few minutes with the tortoises or iguanas is enough to see that some of them present much higher levels of intelligence and personality than you may think. For example, Mr. Gilson told us of one situation where the Galapagos tortoises wanted to be in the same enclosure as the females on the other side. Looking at where the female enclosure was situated on the outside, they were able to figure out that the doors in their barn also led to it. They would even sometimes plant themselves in front of the doors stealthily, waiting for a keeper to open it up for them. Just like your family dog! Mr. Gilson hopes that, through his job, he can show people just how swell reptiles really are.
Mr. Gilson has opened my eyes to the vast array of different reptiles and how they function. Being an Educator Guide at the Zoo allows him to teach many others about our worlds reptilian residents. Getting to meet him was a pleasure, and I enjoyed learning about how he got to where he is today. If you thought reptiles weren’t very interesting before reading this, I hope you now have a new outlook on our scaly pals. I sure do!
David, Careers Team
Week One, Fall Session 2016
Interns were lucky enough to meet with Mr. Peter Gilson, a Reptile Keeper and Educator Guide here at the San Diego Zoo. Mr. Gilson gave us a behind-the-scenes tour of the Galapagos tortoise exhibit, the Amphibian Building, and the Reptile House. This was a very fulfilling experience, and I learned many things about the wonderful world of reptiles, and how people can get a job in the field. Let’s hop right in!
In 2007, Mr. Gilson began his career at the Zoo by becoming a Program Aid for the Education Department. During this time, he also obtained a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Science from Point Loma Nazarene University. Through his college, he was able to coordinate an internship with the Herpetology Department at the Zoo. During the internship, Mr. Gilson worked at the Zoo’s Institute for Conservation Research where he was able to study reptiles, such as the Caribbean rock iguana, and amphibians, like the mountain yellow-legged frog. In 2011, the Zoo hired him as an Educator Guide. Success!
Being an Educator Guide allows Mr. Gilson to work with the reptiles he loves while also ensuring that every day is unique and interesting. His job entails leading tours of the Zoo (like he did for us!) and giving educational presentations at schools and other similar places around San Diego County. While giving these presentations, he usually brings a reptilian animal ambassador. An animal ambassador is an animal that represents the Zoo and has been specifically trained to interact with their keepers and trainers. These animals are a good way to keep kids interested in the different topics Mr. Gilson talks about during his presentations and programs. He advises anyone else who might want to go into his line of work to study up on herpetological taxonomy (that’s like reptile jargon) for the different species so that you are able to communicate with other keepers. Based on the sheer amount of reptile and amphibian species, that sounds like a challenge! He also says previous hands-on experience (such as internships or volunteer opportunities) is helpful when obtaining a career caring for reptiles and amphibians.
Sometimes an opportunity will present itself to Zoo employees that seem impossible to pass up. One of these opportunities came to Mr. Gilson in the form of a two-week trip to Fiji! This was not a relaxing beachfront vacation, though. While there, he worked with a Fiji banded iguana conservation organization to help create educational programs. These programs will help spread awareness of the many endangered Fijian iguana species and get their population numbers back up to a stable level. Mr. Gilson also worked with island rangers to design curriculum that would, hopefully, reduce the amount of poaching and illegal trade of iguanas.
Mr. Gilson loves his line of work, and that’s clear to see when looking at his smiling face while he scratches a Galapagos tortoise’s neck or holds a green tree frog. His love for reptiles stems from the fact that they are so misunderstood when compared to other animals. Most people see reptiles as slithery, slimy, and gross creatures that are as lacking in personality as they are scaly. This is most certainly not true. Just spending a few minutes with the tortoises or iguanas is enough to see that some of them present much higher levels of intelligence and personality than you may think. For example, Mr. Gilson told us of one situation where the Galapagos tortoises wanted to be in the same enclosure as the females on the other side. Looking at where the female enclosure was situated on the outside, they were able to figure out that the doors in their barn also led to it. They would even sometimes plant themselves in front of the doors stealthily, waiting for a keeper to open it up for them. Just like your family dog! Mr. Gilson hopes that, through his job, he can show people just how swell reptiles really are.
Mr. Gilson has opened my eyes to the vast array of different reptiles and how they function. Being an Educator Guide at the Zoo allows him to teach many others about our worlds reptilian residents. Getting to meet him was a pleasure, and I enjoyed learning about how he got to where he is today. If you thought reptiles weren’t very interesting before reading this, I hope you now have a new outlook on our scaly pals. I sure do!
David, Careers Team
Week One, Fall Session 2016
