Zoo InternQuest is a career exploration program for high school students. For more information see the Zoo InternQuest Journals. For more photos see the Zoo InternQuest Photo Journal.

Sunni Robertson’s official title is “Educator Guide.” Her job entails giving exclusive “VIP” tours of the Zoo, introducing visitors to exotic animal and plant species, and presenting wildlife information at schools. At first glance, it seemed that her work was not pertinent to the “real world,” but rather only to the privileged visitors that she tours around the Zoo. But this is a limited view of her job. Sunni is not a simple tour guide, but an environmental ambassador.

She empowers the public to take action against environmental problems facing wildlife. When we visited the gorilla exhibit we learned that their habitat in the wild is being destroyed by coltan mining. Coltan is a metal used in the manufacture of cell phones. Recycling old phones greatly decreases the need for more coltan, thereby reducing the loss of gorilla habitat. The thought of these majestic humanoids being driven from their woods by noisy drilling equipment fuels one’s rage! It is with tidbits of information like this that Sunni “plants the seeds” for conservation action.

Claire and Haoyu represent the Real World Team

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Scroll to the end to leave a comment. Pinging is not allowed.