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April 27, 2012

Symposium: Future of Zoos

Posted by Stacey Tarpley under Articles, General Thoughts, profession
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In February, the Buffalo Zoo and Canisius College hosted a special symposium entitled “The Future of Zoos.” Unfortunately, we here at Designingzoos.com completely missed that this symposium was occurring, but luckily, our friend, founder of Zoolex.org, and symposium presenter, Monika Fiby, shared her thoughts.

Impressions by Monika Fiby
monika@fiby.at, monika@zoolex.org

How will zoos look in 50 to 100 years from now? This was the theme of the “Future of Zoos” symposium held at Canisius College in Buffalo, New York. American animal behavior experts, conservationists, zoo directors, and international zoo design visionaries were invited to share not only what they think will be, but also to articulate what should be.I was attracted by the program, the list of participants and the proposed presentation topics. There are not many opportunities to meet with experts for a philosophical discourse. Others obviously thought the same and also made there way to Buffalo in February, which is really not the best time for a visit up North.

The weather was as cold as expected and ineffective heating and ventilation systems challenged my fitness. On the other hand, excellent organization and care by staff and volunteers made sure that we never waited anywhere in the cold and could not get lost. We enjoyed a welcoming atmosphere and the time we were awarded for unusual talks with unusual people.

Our host, Michael Noonan, is professor of animal behavior at the Canisius College Institute for the Study of Human-Animal Relations and director of the college’s new graduate program in Anthrozoology, that examines the relationships between people and their companion animals, animals in art, literature, science, agriculture and zoos. Co-host was the Buffalo Zoo.

The format of the symposium was formal presentations with some open discussion inbetween. The audience, about 100 zoo interested students and professionals, were invited to submit questions to the moderator. The symposium was video taped for compiling and publishing a printed document about the presentations and discussions.

Symposium participants were asked to present their vision on following subjects:

Anticipating the Nature of Future Zoo Visitors:

The Demographics of Future Zoo Visitors
Donna Fernandes, Buffalo Zoological Gardens

The Expectations of Future Zoo Visitors
Jesse Donahue, Saginaw Valley State University

Beyond the Animal: Exhibiting and Interpreting Nature
David Hancocks, Author, Architect, Zoo Director Emeritus

The Size and Shape of Future Zoos
Jeffrey P. Bonner, St Louis Zoo

Decentralizing Functions: The Proliferation of Institutional Forms
Kenneth Shapiro, Animal & Society Institute

Design and Architecture: Third Generation Conservation, Post- Immersion and Beyond
Jon Coe, Jon Coe Design

An Anthrozoological Perspective: Zoos Can Imprison Us/Zoos Should Liberate Us
Paul Waldau, Canisius College

The Role of Zoos in Conservation

Is Conservation a Viable Mission for Future Zoos?
Kevin Murphy, The Maryland Zoo in Baltimore

Managed Exchanges of Specimens with Wild Populations
Monika Fiby, ZooLex Zoo Design Organization

The Diminished State of Wildlife: How Zoos Might Respond
William Conway, Wildlife Conservation Society

The Changing Educational Role of Zoos
Keith Winsten, The Brevard Zoo

Zoos as Resources for Scientific Research
Donald Moore, Smithsonian’s National Zoological Park

The Expanding Mission of Zoos: New Socio-Cultural Roles
Erik Trump, Saginaw Valley State University

The Future Regulatory Environment
James F. Gesualdi, Attorney at Law

Species Selection in Future Zoos:

Some Species Do Not Belong In Zoos
Catherine Doyle, In Defense of Animals

Standard-based Decision Making
Susan Margulis, Canisius College

Cloning the Extinct: Ecological Prosthetics or Eco-ethical Minefield?
Jeffrey Yule, Louisiana Tech University

Bioengineered Life: Moral Implications for Future Zoos
John Fraser, New Knowledge Organization Ltd

The Role of Robotics in Future Zoos
Michael Noonan, Canisius College

Many statements remained undisputed, while others were highly controversial. Although we were asked to prepare visions for a far distant future, most discussions revolved about the current situation in the US and short term trends.

I summarized, what I considered interesting points from my personal perspective as an Austrian landscape architect and zoo designer with an international perspective. I studied in the United States, participated in several American zoo conferences and have known several participants for a long time. On the other hand, I have been working in Europe, Africa and Asia. I therefore focus on trends and visions that I believe are relevant on a global scale.

