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Report of CV Starr Fellows visiting WCS facilities (Bronx, Queen’s, & Aquarium) from October 9-26, 2003 - Anand Pendharkar

Preamble Tom and Nalini had worked out a packed but exciting Education is a constant process, the termination of which schedule of visits to , Zoos/Aquarium, sites indicates intellectual death. However, attending training displaying local conservation efforts, lecture sessions (on workshops and seminars as a ‘participant’ after being an campus and at various other venues within ), educator for well over 15 years seemed a little odd, as I group discussions, experiential learning programmes, didn’t expect to “learn” many new methods of teaching or lunch and sit-ons in departmental meetings, as well as add information to my existing knowledge-base. Under private lunches/brunch and dinners. They also made such circumstances, when I received a letter of invitation personalised arrangements for city tours, visits to local from the office to attend a five-day training beaches, parks and invitations to their homes to interact programmon (Teachers for Tigers - T4T) at Chennai, with their families and pets (other animals)! Tom and conducted by educators from16 the Wildlife Conservation Nalini’s vision and experience in planning was displayed by Society (WCS), I wondered what should my decision be. It the free time allocated for shopping and visiting areas of was a tough decision to make, as I am fairly familiar with personal interest, like the two weekends, which I utilised to the basics of behaviour, distribution and problems visit my friends and relatives in Boston (Massachusetts being an alumni of the Wildlife Institute of India (WII); and to State) and Edison ( State). And to top the make the decision tougher, the dates of this workshop goodies - they treated us to a show of the Broadway coincided with my best friend’s wedding. However, a year Musical “ King”! later, I can say without exaggeration that accepting that invitation and attending the workshop at Chennai changed The Learning Experience my life entirely! Planning (which includes flexibility and contingencies), interactivity, variations and communication were the most The Chennai Workshop prominent areas in this entire learning experience. There The Chennai workshop was an eye-opener, as from the was not one session in the entire two weeks that was even inaugural session to the valediction, my dairy was full of vaguely similar (repetitive) to another. Even the visits to new ideas, methods and observations, of how Tom Naiman parts of Zoo, which due to its size and vastness, and Nalini Mohan, the two expert educators from the were broken and spread over several days. The instruction International Education Department of the included indoor class sessions (lead by Danielle and conducted the workshop, supported effortlessly by the ZOO Ronald Griffith, Gabie, Bonnie), meetings with several staff. The level of co-ordination and planning struck me departmental heads (Ann Robinson, Jeanine Silversmith, prominently. Team effort, taking notes and comments of Robert Sikora, Donald Lisowy, Merryl Kafka, Joshua participants and a non-obtrusive methodology of teaching Ginsberg), combined with guided tours with specialist were other areas, which I realised were of immense educators (Ron, Anthony Cogswell, Mark). The importance while working with large, adult audiences. presentations made by the CV Starr Fellows to the Board of Governors/Trustees of the WCS although nerve raking T4T Workshops during the preparatory stage, turned out stimulating, thanks Three training sessions later (the monsoon sessions in to the personal guidance of Annette Berkovitts, Tom Naiman South India - PTR, KMTR & RMNH) as education interns in & Nalini Mohan. the T4T workshops and hours of discussion and interaction with Tom Naiman, Nalini Mohan, Sally Walker and the four Highlights other co-interns (Payal, Daniel, Gigi & Mridula), I realised, Since the entire trip was a combination of methods, I’m my teaching methodologies and planning process had enlisting the characteristics and highpoints of the (most taken a quantum leap. However, the invitation to travel engrossing) sessions to provide an overview and insight overseas to the US to learn from and observe the education into the merits of the Fellowship Programme: programmes of the WCS’ Education Department was a high point in my life. And I’m grateful to Sally Walker, Tom Mommy & Me (Daddy & Me) (3-4yrs) - Mystery bags which Naiman and Nalini Mohan for considering me capable for help compare parental care with how animal babies the CV Starr Fellowship, as well as to Annette Berkovits and are brought up (metamorphosis, moulting, building, her team to make it “HAPPEN”. camouflage, grooming, nursing);

