Wearing knee-high rubber boots as protection from the deep, squelching mud, I hiked through the pristine rain forests of Costa Rica during a trip there last summer. The rich plant life tinted my vision with green, occasional calls of howler monkeys pierced through the jabber of exotic birds, and the air held a thick dampness created by the innumerable lives around me. Since the ninth grade when I joined Conservation Corps, a conservation advocacy and action program at the San Diego Zoo’s Wild Animal Park, I have firmly dedicated my life to promoting the conservation of endangered species and of the natural world. Traveling to Costa Rica and being immersed in breathtaking rain forests has given my passion more drive and inspiration.

My name is Lauren Zeidler. I am a senior at a free-spirited high school in cozy Encinitas with an accelerated schedule that allows me to take more classes than would a traditional high school. As a result, I have taken every science course offered except one. Stress is no stranger to my academic life, so to rejuvenate myself I let good music and the sun’s rays evaporate my worries. I add some spice to my life by painting, reading classic literature and science fiction, baking, going on adventures with friends, and frolicking in nature’s beauty.

I am the proud president of my school’s Environmental Awareness Club, in which we perform community service to improve our local environment. In college I will deepen my passion for the natural world by studying biology. I speak both Spanish and French and hope to use this knowledge to work on research projects in foreign countries to help endangered species. I look forward to Zoo InternQuest as an extraordinary opportunity to prepare myself for the professional world of biology.

I am on the Zoo InternQuest Conservation Team

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