Author: Emma Butcher

Introduction

I have always loved wildlife, conservation, and sharing this love with others. An internship with the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance during high school solidified my decision to pursue a career in wildlife conservation (Figure 1). However, I wasn't quite sure where I fit in wildlife conservation when I entered this program. Then, an eight-second-long video changed everything. I saw how social media could be harnessed as a tool for wildlife conservation. This program was key in helping me explore this discovery further. 

Social media has presented the unique opportunity to reshape science communication by expanding public engagement (Kulczycki, 2013). I have witnessed this firsthand in my work managing social media for two Los Angeles aquariums: Cabrillo Marine Aquarium and Heal the Bay Aquarium. In September 2024, I posted the aforementioned short video of Gordita, our critically endangered giant sea bass at Heal the Bay Aquarium. This video has since garnered over 2.1 million views across various platforms. The following two Giving Tuesday campaigns, centered on Gordita, raised over $30,000. This experience demonstrated the power of social media to generate both awareness and financial support for conservation efforts, even for marine species that are traditionally less charismatic, such as fish and invertebrates (Barrailler et al., 2025). 

The broader social media landscape reflects this potential. Sixty-one percent of the global population uses social media (DataReportal, 2026), and it recently surpassed television as Americans' number one news source (Pew Research Center, 2025). Zoos and aquariums collectively attract more than 150 million visitors annually (World Association of Zoos and Aquariums, n.d.). They are also becoming renowned "conservation hubs" by shifting their focus from entertainment towards conservation education through exhibits and signage (Routman et al., 2022). This shift in focus towards conservation could be extended from in-person experiences to online platforms, influencing conservation behavior on an even larger scale (Rowan, 2021; Bergman et al., 2022). 

Throughout my coursework, I have identified two prevailing challenges in conservation communication on social media. First, many practitioners continue to rely on the knowledge deficit model. The knowledge deficit model assumes that the audience 1) does not know enough about a particular issue and 2) that learning about that particular issue is enough to motivate them to change their behavior (Fisher et al., 2025). However, this model has proven ineffective at changing human behavior, as the general public is already knowledgeable about, or able to understand, the most pressing conservation issues. Second, measuring behavior change resulting from social media campaigns remains difficult and methodologically limited (Bergman et al., 2022). While social media can encourage pro-conservation behaviors, further research is needed to determine how to create a sustained, long-term impact that can be accurately measured (Crespo & Cruz, 2023). 

My Master Plan for Project Dragonfly aims to help address these gaps. My mission is to ensure that community members in Los Angeles County care about the marine wildlife around them and are active stewards of animals. My vision is to utilize technology, various communication platforms, and research to connect with community members in Los Angeles County, thereby increasing engagement, understanding, and passion for Los Angeles' marine wildlife organizations. To support this mission, I examined how aquariums and zoos currently use social media through interviews with local professionals, literature reviews, an internship with the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance’s social media team, and other projects throughout this program. My goal entering Project Dragonfly was to understand how I fit into the conservation field. With science communication and social media as guiding themes, this portfolio chronicles my journey through my Master’s program in Biology, highlighting the lessons, challenges, and growth that shaped my professional development.

This section examines the early development of my Master Plan. I explored how digital platforms, tourism, and storytelling influence public engagement with wildlife. Across these projects, I began investigating how social media can inform human–wildlife interactions and citizen science, and how interpretive storytelling can inspire pro-environmental behaviors, both in person and online. Collectively, these experiences strengthened my understanding of value-based communication and helped clarify my emerging focus on using digital storytelling to connect Los Angeles communities with marine conservation issues.

The Relationship between the Hawaiian Monk Seal, iNaturalist Observations, and Tourism

For this project, I investigated whether iNaturalist observations and Instagram posts related to Hawaiian monk seals (Monachus schauinslandi) were associated with regional tourism levels across the Hawaiian Islands. I aimed to explore how social media and community science platforms might contribute to conservation monitoring, particularly in identifying potential human–wildlife interactions or disturbance. The intended audience included conservation managers in Hawai‘i, iNaturalist and Instagram users, and individuals interested in the intersection of social media and conservation science. 

