VOLUNTEER VOICE October 2013 In This Issue... - Denver Zoo

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Volunteer VoiceFacesBritni LeRouxJan HolmanBritni LeRoux is our new Office Manager for theEducation and Volunteer Services Department(EVSD). She began working in her Garden Level officein the Gates Center May 15th, which she remembers astwo days after the birth of snow leopard cub Misha.Many of us have not yet met her because her location isremoved from our usual volunteer activities.Britni was born in Oklahoma City and moved with herparents to Winter Park, FL, when she was two. Despitethe heat and humidity she found it a good area to liveand grow up. The University of Toronto was a beautifulchange of scene where she spent two years studying arthistory, then returned to Florida where she obtained aBachelor of Psychology degree at the University ofSouth Florida in Tampa.Back home in Winter Park, Britni worked inadministration at a Montessori school. Looking for ajob that combined her love of animals, conservation,and education, she saw a posting for the position of Britni LeRouxOffice Manager here and thought it sounded veryinteresting. Having been to Denver on vacation twice, the area and people really appealed to her, and the positionseemed a good fit for her skills and interests. There were 11 members of the Education and Volunteer ServiceDepartment involved in her interview, which obviously went very well.Britni’s job covers a vast array of responsibilities. She interacts with all the other EVSD managers and helpswhenever any of the department’s 50 employees need something. She maintains the daily schedule of GatesEducation Building room facilities; monitors the building and reports needed repairs. She acts as acommunication liaison among EVSD staff, coordinates office supply orders and inventory, and interacts dailywith other departments, staff, and volunteers. She also schedules and confirms room facilities for EVSDactivities, works on budgets, and does “anything under the sun” to help wherever it’s needed.Denver Zoo’s Red Apple Fund is another part of her responsibilities. The Fund provides need based scholarshipsto public, private and independent schools, as well as individuals, families, and community organizations. Thisallows them to participate in classes, assemblies, workshops, self-guided/guided tours, camps, career programs,home school programs and Bunk with the Beasts overnight programs, Adult Education Programs, and OutreachEducation Programs or even obtain a zoo membership. The scholarships provide a percentage of the costinvolved in these activities. The summer Ice Cream Social and September Brew at the Zoo are the majorfundraisers for the Red Apple Fund, which has provided about $1,000,000 in assistance since its start in 2001.(Continued on page 21)Page 20
Volunteer Voice(Continued from page 20)Britni updates the spreadsheet daily and processes all the Fund’s accounts and department and program deposits.She also books all the Red Apple self-guided field trips, and acts as the point person for any teachers who havequestions. This is a great resource for people who could not otherwise take advantage of all these zoo programs.Britni is learning her way around Denver and is starting to settle in here in her new apartment with her dog. Herbeloved dog Haley, a 13 year old American Eskimo, has been with her on all of her adventures. Her cats are stillliving with her parents, but she hopes they will join her here soon. She has a passion for cooking, especially Cajunfood, which is part of her heritage from her French and Irish family originally from New Orleans, but admits shesorely lacks baking skills. She has loved art and photography for as long as she can remember and shoots not onlyin digital, but in manual black and white. She is able to process and develop her own film and pictures in herpersonal darkroom.Britni loves almost any genre of music, especially Jazz and Blues and has played the clarinet for over 15 years. Shealso enjoys swimming, spending time outdoors with nature, especially in the mountains, coffee with friends,reading, watching movies, and overall loves to laugh. While she hates to play favorites with animals, she is partialto the big cats and owls, and says autumn and Halloween are her favorite times of year (she has over 15 largeRubbermaid storage containers full of decorations to prove it).Britni is thrilled to be here in Denver and working at Denver Zoo, which is known for being a “Green Hero”.She is excited to be part of the team and is looking forward to meeting more volunteers as the months go by.Red PandasJan HolmanConservation CornerWho can resist the adorable face of a red panda? Everyone who loves these beautifulanimals will be happy to learn how hard Denver Zoo is working to ensure theircontinuing survival in zoos. We are cooperating with many other institutions aroundthe country through the Association of Zoos and Aquariums Species Survival Plan(SSP) to preserve genetic diversity and healthy populations.Beth Jo (BJ) Schoeberl, our Curator of Primates andCarnivores, is a member of the red panda SteeringCommittee. Each SSP species has its own Studbookkeeper, in this case Mary Noel from the Cincinnati Zoo,and Species Coordinator, Sarah Glass from the Knoxville Zoo. Annual masterplanning meetings had been held in Knoxville for quite some time, but they decidedit would be interesting to visit other zoos. When BJ received their request she washappy to have them come to Denver for the two day meeting August 15th and 16th.There were eight people attending, including two from Canada. Additionally,representatives from other zoos could join in the meetings through the internet service GoToMeeting. Thisallowed many other interested participants to be part of the work of the planning committee by logging in withtheir own special code. All the information was visible online for everyone. Red pandas are native to the(Continued on page 22)Page 21
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VOLUNTEER VOICE October 2013 In This Issue... - Denver Zoo

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