General trends

Urbanization, diversity, the demand for customization, all time media-use and nature-deficit disorders are trends that make zoos a prime location for family shared experiences and unstructured play.

The divide between elite and working class will become more important in the future.

Scientific findings dissolve the differences between animal and man. Feelings, emotion, empathy, tool use, self-awareness and collaboration are not distinctive features, but gradual differences.

Climate change and lack of corridors between habitats trap wild animals.

Conservation efforts so far have mostly been driven by species’ importance, body mass and representation of biological distinctiveness.

Compelling visions

Zoos have too many functions (conservation, education, entertainment) and need to change and focus.

Zoos will become less ark and more museum, less global and more local, less urban and more park. Performing art, virtual experiences, environmentalism and political mission will become more important. Institutions will decentralize and become managers of animal experiences. These experiences will be less predictable and more open ended than today.

Zoos thus will continue to develop into many different forms: reserves, protected areas, safaris, parks, sanctuaries, rehabilitation centres, breeding centres, theme parks, virtual zoos. etc. The development is not linear, but happens parallel at different speed in different places.

Cohabitation with semi-wild animals in urban, agricultural and forestry landscapes will also develop. The boundaries between managing animal populations in semi-wild, free-range and captive situations will blur. The translocation of wild animals – such as elephants in Malaysia – into semi-wild conditions will continue. The difference between ex-situ and in-situ will blur. Semi-natural settings for observing semi-wild animals will become common tourist attractions.

Education

Zoos are not the right location to promote behaviour change because this takes time. Zoos’ strengths are authenticity (real animals, real people, real projects, real stories, real experiences), various levels of engagement (signs, programs, websites), customization (media, programs), and connection with local nature. There is a demand for conservation action that zoos can answer with local conservation projects. The boundaries between formal and informal education are blurring.

Welfare

Reducing animals to objects of entertainment and education is in conflict with allowing them as much sovereignty as possible. New technologies such as motion detectors may help to give captive animals more control of their environment. Physical interaction with wild animals may get replaced by virtual touch. Since no technology replaces the real animal experience and effective monitoring of touching is not possible, domestic animals are the first place for direct interaction. Stress indicating devices may help to manage touch animals.

In the future, more people may get involved in animal management decisions such as transfer, euthanasia, rescue and reintroduction since it has become easier to identify individual animals. Rescue and reintroduction may become common practice of zoos and aquariums in collaboration with welfare activists.

There is no contradiction between conservation and welfare. Animal care improves with science. Welfare research for zoo animals is more difficult than for farm animals because their living conditions are much more varied. Welfare should become the main consideration when keeping animals. Husbandry should provide optimum physical and social environments. No more locking in of animals in winters, no more concrete floors, no more “wrong” animals in zoos. Orcas, chimpanzees, elephants may not be allowed in zoos in the future and more species may follow. But, where will they live?

Conservation

Restoration costs much more than conservation. Conservation helps to avoid extinction. But, reproduction is expensive and not sustainable in zoos. Zoos cannot be arks because of space problems and small animal populations. Reproduction planning should be top-down. Thus, large scale breeding centres, translocation, reintroduction for genetic augementation might become more common. Zoos should narrow the range of display animals, spezialize and focus, and eventually replace sanctuaries. On the other hand, diverse collections and breeding are useful for keeper training.

Cloning may become a tool for restoring extinct species, but also for creating chimeras. Cave bear, woolly mammoth, dodo and Tasmanian tiger may be recreated, because their DNA is available. A Pleistocene collection is imaginable. Genetic engineering may be used to customize animals, such as lions that behave like cats.

Summary

Overall, the symposium was inspiring and exciting and many wished that there will be similar events in the future. The opportunity to discuss with experts from various disciplines on an abstract level was considered useful: Self-reflection and uncovering assumptions may help us to give up disfunctional human centricism.

April 21, 2012

New Media Follow-Up: Visitors Online

Posted by Stacey Tarpley under Articles, General Thoughts, Master plans, profession
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In a study conducted by climate change education research group, CLiZEN, current zoo and aquarium visitors are highly engaged in digital media on a regular basis. The inaugural study was intended to collect background information on zoo-goers for use as the group develops educational recommendations specific to climate change. However, these results have larger educational and marketing implications, as was discussed earlier in this previous post.