The analysis compared the number of monk seal observations on iNaturalist and Instagram with mean annual tourist numbers for each island. Although the correlation between observations and tourism was positive (r = 0.54), it was not statistically significant (p = 0.297). The dataset included only six data points (the Hawaiian islands), which likely limited statistical power and may also explain the absence of significance. From 2018 to 2022, both tourist numbers and iNaturalist observations generally increased (Figure 1). However, these trends do not necessarily indicate a meaningful relationship, as stronger data is needed. Additionally, the analysis did not correct for variation in volunteer effort, which can substantially influence community science datasets, and such corrections may have altered the results. Research has shown that Instagram hashtags can help track disturbances more accurately than traditional hotline reports (Sullivan et al., 2019), suggesting that social media may have potential as a monitoring tool, even though this study did not detect strong patterns. 

As my first project in the Master’s program, this work demonstrated that conservation research can be conducted using publicly available digital datasets rather than traditional field-based data collection methods. Although the project was not disseminated, it introduced me to the methodological challenges of using social media and community science data for conservation. It also provided an example of how digital platforms can support wildlife management. If I were to undertake the project again, I would start by contacting Hawaiian marine mammal conservation professionals to discuss their current protocols. I would also incorporate standardized corrections for observer effort to strengthen the analysis and its applicability to management contexts. This early exploration of how tourism and digital platforms can influence wildlife management helped me recognize the power and limitations of online engagement, ultimately guiding me toward more intentional, value-based storytelling in my next project at Heal the Bay Aquarium.

Heal the Bay: Healing the Santa Monica Bay for Wildlife

For this project, I developed a 10-minute interpretive presentation for Heal the Bay Aquarium that connects the ecological history of Santa Monica Bay with the current biodiversity crisis within California’s kelp forests. The piece draws on literature documenting the rapid decline of kelp ecosystems that have experienced a 95% loss in Northern California and over 50% in Southern California in the last decade. Kelp forests are also vulnerable to the cascading effects of species loss, climate-driven marine heatwaves, and overexploitation (McPherson et al., 2021; Nicholson et al., 2024). This presentation was created for an audience of both tourists and locals who visit the Aquarium. It uses narrative storytelling rooted in local history, including the founding of Heal the Bay by Dorothy Green and the ongoing challenges facing species like the giant sea bass, to discuss the importance of conservation. The goal was to create an interpretive presentation that not only informs visitors but also inspires them to take conservation actions, such as volunteering or choosing sustainable seafood options. 

The development of the presentation clarified the importance of emotional resonance, narrative structure, and strategic framing in public-facing conservation communication. I centered the presentation on key figures, such as Dorothy Green and Gordita the giant sea bass, to foster empathy (Toomey, 2023). I then integrated clear calls to action, including QR codes that linked to volunteer opportunities with Heal the Bay and to the Monterey Bay Seafood Watch website, ensuring that visitors could easily translate their interest into action. Early metrics are still in the works, but they will track visitor engagement during talks and volunteer sign-ups following presentations. 

This work significantly strengthened my interpretation skills and deepened my understanding of how to translate conservation science to the public in a meaningful way. These skills also reinforced the core of my Master Plan-- effective science communication. The process helped me better understand the role of critical anthropomorphism in creating emotional connections. The project also highlighted logistical challenges, such as balancing depth with visitors' attention spans. For the following steps, I aim to adapt this story into concise social media content. The goal would be to extend its reach beyond in-person visitors, aligning it with my broader focus on digital conservation communication. Developing this interpretive presentation revealed how emotional resonance, narrative framing, and place-based history can move audiences from passive interest to action. My following project examines how these same storytelling principles can be used in social media strategy to bolster citizen science.