The US Visit Kindergarten (5-7yrs) - Gabie’s (Educator) patience The visit of the CV Starr Fellows to New York City and with perky kids like “Luke”, while playing Animal Charades various WCS’ facilities (Bronx, and Central Park with picture cards displaying behaviours like sleeping, Zoos and ) and education programmes grooming, playing, dominance, nest making. Walk through was a unique experience of learning, interactions, analysis crowded Congo (Bronx Zoo) with picture cards; and imbibing of global philosophies in Zoo Education, Fall Foliage Walk - Thomas Hurtubise (Curator - Education, Design and layout, planning, communication as well as Queen’s Zoo) - Houses North American flora (Red Maple, Green marketing. Viburnum, Sumac, Ironwood) and fauna (Lynx, Bald , Bison, Cowbird, Roosevelt Elk) plus a walk-in having

16 ZOOS' PRINT, Volume XIX, Number 10, October 2004 (RNI 6:1) “symbolistic signages” as Queen’s Borough has people Indian One-horned , Barking, , Hog & from 80 countries, speaking 160 languages & dialects; China-, Sambar, , ;

National Programmes (Pablo Python, Voyage from the Education Programme on Reptiles & (6- Sun, H.E.L.P, Elly Jelly, Wild Explorations) - Ann Robinson, 10yrs) - Anthony, Jen, Leslie (Educators) - Starting with Director (National Program) - “You are what you eat!” comparing live Black Rat Snake and Fire-bellied Toad, the ‘Reading’ shouldn’t be used as a medium to ‘Educate’, highly energetic group used Touch Boxes and Mystery Bags where language could be a problem, hence multi- to observe characteristics of the Herpetiles; disciplinary programmes using experiential learning, activities, visuals, symbols, signages, music, art are After School Learning Program - Ronald Griffith & Danielle effective alternatives. Extensions (levels) are a MUST for (Senior Educators) - “In EVERY category of Science there gifted kids. Elementary school teachers fear ‘science’ and are exceptions to the rule!” Programme oriented for children revitalisation of teachers is extremely important to the from under-serviced schools, hence food & snacks are success of their programme; always served. There WILL BE a TEST, take notes, although notes ARE & WILL BE given, review next session before the Elly Jelly/Wild Explorations - Sarah Gruber (Senior test. Mammalian classification on the basis of a) Curriculum Developer) - “Literacy to teach Content, Content Reproductive Strategies (Monotremes, Marsupials, to teach Literacy.” Elly Jelly filled an aquatic niche Placentals), b) Dentition or Nutrition (incisors-clipping, (information in a bubble), as there is extensive literature on canine-tearing/ripping, premolars & molars - grinding/ terrestrial habitats”. Huge manuals are restrictive, hence shearing-carnasials), c) Movement (Plantigrade or Flat feet, Elly Jelly has six smaller units; Digitigrade or Elongated feet, Unguligrade or Toes/ Hooves). Enlarged brain has led to extra parental care. - Bob Sikora (Curator, Education) - Most Migration of jawbones of reptiles to form ear ossicles in buildings (like the ) are heritage monuments so . Typical features of mammals (Vivipary, placental can’t be extended upwards or outwards, only downwards, attachment, mammae, advanced parental care, hair/fur, though that’s expensive! Over 120 trained volunteers who enlarged brain, no cloaca, various glands, endothermic, have attended an 8weeks course which they PAY for; external pinnae, single dentary bone, heterodontous teeth, 3 ear ossicles, 7 cervical vertebrae, 4-chambered heart); Onsite and Offsite Theatre Programmes (IMTAL) - Jonathon & Nicole (Educators) - 70% Urban people have (Congo Class) - Anthony Cogswell (Elementary strong dislike & fear of wildlife and wild areas - Theatre Instructor) - Prepared Classroom with drawings on white Performances makes them look more closely at the board, hanging paper cuttings and mystery partition! Begin animals and gives them a positive image. At Bronx & with quick revision of last session on ‘Grasslands’. Close Central Park Zoos, New York Aquarium (planning for eyes -imagine