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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!
Have you ever wondered what happens to the eggs laid by birds on exhibit at the San Diego Zoo? The answer turns out to be more complicated than you may think! At the Avian Propagation Center, bird eggs are incubated and hatched, and then hand raised until they are stable and self-sufficient. To learn more about this program as well as how to a pursue a career working hands on with baby birds, interns met with Ms. Ann Knutson, a Senior Keeper.
Ms. Knutson began at UCSD, acquiring a Bachelor’s degree in General Biology. She explained that going into college, she knew she wanted to pursue one of three career options: teaching, zookeeping, or researching. By the end of her schooling, however, she had narrowed down her primary interests to researching and zookeeping. She elaborated, saying that she loved talking to people and knowing that she was making a difference. In a research career, she could do that more directly- by researching animal species and becoming immersed in conservation. In a zookeeping career, however, she could spread knowledge with zoo guests, in addition to directly interacting with the animals. She loved the idea of sharing the discoveries of researchers with the public and began to look into becoming a zookeeper.
It turned out that many people had the same idea! Zookeeping is a position in high demand, and Ms. Knutson found herself rejected from the San Diego Zoo when she applied for a job. The Zoo said that she needed 3-4 years of experience before she could become an eligible participant. Looking for new experiences, she sought out an internship at the Institute of Bird Populations in Texas, where she researched birds for six months. After that, she got another job at a small rescue zoo, where she worked for an additional six months. Discovering that she would need a higher education in the competitive world of zookeeping, she moved to Wichita, Kansas to attempt a second Bachelor’s degree.
In Kansas, Ms. Knutson attended Friends University, a liberal arts college with an excellent zoo science program, which she attended for one semester. Since the college had a strong partnership with the Sedgewick County Zoo, she began working at that zoo full time, and ended up working there for five years. However, Ms. Knutson still couldn’t get the idea of working at the San Diego Zoo out of her head. When she had the opportunity to visit the city for an AZA conference, she jumped on it, hoping to network and make connections with people from the San Diego Zoo. At the conference, she talked to a supervisor and manager at the San Diego Zoo, who remembered her from her initial interview. Two months later, a job opened up and as a result of her experience and networking she received it!
Since then, Ms. Knutson has been exposed to a number of opportunities, including going to Kenya, where she learned about a rabies epidemic in Asia caused by a decline in the native vulture populations. Without the vultures, carrion had littered the ground throughout the continent, and the carcasses carried rabies. Feral dogs fed on the dead animals and spread the disease to nearby human populations. As it turned out, a similar epidemic was occurring in Kenya, so when she returned to the Zoo, she was filled with ideas. She contacted a researcher who was studying the phenomenon, and through the Zoo, Ms. Knutson was able to raise almost $40,000 in grants to help fund her research.
At her current position at the Avian Propagation Center, Ms. Knutson’s job includes working in the hatchery and incubation room. There, incoming eggs are “cooked,” as the keepers call it jokingly, in one of the incubators, based on species and egg size. She makes sure the eggs are being properly rotated and regularly checks up on their progress by carefully shining a light into them, a technique called “candling”. She also raises baby birds found on exhibit that underwent an accident or developmental difficulty. Her job also includes caring for the already hatched and growing babies. Ms. Knutson feeds and cares for the birds, helping to maintain the beautiful bird populations not only at the San Diego Zoo, but in the wild.
Casey, Careers Team
Week Three, Fall Session 2016
Have you ever wondered what happens to the eggs laid by birds on exhibit at the San Diego Zoo? The answer turns out to be more complicated than you may think! At the Avian Propagation Center, bird eggs are incubated and hatched, and then hand raised until they are stable and self-sufficient. To learn more about this program as well as how to a pursue a career working hands on with baby birds, interns met with Ms. Ann Knutson, a Senior Keeper.
Ms. Knutson began at UCSD, acquiring a Bachelor’s degree in General Biology. She explained that going into college, she knew she wanted to pursue one of three career options: teaching, zookeeping, or researching. By the end of her schooling, however, she had narrowed down her primary interests to researching and zookeeping. She elaborated, saying that she loved talking to people and knowing that she was making a difference. In a research career, she could do that more directly- by researching animal species and becoming immersed in conservation. In a zookeeping career, however, she could spread knowledge with zoo guests, in addition to directly interacting with the animals. She loved the idea of sharing the discoveries of researchers with the public and began to look into becoming a zookeeper.
It turned out that many people had the same idea! Zookeeping is a position in high demand, and Ms. Knutson found herself rejected from the San Diego Zoo when she applied for a job. The Zoo said that she needed 3-4 years of experience before she could become an eligible participant. Looking for new experiences, she sought out an internship at the Institute of Bird Populations in Texas, where she researched birds for six months. After that, she got another job at a small rescue zoo, where she worked for an additional six months. Discovering that she would need a higher education in the competitive world of zookeeping, she moved to Wichita, Kansas to attempt a second Bachelor’s degree.
In Kansas, Ms. Knutson attended Friends University, a liberal arts college with an excellent zoo science program, which she attended for one semester. Since the college had a strong partnership with the Sedgewick County Zoo, she began working at that zoo full time, and ended up working there for five years. However, Ms. Knutson still couldn’t get the idea of working at the San Diego Zoo out of her head. When she had the opportunity to visit the city for an AZA conference, she jumped on it, hoping to network and make connections with people from the San Diego Zoo. At the conference, she talked to a supervisor and manager at the San Diego Zoo, who remembered her from her initial interview. Two months later, a job opened up and as a result of her experience and networking she received it!
Since then, Ms. Knutson has been exposed to a number of opportunities, including going to Kenya, where she learned about a rabies epidemic in Asia caused by a decline in the native vulture populations. Without the vultures, carrion had littered the ground throughout the continent, and the carcasses carried rabies. Feral dogs fed on the dead animals and spread the disease to nearby human populations. As it turned out, a similar epidemic was occurring in Kenya, so when she returned to the Zoo, she was filled with ideas. She contacted a researcher who was studying the phenomenon, and through the Zoo, Ms. Knutson was able to raise almost $40,000 in grants to help fund her research.
At her current position at the Avian Propagation Center, Ms. Knutson’s job includes working in the hatchery and incubation room. There, incoming eggs are “cooked,” as the keepers call it jokingly, in one of the incubators, based on species and egg size. She makes sure the eggs are being properly rotated and regularly checks up on their progress by carefully shining a light into them, a technique called “candling”. She also raises baby birds found on exhibit that underwent an accident or developmental difficulty. Her job also includes caring for the already hatched and growing babies. Ms. Knutson feeds and cares for the birds, helping to maintain the beautiful bird populations not only at the San Diego Zoo, but in the wild.
Casey, Careers Team
Week Three, Fall Session 2016