Social Media: A Communication Tool for Conservation Citizen Science

This project examined how social media can encourage the public to participate in citizen science, synthesizing research from conservation psychology, digital communications, and community-based science. The paper explored whether platforms like Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and iNaturalist can help connect people with nature while also empowering them to contribute to actual conservation work. Within the paper, I emphasized that the traditional deficit model of communication does not lead to behavior change, but invitational rhetoric and community-based conservation can (Dietz, 2013; Kohl & Warner, 2022). Invitational rhetoric and community are strong foundations of social media. Thus, the project reviewed how social media could be used not only to educate the general public but also to encourage them to participate actively in conservation actions through citizen science by spotlighting local projects. The intended audience included conservation practitioners, digital communicators, and citizen science organizers who sought to understand how online engagement could translate into meaningful local action. 

In my synthesis, the literature revealed a pattern. Although social media has demonstrated apparent conservation successes, from documenting human–wildlife interactions to driving fundraising and policy change, it is still not being used to its full potential (Sullivan et al., 2019). Science communication on social media still heavily relies on the knowledge deficit model. However, as previously mentioned, there is growing evidence that values-based storytelling and emotional resonance are much more effective in creating behavior change (Fisher et al., 2025). Additionally, studies from Australia highlighted the impact of citizen science on building community and awareness, especially conservation-centric projects (Golumbic, 2024). These insights collectively demonstrate that social media can serve as a powerful tool for amplifying citizen science efforts, as it contains the community engagement and communication aspects that are often integral to such initiatives. 

This project significantly enhanced my understanding of how social media can support conservation action. It also reinforced the importance of effective online communication, as recruiting volunteers is often a significant barrier to citizen science projects. Social media offers a broader platform for presenting these projects to the public than traditional, in-person recruitment methods. I strengthened my ability to create narratives about conservation by synthesizing research that emphasizes the importance of storytelling that builds empathy, rather than adhering to the standard deficit model. This ability is essential to my Master Plan. This project also identified a clear avenue for social media to inspire conservation action by promoting citizen science efforts. Translating digital storytelling into measurable action is a common challenge in science communication, making this an exciting avenue that deserves future attention. For my next steps, I will apply these insights to Los Angeles aquariums by highlighting community science initiatives across our digital platforms and tracking volunteer recruitment and retention. This synthesis transitions into my broader exploration of digital engagement within Southern California aquariums, shaping how I approached future projects that connected storytelling, technology, and conservation action.

This section examines how wildlife organizations currently use social media, revealing opportunities for more intentional, conservation-centered communication. Through these projects, I evaluated institutional messaging practices, built capacity for strategic digital storytelling, and learned from the high-volume communication workflows of the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance. Together, the projects in this section demonstrate how coordinated digital strategies, collaboration, and emotionally resonant messaging online can extend the reach of conservation organizations. These insights directly advance my Master Plan by highlighting how social media can be leveraged to deepen community engagement and inspire real-world conservation action.

How do Los Angeles aquariums incorporate conservation messaging into their programs? 

One of my early projects in the program was a podcast series titled LA’quarium. I interviewed three leaders from Los Angeles aquariums: Jenna Segal, Associate Aquarium Director at the Heal the Bay Aquarium; Marissa Wu, Aquarium Programs and Operations Director at the Roundhouse Aquarium; and Crislyn McKerron, Executive Director at the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium. I initiated this project after observing that wildlife organizations often lack effective conservation messaging in their visitor-facing programs and social media presences (Fernández-Llamazares et al., 2020). Given Los Angeles’s large tourist population, I hoped to see how these institutions communicate science both in their facilities and through social media. All interviews were published on Spotify. 

Coordinating these interviews was a significant achievement given the demanding nature of aquarium operations and the limited bandwidth of their leadership. The conversations were very insightful, offering a behind-the-scenes look into how aquariums approach communication. The podcast also helped me establish professional connections, including at Cabrillo Marine Aquarium, where I later began working on their communications team. If I were to re-record the podcast, I would focus more explicitly on the digital communication strategies the aquariums use and would promote them to expand their reach. The Roundhouse interview received four plays, Heal the Bay eleven, and Cabrillo seventeen. The interviews also revealed that social media was often an added responsibility for already busy staff, and most facilities did not track digital engagement or its impact on visitorship. 