you are walking through a rainforest - spray & Queen’s Zoos) - Captain Cocoa (Saving a little water through a spray bottle! Read out a letter from Golden Lion Tamarins), Main Stage performances (12min, Dan (a former WCS educator, currently doing research on 5-9yrs), Children Zoo theatre (5min, 3-5yrs) with puppet/ nesting material of ) with assignments for students magic shows, sing-alongs. Pre-reading age group shows to segregate items from levels (storeys) of the forest from have NO conservation message, just knowing names, floor, to understorey to canopy. Use measuring tape to making friends! Roaming Troupe Programme to draw compare rainfalls in desert or New York with rainforest attention to Non-BIG species within the Zoo; (50inches v/s 300inches). Observation of Live Brazilian Rainbow Boa Constrictor. Adaptation Board - outing, Animal Wraps (2-4yrs) - Bonnie (Educator) - Warm up by outdoor activity, competition with 3 boards and 3 teams. singing. Animal picture cards (, Dolphin, ) - stand & move arms, make animal’s sound! Talk about Lunch Lecture - Carolina Murcia (WCS Field Researcher) - animals with fur & hair (mammals) - shedding (), “Can ecosystems be restored? Humpty Dumpty revisited in warmth (fox), camouflage (rabbit), protection/ defense the Colombian Andes” - The Otun Watershed - a dangerous (quill). Bring ‘Live Animals’ from behind Partition. Make a area to work in with regular kidnapping and violence! hedgehog with dough & Spaghetti; Challenge of conserving areas of high biological diversity with high population pressures. Mixed restoration strategy Lecture at Columbia University - Dr. Richard Schroeder - of natural regeneration, monocultural and mixed “Environmental Justice & the Market in ’s Wildlife plantations of native and exotic tree species. Native Alders Sector”. Distributed (Justice) Remedy Approach v/s associated with Nitrogen fixation (Actinomycetes), fast Procedural Justice. 4th World Geography of indigenous growing. Areas of research - Litterfall, Forest dynamics, (tribal) people! “Trinkets & beads Justice”. “Expectation snags (limiting factors), wood volume, species diversity Management” keeps their expectations low, so whatever (pollinators, seed dispersors, herbivores); you give them it seems MORE! American of Natural History (AMNH) - Centre for Bengali Express (Mono-Rail) - Richard (Driver-Guide) - A Biodiversity & Conservation - Network for Conservation highly informative ride passing through the Kanha Educators & Practitioners are looking for partners in other Meadows, South China (Formosan Sika deer), Cambodian countries in fields of Applied Demography, Project Forest (, Brow-antlered deer), Karakoram Ranges Evaluation and Habitat Fragmentation; (), (Asian ), besides displaying Machans and animals like Indo-Chinese tiger, ZOOS' PRINT, Volume XIX, Number 10, October 2004 (RNI 6:1) 17 New York Aquarium - Merryl Kafka (Curator, Education) - Adolescents, Adults, Girls (teens), FOZs (Friends of Zoo), Merryl joined in 1969 as a Volunteer and hasn’t left since Volunteers & Distance Learning, Biofact carts, guided tours, then, now the Curator! New York’s coastline is 720miles mini-talks, Public Ads & Outreach programmes for and has lost 60% to urbanisation. Nearly 70% underrepresented groups (minorities, women,). More focus global atmospheric Oxygen comes from Sea plants wrongly on early age learning rather than adult (non-literate) groups. called Sea WEEDS! Observed Coastal profile, Volunteers could get involved in interpretation/education, Biomagnification, Detrital cycles, violation patterns non-animal departments, attending phone-calls, office/ (Department of Environmental Conservation - DEC), computer work, mailing/follow-ups, making newsletters, Volunteers’ training or Docent Programme; posters (making & distribution);