From the study:

“Research Topic: Zoo and aquarium visitors have access to and experience with virtual social networks and other Internet technology platforms.

To determine the potential for usage of technology platforms as effective climate change
education resources for zoo and aquarium visitors, visitors were asked if they use mobile
technology to access the Internet and whether they regularly use any social networks or gaming
systems.

Most visitors have access to a hand-held Internet connection during their visit to a zoo or aquarium
Overall, 60% of visitors regularly use Facebook.
- Usage of Facebook varies considerably based on visitors’ ages. For visitors age 18-24 years old, 84% use Facebook, whereas visitors age 60 years old or more, only 28% use Facebook
Twenty-five percent of visitors regularly play Nintendo’s Wii gaming system (Figure 25).
In addition, almost half of survey respondents indicated they regularly play at least one type of electronic game.
- Older visitors, however, may not be as likely to utilize these resources (approximately 20% of the sample).”

To read the full study, click here.

June 9, 2011

The Greening of Zoos

Posted by Stacey Tarpley under Articles, General Thoughts, profession
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Recently, the PGAV Specialty Development Team has been spending a lot of time focusing on practical applications of green principles in the complex world of zoos and aquariums. (We have spent very little time looking at aquariums as the amount of energy required to run an aquarium is beyond the practical approaches we are familiar with at our basic level of understanding.) But, nonetheless, zoos are making strides in the green world. And are finally getting recognized for their efforts.

In 2010, Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Gardens was named the National Energy Star Greenest Zoo in America for their work including a Platinum LEED building and the installation of solar panels over their parking lot. That same year, the Indianapolis Zoo received a Governor’s Award of Environmental Excellence for their recycling program, and was the first zoo in the nation to receive the EPA’s Green Power Leadership Award for their commitment to purchase electricity created by green means.

But, I was curious. What are most zoos doing these days to become green, or at least, to give the impression that they are ‘going green?’ And, how many of these practices are things that we as zoo designers can positively influence or encourage through design?

Last month, the Zoo Design SDT investigated those questions through a rather admittedly simple exercise: We browsed the internet to find green zoos and their practices.

Each of us collected the green practices of three zoos by searching for ‘green zoo’ on Google, then searching for all of the practices that zoo had published online. We then sorted the practices into general categories, like Sustainable Purchasing, Solar Panels, and LEED Projects.

We quickly realized that these categories fall into two overall groupings: Operational Practices and Physical Plan Components, or “Things we probably can’t affect” and “Things we definitely can affect,” respectively.

Green practices collected from internet resources in May 2011.

After gathering all of these practices, it is abundantly clear that although zoos are making strides to become responsible green leaders in their communities, there is a lot of room to grow. Most zoos have strong recycling and composting programs, have initiated a green purchasing program for zoo products (like compostable or corn based dining wares and recyclable content paper products), and have implemented strategies for decreasing utilities usage (like programmable thermostats and lighting on sensors). But more than that, consistent programs are scarce.

And physical plan green principles are the least implemented thus far. This indicates that although zoos have the best intentions, we have a long way to go, and as zoo designers, we are perfectly perched to help guide zoos through into the next generation of zoo design: Green zoo design.

To review realistic green options for exhibit design, re-check out my previous post “Green Design in Zoos.”

June 3, 2011

“10 Things Zoo Won’t Tell You” via Smart Money

Posted by Stacey Tarpley under Articles, General Thoughts
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Interesting little article, although we have it on good authority that some of the numbers quoted are not accurate.

Smart Money article

April 6, 2011

Green Design in Zoos

Posted by Stacey Tarpley under Designs, General Thoughts, How-Tos
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Back in October 2010, I was honored to be a part of the AZFA (American Zoo Facilities Association) National Conference in St. Louis, MO. In the shadow of my green genius partner, Mariusz Bleszynski (AIA, LEED AP), we presented a talk about the real nuts and bolts of green design in a zoo exhibit.

Hypothetical exhibit utilizing a maximum of recycled or recyclable materials.

Because so much green design talk is generalized, we decided to tackle the issue head-on. What are the practical applications of green construction in a zoo? Most zoos utilize green methods somewhere on site, but usually it’s applied in what I call the “easy places”: nutrition centers, gift shops, special events pavilions. Places that are typical construction in a non-traditional setting. But the question always comes up…how do we make a green EXHIBIT?