Despite the project's limited listenership, I still consider it a success. The findings aligned with research indicating that social media remains an underutilized resource in zoos and aquariums (Bergman et al., 2022). The series fostered local community engagement by spotlighting smaller Los Angeles institutions and strengthened my professional development by building connections across the L.A. aquarium world. This project laid the groundwork for my Master Plan by clarifying how local aquariums currently communicate their science online and identifying opportunities to enhance their digital presence. A few months after the project, I posted the short video featuring Gordita the Giant Sea Bass, which generated exceptionally high public engagement and solidified my plans to continue my career in conservation communications (Figure 2). This initial look at how aquariums communicate conservation, both onsite and online, highlighted the need for stronger, more intentional digital storytelling. This set the stage for my next project, which focuses on empowering aquarium staff to utilize social media as a strategic conservation tool.

Community Leadership Challenge: From Fins to Feed: Engaging Aquarium Audiences in Conservation through Social Media

For this project, I developed and led a social media-centered presentation for staff at Heal the Bay Aquarium, designed to strengthen the organization's digital storytelling and expand the reach of our conservation messaging. Motivated by research showing that social media now helps shape public understanding of science (Kulczycki, 2013; Pew Research Center, 2025), the project addressed a clear institutional need for consistent, conservation-centered communication. The workshop offered staff shared tools and language to engage audiences more effectively online. Presented in October 2025 to educators, aquarists, public programs staff, and leadership, the project closely aligned with my Master Plan's focus on utilizing technology to connect Los Angeles communities with local marine wildlife. A follow-up survey was then given to Aquarium staff to gauge their comfort level and knowledge of social media. 

The workshop successfully clarified the Aquarium's brand voice and encouraged cross-departmental collaboration around content creation. Although survey participation amongst my coworkers was limited, respondents reported feeling more comfortable contributing to social media. I am still awaiting analytics. By presenting visuals from a style guide I developed alongside analytics, the presentation demonstrated how strategic framing, imagery, and tone can enhance conservation storytelling online, primarily through Heal the Bay Aquarium's platforms. The project also reinforced broader findings that zoos and aquariums underutilize digital platforms despite their potential to expand public engagement (Bergman et al., 2022). The project also emphasized the need for ongoing communication between social media staff and aquarium departments, leading to the development of monthly check-ins to determine whether staff wish to share any stories online. I built internal capacity for value-based storytelling at the Heal the Bay Aquarium and demonstrated the power of strategic communications. 

Overall, the project was effective in meeting its goals of strengthening Heal the Bay Aquarium's communications and contributed meaningfully to my growth as a leader and communicator. It strengthened my ability to coordinate across departments, present research-based strategies, and build internal capacity for conservation messaging, skills closely aligned with the program tenets of community, voice, and inquiry. The experience also supported my Master Plan by positioning social media as a key connector between Los Angeles residents and local marine wildlife organizations. Moving forward, I plan to adapt the workshop for the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium and create distinct digital strategies for both institutions, utilizing analytical reports and more structured staff feedback to refine our approaches. This project inspired me to explore digital conservation practices at a larger institutional scale through my final project with the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance.

Digital Conservation in Practice: Lessons from Literature and the SDZWA Social Media Team

For my final project in the program, I completed an internship with the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance (SDZWA) Social Media team, which included a literature review, an annotated bibliography, and an in-person shadowing experience (Figure 3). This internship explored how social media can support conservation, which directly aligns with my Master Plan's focus on utilizing technology to connect Los Angeles communities with local wildlife. The literature review revealed key patterns in conservation messaging, namely the dominance of charismatic species, the power of emotional storytelling, and the growing role of platforms like TikTok in public science communication. Shadowing SDZWA's team in November 2025 allowed me to observe how a large, mission-driven institution integrates marketing, research, and community engagement into a cohesive digital strategy. 

During my shadowing experience with the SDZWA social media team, I observed meetings with staff, including senior public relations and content strategy leads. I participated in one-on-one Q&A sessions with various individuals in their marketing department. These meetings provided me with valuable insight into influencer partnerships, platform-specific tactics, and the workflows that support high-volume, accurate, and mission-driven posting. Overall, the internship and literature review confirmed that effective conservation communication depends on striking a balance between entertainment, people's attention spans, and scientific integrity. The combination of academic research and practical observation helped clarify why certain content succeeds and how communication teams make confident strategic choices behind the scenes. 