JHS117 Class 7th - Bob Haibig (Mathematics teacher) - Start Weekly Senior Staff Meeting - Annette Berkovits (Senior VP with addition-subtraction of integers moving to Number Education) - Brings about interfacing and interactions. Lines (using masking tape). Class Group assignment Highest income through payments for education presentations on Probability assessed on a) Mathematical programmes ($1.4m annually) - compare with Indian Zoos! Concepts, b) Oral Presentation, c) Visual Presentation, d) Programmes - Watch (Training volunteers given Originality/Creativity; bio-facts related to local wildlife & Ecology), cross- fertilisation of ideas, Breakfast programme (Tiger Mountain Lunch Lecture - Dr. Vardis Tsontos - “Marine Information exhibit), Halloween Festival, Guest Speakers, Small Systems, GIS & Web-based Mapping Technologies within Surveys within zoos about age-based visitorship; the context of the Census of Marine Life Programme - Explained types of data (Bathymetric, climatological, relative Rocking the Boat - Jim - To teach teens the dying art of distribution & abundance of selected fish species) and the boat-making while doing scientific studies on the Bronx methods of collation, concept of transboundary stocks for River’s decay, restoration work by plantation of grasses and marine protected areas, increased accessibility to monitoring habitat recovery! multivariate oceanographic data; Friends of the Zoos (FOZ) - Guests at the FOZ Annual National Programs (Populations, Habitat Boxes, Inquiry Meeting and observers of the FOZ’s 8-weeks’ training Workshop) - Mark Eisenhenmen (Teacher Trainer) - “Birth modules (including structuring of Zoos/Aquarium, Species Control = Abortion” is yet the equation in mindsets of many Survival Plan-SSP, History of Zoos/WCS, History of American regions. Parenting Game, Film on Zero Volunteering); Population Growth, Inquiry Learning (Habitat Boxes), Creative Writing, Assessment techniques were undertaken. Hunting & Programme - Liz Benett - Inquiry learning is an essential for developing a scientific International Dept which runs in Crates (Asia - Ullas process. Four stations with skulls (real & exact look-alike Karanth, Africa, Latin America, , Marine), plastic ones) - Station1: Aves, Reptiles, Mammals - on Cross Cutting Programmes (Living landscapes, Big Cat arrangement of jaw bones; Station 2: Insectivores/ Studies, Hunting & Wildlife trade), Enforcement and Omnivores - Mixed Dental Formula; Station 3: Herbaceous Education; feeders - Diastema, flat incisors; Station 4: Carnivores - Carnasial teeth, sagital crest, open oculars, huge canines; Distance Learning Programme - Erin - MOST impressive programme managed single-handedly right from marketing Grants/Fund-Raising - Lee Livney - Send Cold proposals to to servicing and administration! Talk about Gorilla habitat a foundation/funding agency you don’t have a connection degradation for students all over the country via Webcam - with. Identification of funding source involves: a) Identifying Software - Screen - Micorphone. Saving Wildlife = Discover Foundation, b) Finding Linkages within your own Trustees/ Animal Needs + Involve Local People + Protect Wild Places! Staff, c) Not necessary to have a compelling programme, d) Interpretation & Design - Johnny Fraser - Excellent session Read guidelines carefully as your project should fit on design, layouts and visualisation for non-literate crowds. “perfectly”, e) Details and neatness counts (avoid typos & Design = Concept, Prototyping, Ergonomics & local calculation errors, good layout with suitable references). prejudice (Country-wise bias about the concept of WILD)! Scale down the project if it seems unsustainable. Look for Interactive exhibits provide value building, Instinctive multiple funders - it establishes ‘Credibility’! Education/Experience & Information. Layout is designed considering the visitor wants to see animal FIRST and then WCS Wide (International Heads Meeting) - One of the Education! Vandal-proofing and passive approach BEST SESSIONS - Brevity without loss of details was the important constraints. highlight here. Each regional head updated the congregation about the recent socio-political and research Reflections in Dolphin Mind Mirror - Dr. Diana Reiss - developments in their eco-region peppering the Impressive and intriguing lecture in FOZ annual meeting presentations with humour and charm. The discussion about correlation between intelligence (v/s instinct) and highlighted the NEGATIVE IMAGE of an ENVIROMENTALIST, mirror self recognition (MSR) in several species, as compared to the POSITIVE IMAGE of a SCIENTIST - focusing on Bottle-nosed Dolphins. which can be used in campaigns! “In the end, we will conserve only what we love, we will love WCS Education Department - Donald Lisowy (Curator only what we understand, we will understand only what we Education, Bronx Zoo) - Onsite programmes include pre- are taught.” school, 3-4yr olds (annually nearly 40000kids), - Baba Dioum 18 ZOOS' PRINT, Volume XIX, Number 10, October 2004 (RNI 6:1)