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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!
When most people imagine a zookeeper, they think of someone who trains animals like tigers and lions. Not very often would you picture someone who works with insects, more specifically butterflies. Today we met Brandon Rowley, a butterfly keeper at the San Diego Zoo. At the Zoo, he is part of an endangered species recovery program facilitated by both San Diego Zoo Global and the California Fish and Wildlife Service. In his job, he raises quino checkerspot butterflies from the time they are hatched and eventually releases them into their natural habitat, Riverside, California. In addition to that, he has worked with birds and giraffes during the butterfly off-season.
Mr. Rowley spoke to our intern group about native and invasive species of plants, showed us the butterfly conservation lab where he spends much of his time, and talked about his educational background. Growing up in a family of engineers, Mr. Rowley has always had a long-standing passion for science. He also really liked animals and knew that he wanted to work with them, but he wanted to choose an area of study that was a good balance of what he wanted and what is practical for the real world.
Due to an interest in wildlife and math not being his strongest subject, he chose to study ecology and biology at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, California. His first choice for university was UC San Diego, but after not being accepted into UCSD, Mr. Rowley considered going to community college before transferring. However, after looking through the course catalog for Cal Poly, he decided that this school was the right fit for him. Today, he says that the hands-on, lab-intensive education he received at Cal Poly was extremely valuable, and he is glad he went there.
In university, Mr. Rowley involved himself in many extracurriculars which is what set him apart from most other students. He participated in the Wildlife Club (eventually becoming the club’s president), studied biofuels and molecular biology outside of the classroom, but most importantly, he worked on a monarch butterfly conservation project. This and many internships would lead him to landing his current job at the San Diego Zoo as a butterfly keeper.
As we stood outside of the Butterfly Conservation Lab, from inside the lab, Mr. Rowley showed us a rack of what seemed to be labelled containers with a paper towel in each of them. We soon found out that each of those containers contained dozens of butterfly larvae! He also explained to us how carefully they must count the larvae since they are so small, even going as far as to wear jewelers’ glasses to magnify them!
We then learned how he and his colleagues release the butterflies. Using a wired caged about the size and shape of an orange, they place the quino butterflies in a container within it and tie it to a bush. Eventually, they are able to find their way out and into the wild. Their methods of raising and releasing these butterflies have been highly successful. Last year, they released approximately 1,500 quino butterflies!
Looking to the future, Mr. Rowley would like to earn a master’s degree and work at a university. His passion for education, conservation, and the desire to contribute to science through education is what drives him.
For those who wish to pursue his career, he recommends evaluating your strengths and weaknesses to figure out what path is best for you, find something you enjoy but is also viable for the future, and get involved! These choices are what led Mr. Rowley to where he is today and will only lead him to better places in the future.
Andi, Career Team
Week Two, Fall Session 2017
When most people imagine a zookeeper, they think of someone who trains animals like tigers and lions. Not very often would you picture someone who works with insects, more specifically butterflies. Today we met Brandon Rowley, a butterfly keeper at the San Diego Zoo. At the Zoo, he is part of an endangered species recovery program facilitated by both San Diego Zoo Global and the California Fish and Wildlife Service. In his job, he raises quino checkerspot butterflies from the time they are hatched and eventually releases them into their natural habitat, Riverside, California. In addition to that, he has worked with birds and giraffes during the butterfly off-season.
Mr. Rowley spoke to our intern group about native and invasive species of plants, showed us the butterfly conservation lab where he spends much of his time, and talked about his educational background. Growing up in a family of engineers, Mr. Rowley has always had a long-standing passion for science. He also really liked animals and knew that he wanted to work with them, but he wanted to choose an area of study that was a good balance of what he wanted and what is practical for the real world.
Due to an interest in wildlife and math not being his strongest subject, he chose to study ecology and biology at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, California. His first choice for university was UC San Diego, but after not being accepted into UCSD, Mr. Rowley considered going to community college before transferring. However, after looking through the course catalog for Cal Poly, he decided that this school was the right fit for him. Today, he says that the hands-on, lab-intensive education he received at Cal Poly was extremely valuable, and he is glad he went there.
In university, Mr. Rowley involved himself in many extracurriculars which is what set him apart from most other students. He participated in the Wildlife Club (eventually becoming the club’s president), studied biofuels and molecular biology outside of the classroom, but most importantly, he worked on a monarch butterfly conservation project. This and many internships would lead him to landing his current job at the San Diego Zoo as a butterfly keeper.
As we stood outside of the Butterfly Conservation Lab, from inside the lab, Mr. Rowley showed us a rack of what seemed to be labelled containers with a paper towel in each of them. We soon found out that each of those containers contained dozens of butterfly larvae! He also explained to us how carefully they must count the larvae since they are so small, even going as far as to wear jewelers’ glasses to magnify them!
We then learned how he and his colleagues release the butterflies. Using a wired caged about the size and shape of an orange, they place the quino butterflies in a container within it and tie it to a bush. Eventually, they are able to find their way out and into the wild. Their methods of raising and releasing these butterflies have been highly successful. Last year, they released approximately 1,500 quino butterflies!
Looking to the future, Mr. Rowley would like to earn a master’s degree and work at a university. His passion for education, conservation, and the desire to contribute to science through education is what drives him.
For those who wish to pursue his career, he recommends evaluating your strengths and weaknesses to figure out what path is best for you, find something you enjoy but is also viable for the future, and get involved! These choices are what led Mr. Rowley to where he is today and will only lead him to better places in the future.
Andi, Career Team
Week Two, Fall Session 2017