Mariusz and I put our heads together and came up with a list of specific things that can, in some cases, be easily incorporated into an exhibit. In other cases, its more difficult–generally because it costs more up front.

I’ve included a link to the AZFA 2010_If I Were A Green Exhibit powerpoint presentation, but for those who just want the highlights, here’s a list of our top tips:

1. Maximize Recycled Content: Reuse existing structures, spec materials that are recycled or can easily be recycled; Minimize non-recycled or hard to recycle materials like concrete!

2. Use Geothermal Heating / Cooling: In thermally balanced environments, you can utilize this energy to heat / cool buildings and even small pools. Wells can be placed almost anywhere, including beneath the exhibit or building.

Clever Lowry Park Zoo uses elephant shade structures as mounts for solar panels.

3. Use Solar Panels Strategically: Solar panels cost A LOT so use sparingly if at all UNLESS you have extra dollars to spend on green technology, want to create an educational exhibit, or can use to power specific items such as signage, interactives, lighting, gates, etc.

4. Water Recycling: Can be any scale from rain barrels from roofs to zoo wide programs collecting run-off and wash down. Can be used for exhibit wash down, irrigation, and toilet flushing.

5. Use Native Plants: Eliminates irrigation and fertilization needs and can be selected to mimic just about any environment.

6. Use Water Based Chillers instead of Traditional Air Based: More efficient, less noisy, longer lasting. 25% more expensive. A bargain!

Within the presentation, we outlined initial costs, return on investment, and developed imagery to help everyone understand how these green technologies affect the visitor experience.

What is your zoo doing to become more green?

March 4, 2011

How Animal Behavior Drives Zoo Design

Posted by Stacey Tarpley under Articles, enrichment, General Thoughts, How-Tos
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Some designers begin with a poem. Others look at the educational message. Still others envision a place. I always start with the animal.

When I start my design process with the animal, I don’t literally mean that I sit down with Google (or even–do you remember this–flipping through books!) spending hours researching the animal’s natural history. What I mean is that I immediately register what I know about that animal and have that inform all aspects of design. Of course, I’ve been doing this for a while and I have quite a bit of animal trivia logged away in my own dusty library of grey matter.

But, really, what is it that informs design? What information about an animal is truly useful in creating its surroundings? The subject of animal behavior is a nearly unending panacea of amazing stories, but determining what facts help inform design can be an overwhelming question.

For fun, below is my absolute favorite (and quintessential) animal behavior example.

To help you navigate the masses of information available about specific animals, I’ve condensed the vast subject of animal behavior into six basic categories relevant to zoo designers.

1. Food Acquisition: Are they carnivores, omnivores, or herbivores?

2. Social Structure: Do they live in groups, pairs, or singly?

3. Time of Activity: Are they nocturnal, diurnal, or crepuscular (active at dawn and dusk)?

4. Micro-Habitat: Do they live primarily in trees (arboreal), on land (terrestrial), in water (aquatic), or some combination of any or all of the three?

5. Personality: Are they shy, curious, skittish, indifferent, vicious?

6. Reproduction: Does their reproductive strategy require any particular element in their physical environment?

Pop-up at Jungala, Busch Gardens

Each of the above will provide insight into the physical surroundings that will best house an animal in captivity. For example, carnivores tend to exert energy in bursts, spending the rest of the day sleeping. They also tend to prefer the high vantage points where they can scan the horizon and smell the air. Knowing this, we’d immediately suggest providing this carnivore with several high points in their exhibit, preferably where they can be in close proximity to the guest as they sleep. Jungala at Busch Gardens achieves this well with their tiger pop-up–highest point of the exhibit is actually a viewing window!

Another great example is the amazing bower bird. We could easily create just another generic aviary with a gravel floor or concrete basin. But understanding their reproductive behavior would allow us to create an environment whereby they are able to create their own habitat. {Or, more than that, we could re-create one of their creations on the guest side of things in order to illustrate their great ability.}

Beyond these basics, understanding animal behavior encourages us to strive for ever-more enriching environments. To design an enrichment device, or simply to provide a habitat that provides the most basic form of enrichment–choice, requires that you understand the natural history of an animal.

Oftentimes designers who do not have a specialization in animals, jump immediately to the guest experience; creating a place or a story for the visitor. But, we must understand that a good guest experience at a zoological park revolves around the ANIMAL, not the setting we create. People come to the park to see animals. And if the animals look unhealthy or unhappy, the most beautiful ancient Mayan ruins won’t save the experience. Look to the animals first. Be inspired by their lives before creating a story, and you’ll see that your final product will be by far the best experience possible for both guests and the animals living there.

