EDUCATION IN A ZOOLOGICAL PARK OR AQUARIUM : AN ONTOGENY OF LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES

Zoo and aquarium herpetologists can provide an ontogeny of learning opportunities to reach a broader audience from the general visitor to graduate students. An example of a program for the general visitor is the Reptile Discovery Center at the National Zoological Park. In this project, three reptile houses were changed into learning centers that allowed people to pace their learning, make choices, manipulate objects, and talk with interpreters. Zoo programs for secondary students are rare, but some zoos have explorer scout training posts or conservation clubs for this audience. There are programs in zoos for the training of zoo herpetologists. The Santa Fe Community College in Gainesville, Florida offers such a training course. The National Zoological Park and other zoos provide undergraduate and graduate student grants to do research with animals in a zoo setting. A few zoos even offer postdoctoral research fellowships to work with zoo animals. In spite of the above programs, there is no real formal liaison between a zoological garden or aquarium and an academic institution. A liaison is described in which a university and a zoo could cooperate in a graduate program in conservation biology. The university could provide the students and the formal course work while the zoo could provide office space and animals. Although the ontogeny of learning opportunities is great in zoos and aquariums, most institutions have not taken the opportunity to reach a broader audience with herpetology.