This project significantly strengthened my understanding of conservation communication and deepened my confidence in applying digital strategies at the aquariums where I work. My shadowing experience highlighted the importance of collaboration, planning, and cross-departmental communication. I intend to prioritize these areas through coordinated content calendars, influencer outreach, and more structured storytelling series in my own professional life by adapting these strategies for the Heal the Bay Aquarium and Cabrillo Marine Aquarium. This final project unified the themes of my Master Plan. It provided a professional framework that I can now apply across Los Angeles aquariums as I continue to support conservation efforts through online platforms.

Conclusion

Throughout this program, my Master Plan centered on understanding how social media can bridge the gap between conservation organizations and their communities. I made meaningful progress toward this goal by examining how aquariums and wildlife institutions communicate online, completing various projects focused on science communication, shadowing the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance's social media team, and other initiatives. I learned how conservation organizations use digital platforms and develop interpretive stories that connect local wildlife to community action. One objective that proved more challenging was translating social media engagement into measurable conservation outcomes, an ambitious but ongoing effort that will require long-term institutional collaboration and monitoring. Revisiting the themes from my introduction, I see how my perspective has evolved: I now understand digital communication not merely as a tool for sharing information, but as a pathway for building community, deepening biophilia, and empowering people to participate in conservation action.

Across all of my projects, I have grown significantly as a communicator and conservation professional. I learned how to create messaging that combines emotional resonance with scientific principles, coordinate across departments, and think strategically about audience engagement. My leadership style has shifted toward a more collaborative and inquiry-driven approach, shaped by research emphasizing the value of multi-stakeholder dialogue in conservation work (Dietz, 2013; Black et al., 2011). I also developed the skills to critically evaluate communication strategies, recognizing when the deficit model falls short and how values-based messaging can generate deeper engagement. These lessons have helped me approach my work with a clearer sense of intention, emphasizing transparency, empathy, and partnership as essential tools for effective conservation communication. 

Looking ahead, I plan to continue strengthening digital communication strategies within Los Angeles' marine wildlife organizations and to explore new ways to turn online engagement into local conservation action. My current professional focus centers on building digital communities that not only learn about wildlife but also feel empowered to protect it. 

Here is a short video summary of my journey and its impact on my professional path. 

Acknowledgments

I would like to acknowledge San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance Project Dragonfly Graduate Program Advisor Mackenzie Borau for her ongoing support and guidance throughout the program. My sincere thanks go to Hays Cummins and Leah Hafer Crowe for making my Earth Expedition to Australia, my first time out of the country, both smooth and deeply impactful. I am grateful to Bella McDowell, who supervised my social media internship with the SDZWA Social Media team and shared invaluable insight into digital conservation communication. I am especially thankful to my Nana, Patricia Kroll-Mazzocco, whose support made this program possible for me. Finally, I would like to thank the 2023 SDZWA Project Dragonfly Cohort for creating memorable, meaningful, and joyful in-person experiences that have led to lifelong friendships.

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Personal Statement

Emma Butcher is a science communicator and conservation professional based in Los Angeles, California. She earned a Master of Arts in Biology through Miami University’s Advanced Inquiry Program in collaboration with the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, where her graduate work focuses on how digital media can motivate pro-conservation behavior. Her commitment to this work deepened after a video she created featuring Gordita, a giant sea bass at Heal the Bay Aquarium, gained more than two million views and highlighted the power of social media to influence public engagement with conservation science. As the Digital Communications Intern at Cabrillo Marine Aquarium, Emma increased Instagram followers by 28.6% and accounts reached by 196.6% within her first three months; on TikTok, she achieved 282% follower growth and a 1,354.2% increase in profile views. She also serves as the Social Media and Public Programs Associate at Heal the Bay Aquarium, where she develops research-informed content and supports community engagement initiatives. Emma specializes in accessible science communication, values-based messaging, and strategic storytelling that advance conservation goals and strengthen biophilia across Southern California.