Every animal has a story. Its our job to tell it.

Resources:

“Integrating Animal Behavior and Exhibit Design” by John Seidensticker and James Doherty

“Part Five: Behavior” from Wild Mammals in Captivity

February 4, 2011

Snow Day at the Zoo!

Posted by Stacey Tarpley under General Thoughts
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As this week’s monster winter storm sweeps across the country, I keep hearing one thing: Snow Day! Not for me, of course, but the magic of the snow day, even if it’s a treasure that now only others get to enjoy, is infectious.

The snow day! To me, it’s luxuriating in the extra hours of winter sleep snuggled under a pile of thick blankets. It’s waking up at noon and pulling on my snow pants over my pjs, my moon boots over my thick wool socks, and squeezing my puffball hat over my tangled mess of bed head hair, then venturing out with my similarly dressed sister and neighborhood compadres to build a mazelike snow fort through the front yard. And only after pelting each other with perfectly compacted snowballs until Timmy’s red and snowy face gives way to tired tears do we succumb to the cold and go back inside to lay our soaked mittens, hats and scarves on the wood stove and warm up with a cup of hot cocoa. Ah the snow day!

But these days, snow days mean a little more to me. They mean a zoo-born Siberian tiger in Tennessee who’s never seen snow before. They mean the beaver in the Minnesota Zoo who’s hidden inside his iced over dam, cuddled up hopefully next to the guest viewing window. They mean the polar bears luxuriating in the extra hours of winter sleep snuggled under a pile of thick, white snow.

They mean experiences people forget to experience at the zoo.

Winter is not prime time for most temperate zoos. Winter is in fact the lost season. The dredges. The figurative Atlantis. The time for zoos to get projects done since no one is at the zoo anyway. But what if winter wasn’t the dead zone for zoos? Can we make winter exciting for guests, and profitable for zoos?

We’re asking that question right now with one of our master plan clients. Winter is traditionally the forgotten time for them. Half the zoo essentially shuts down. No food or drink carts can be found. No Dippin’ Dots, no popcorn stands. Most of the restaurants and satellite retail shops are shut down, too. Not to mention the rides, and the shows.

They do this, they say, because most January and February days see only a lowly 15 people, up to 100 on a good day. And this makes sense. In this way, they keep the operating costs down.

But what if we didn’t need to shut down most of the zoo? What if we made an attempt to get guests to show up, even on a snowy cold day like the ones we’re seeing this week? What if snow day meant Zoo Day?

As part of the master plan process, we’ve done a quick survey of zoo websites to see if anyone out there is making a big deal out of winter. Generally speaking, most zoos are not.

Some zoos do market special themed weekends with unique activities like ice sculpture carving and music and dance presentations. Toledo Zoo even gives it a cute name…Frozentoesen! Some zoos, like Toledo, also have added more indoor activities like an activity zone with bouncy houses and climbing equipment.

But what was missing was an actual campaign to show visitors what a great day they can have at the zoo during the winter. What about mapping out a winter experience route that not only highlights the indoor experiences and the shortest routes between them, but also stops at exhibits where animals will be more active and happy in the winter, like the polar bears? If zoos marketed this specific route, told people how long a walk it was between indoor activities, and maybe went the extra mile to provide enclosed transport from the furthest points, maybe we’d see an increase in attendance. We know people are willing to come to the zoo in the winter, as witnessed by the saturation of holiday lights programs at zoos across the country—and the success of all of these programs. But what is it that keeps these folks from coming during the day hours?

I think it’s a simple lack of understanding that the zoo is just as good a winter experience (and sometimes better) as a summer experience.

Of course, we could also do as the Minnesota Zoo does, and physically plan the zoo to have a continuous linkage between indoor zoo experiences thus providing a wholly indoor winter time zoo. But for those who aren’t ready, willing or able to go down that road, why not just first try with simple marketing campaigns and guest experience strategies. Why not just first try. Why not just…try?

Speak up. Let me know why or why not you don’t visit the zoo in the winter. Or, let me know if your zoo does anything special for winter experiences.

