Research

Evaluating the Effects of Daytime Behaviors on Nighttime Activities of a Zoo-housed Herd of African Elephants (Loxodonta africana)

Master's Thesis 

Publication is Under Review

Observations were recorded during the day and night using a combination of in-person observations and playback video footage from cameras in the elephant barn. Cameras had to be used when the elephants were housed in the barn when temperatures were too low in the winter for them to be outside overnight. With the help of three undergraduate research assistants, behavioral data was collected from January 2022 to August 2022. Comparisons were made across seasonal housing conditions and between individuals. 

A Case Study: The Prevalence of Participatory Science as a Visitor Engagement Method in Zoos

In-Progress Dissertation Research

Institutions accredited or certified by the AZA use a wide range of approaches for education programming. In addition to educating and inspiring the public, animal welfare is another core part of their missions. Researchers often rely on animal behavior observations to monitor wellbeing by recruiting volunteers and interns but there are always more projects than available personnel. What if visitors could contribute behavior observations? Education and wellbeing monitoring are often seen as separate goals but they could be connected via participatory science. Participatory science has been shown to be a valuable educational opportunity and a valid form of data collection. This research will help us learn how zoos, aquariums, and museums of varying sizes give visitors a chance to interact with science and conservation messaging. My research aims to document the prevalence of techniques used to engage visitors in participatory science educational opportunities such as citizen science or community science projects, and to assess the validity of visitor-collected data for animal behavior monitoring. 

ObZooVer: A Cloud-Based Participatory Science Platform For Real-Time Animal Behavior Monitoring and Guest Engagement in Zoos

In-Progress Dissertation Research

The previously conducted interviews (mentioned above) with zoo education and conservation staff revealed common opportunities and barriers influencing visitor participation in participatory science programming. Most current platforms require an account to be registered and/or a downloaded app, making access difficult. With NSF ACCESS resources, I created a web-based application called “ObZooVer” that will allow zoo visitors to visit exhibits, scan a QR code, and submit animal behavior data without an account or the need to download anything. The app will use GPS coordinates and a geofence around observation sites for location verification. This information is not stored in our database, and will only be used to confirm a verified or unverified location. Zoo visitors will be assigned a random lemur for three different observations. If the lemur is not visible, they will be assigned a new lemur until they can complete three behavior observations. Once visitors complete the three observations, they'll be prompted with a "thank you" message with the option to take a survey to further support this research project or the option to submit more behavioral observations.