Education

"WCS is a leader—locally, nationally, and internationally—in educating youngsters and adults to become concerned about the survival of wild animals and wild habitats."

The WCS Education Division has an enduring commitment to our youth, which was recognized again in 2003 with the coveted AZA Significant Achievement Award for the Bronx Zoo’s Wildlife Science Careers Program. The award underscores the importance of involving the nation’s youth in conservation activities.

Working with the National Science Foundation’s Program for Gender Equity in Science, Math, Engineering, and Technology, we completed a four-year project in collaboration with the Girl Scout Council of Greater New York to promote interest and achievement in science among young women. Workshops served more than 2,000 girls, many from the inner city, and provided participants with behind-the-scenes access to professionals in animal care and management, education, exhibit design, field science, wildlife health, and wildlife science park support. A select group of the most highly committed young women served summer internships of 200 hours in the WCS Living Institutions, developing further insight into conservation related careers.

Often, our most immediate impact is with teenagers. It is vital to imprint the impressionable minds of these soon-to-be adults with a respect for nature. This year, 24 Junior Zoo Guides, graduates of the 2002 Project IMAGINE, worked with the Bronx Zoo’s Friends of Wildlife Conservation to disseminate conservation messages to zoo visitors. The program provided training in conservation biology and technology. Eighty-six percent of parents surveyed said their child’s participation in this program positively contributed to improved performance in school and increased confidence.

National Teacher Education Program
Twelve hundred teachers from New York, Connecticut, South Dakota, Kansas, Ohio, Texas, Pennsylvania, Florida, Iowa, and Nebraska benefited from WCS teacher-training workshops during the year. In addition, teachers in Ottawa, Canada, and in Puerto Rico received training and curriculum materials.

International Education Programs
The Education Division's international program brings an appreciation of nature, an awareness of ecological principles, and an understanding of conservation issues directly to schools, educators, and students in regions where WCS field scientists work and wildlife lives. Our formal environmental education programs outside the United States were launched in 1993 in China, the world’s largest market for wildlife products, and shortly after that in Papua New Guinea, a center of remarkable biodiversity. These were the first education programs of their kind in the two countries.

Education programs and teacher-training workshops are also in development with the Munda Wanga Zoo in Lusaka, Zambia.