January 30, 2011

Zoo Exhibits in Three Acts

Posted by Stacey Tarpley under General Thoughts, How-Tos
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Forgive me. This post will not wrap up cleanly. There will be no final conclusion. No simple 5 step process. This post is simply my musings on design philosophy in zoos. So indulge me. But just don’t expect a Hollywood ending.

Last night, I took my husband begrudgingly to the movies to watch “Black Swan”–which he was unwilling to see until one of his buddies had seen it and confirmed that it was, in fact, worthy of a watch. To me, it was breathtaking. Mesmerizing. Exhilarating. But this is not a website on film review, so I’ll leave it at that. But, what is relevant is the fact that, a day later, I am still thinking about it. Analyzing what made it appeal to me so much. Obsessed with how it attached itself around my subconscious, seeping into my most mundane daily thoughts. How did it achieve this? What made it so special to me?

The matter is important in the context of zoo design for one simple reason: this level of affect is the goal of zoo exhibits. We are in the business of creating experiences and memories that so tightly hang in your mind that you have no choice but to not only think about the plight of wildlife or the environment, but take action to protect it. That’s the real goal, isn’t it? Name the last exhibit that did this to you. Go ahead. Try.

To say that exhibits rarely achieve this is an understatement. So, on my morning walk through the woods with the dog (and I’ll amend that for today’s walk to ‘on my snowy morning walk’), I continued to obsess. And I think I figured it out.

Think about any story that grabbed you—a film, a book, a campfire tale. Most were told in the familiar and customary three act structure. If you haven’t been to literature class in twenty or so years, here’s the Cliff’s Notes version: a story is divided into three simple parts—the Setup, the Confrontation, the Resolution. A three act structure allows the listener (or viewer) to first empathize or relate to the main character, understand (and care about) the basic problem the story is addressing, then finally celebrate the resolution of said problem. Practically all major movies follow this structure, and most books do as well. It is followed because it works. It’s as simple as that.
Now, just because a film or book follows this format, doesn’t mean the story or the execution won’t fall flat, absolutely ruining an otherwise fine idea. There must be more. There must be something that draws you in. You must first empathize with the character (or animal, in our case). You have to relate to him or her. In the first act, we must see a little bit of ourselves in the subject—our failures, our faults, our dreams, our aspirations—or we’ll just not care.

Empathy can carry us only so far, and as we move through the action, or confrontation, something else needs to take hold. We already care about the character, now what makes us hold on? In “Black Swan”, the hook was a purely visceral, physical reaction. This movie was R rated, so the director expertly leveraged sex, drugs, and pain (which I’ve never seen, nor will I, I’m guessing, ever see in a zoo setting!), but combined with the familiar Swan Lake melodies and simple beauty of dance, the body was fully engaged.

This movie was about evoking a physical reaction, every bit as much as it was about the emotional. And nothing I’ve ever seen brought the two together as well as during the resolution of the film. Built into a tidal wave of chaotic flurry, where every frame was an expertly composed visual feast, and moment after moment brought tension and exhilaration to its absolute apex, then, just as we believe we can take no more, the film concluded. Right there. Right at the peak. Leaving you breathless, body abuzz in euphoria. I left the theater alight. Grinning from ear to ear despite the desperately tragic film I’d just experienced. And I’m still thinking about it. Still wondering how we achieve this kind of attachment to zoo exhibits. How we achieve this moment of perfection.

January 24, 2011

Teaching the Next Generation Zoo Designers

Posted by Stacey Tarpley under Articles, General Thoughts, How-Tos, profession
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People are always floored when they learn what I do for a living. I don’t blame them. It’s not like high school guidance counselors are pushing kids to become zoo designers or aquarium architects. There are no high-profile television shows about zoo designers, no yearly review of the best zoo design schools at the best price.

Where's the best school for Zoo Design?

Ultimately, this lack of awareness about our field brings questions. And one that is always, guaranteed to come up is ‘where did you learn to do this?’ When I describe my homemade educational program achieved through determination, passion and a plucky ingenuity, indelibly, my listener almost always appears disappointed with my answer.

So, in an effort to reduce the looks of disappointment that my fellow zoo designers must endure, I’ve introduced a new educational, career development program within PGAV. This program is called the “Specialty Development Group (SDT).”

At PGAV, we have many specialists: ride designers, green designers, interpretive & storyline developers, resort designers, among others. And most of these specialists learned their trade through their own plucky ingenuity and years of experience. But, we have many young people at PGAV as well. People who have a passion for destinations like theme parks, aquariums and zoos, but who may not have had the chance to pursue a specialty in school due to strict program requirements.

In an effort to fully develop these young designers, we’ve decided to actively teach them, rather than hope they pick up the nuances of these specialties through on the job training. The Zoo Design SDT which I lead is the pilot program. We have a small group of three trainees, myself as leader, and a VP, who has over 20 years of experience in the animal exhibitry field.

We meet once a month for about an hour. In this time, we discuss any news that we’ve found interesting over the last month, including project news or world zoo / aquarium happenings. We usually have one person give a quick site visit presentation (they are required to visit 3 zoos or aquariums over the yearlong course), then delve into the monthly discussion or lecture.

The monthly topics are pre-determined via syllabus and have been chosen and arranged to allow a logical flow from general zoo design philosophy into specifics, like LSS design and enrichment. This portion of the program is very much like a class, with required readings, in-meeting activities, discussions, formal lectures and guest speakers.

Beyond these meetings, we go on field trips together, and we create a monthly Animal of the Month info sheet to be shared with the entire PGAV office. These sheets cover everything from the basics (animal size, conservation status, behavior, social structure) to husbandry requirements and recommendations to the world’s best exhibits.

Jin Hee and I on a tour of PGAV's Glacier Run with Louisville Zoo director, John Walczak.

The participants are also required to write two papers during the year. The first, a simple white paper, is open to any topic of interest to the participant, limited only to the subject of zoo or aquarium design. The second, and final project, is a paper addressing the future of zoo design–a topic of great interest to everyone in zoo design.

Of particular note, the SDT is not supposed to function as a class. Everyone attending the meetings must partake in the activities and homework. So, as leader, not only do I create the lesson plan and lectures, but I also do research for the Animal of the Month info sheets, write papers, and present on site visits. In this way, not only do the newbies learn, but the experienced zoo designers continue to learn as well.

Personally, I’ve found the SDT has renewed my passion and required me to not site idly by, as is so easy to do as a professional. This type of professional development requires me to evaluate day to day work, to think more deeply about philosophy and ethics and about the long-term implications of everything we do as designers.

Even more, I’m so proud of our participants who, despite a very taxing workload, are able to attend meetings regularly, excitedly share experiences, and think critically about the topics we discuss.

I’m very proud to be leading the charge to help educate our future zoo design leaders and hope other professionals at zoo design firms take advantage of our experiences with this issue.

If you are interested in our program description or syllabus, please email me directly. I’m glad to share!

January 19, 2011

What is Bravery?

Posted by Stacey Tarpley under General Thoughts, profession
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Yesterday, WordPress (the website that allows me to bring this blog to you) sent me an e-mail suggesting that I write a post addressing “the bravest thing you’ve ever done.” It struck me that I could apply that question directly to my profession, as often bravery is at the heart of design.

To be “brave”, according to Dictionary.com, means:

1. To meet or face courageously: to brave misfortunes.

2. To defy; challenge; dare.

How often do I meet or face courageously? I might generously answer: daily. Some might say just getting out of bed can be an act of courage. But that’s not what we’re talking about here. Daily, as design professionals, we must make decisions. We must choose the width of a path, the height of a wall, the length of a beam. We must decide how to communicate our ideas to our peers and to our clients. We must be courageous to suggest our deepest thoughts to those who are capable of shooting us down with a shake of the head, crushing our hours of glorious contemplation in a split second. We must speak our minds and forge a path. As designers, some might argue, requires courage daily. Not to mention braving misfortunes.

But I’m more intrigued by the second definition. To defy. To challenge. To Dare. How often do we actually reach those lofty heights? How often do we truly put our necks out– suggest something contrary to our clients’ preconceived notions; contrary to our bosses’ well-intentioned strategies? Not often, I’d guess.

As I’ve said before, design, especially zoo design, tends to push forth, birthing innovation once in a blue moon, only to then regurgitate and spew forth a lesser and lesser version of that once impressive original concept. Instead of continually challenging our designs, instead of continually working to improve the previous iteration, to learn from our mistakes and successes, we far too often just simply pull out examples and drawings from the last time we built that barrier or concepted that raptor exhibit, and copy. Copy. Copy.

So as I consider the question ‘What is the bravest thing I’ve ever done?’ I realize, embarrassingly, I haven’t done it yet.

Designing Zoos