More information
Beth Day, ARCHE vice president
404.651.2668 or bday@atlantahighered.org
Keisha Hines, Zoo Atlanta PR and communications director
404.624.5980 or khines@zooatlanta.org

Atlanta, January 13, 2010 –  Zoo Atlanta has joined the Atlanta Regional Council for Higher Education as an ARCHE Community Partner.

“Atlanta is fortunate to have a Zoo that is so intently focused on both research and education,” said ARCHE President Michael A. Gerber. “We look forward to working with Zoo Atlanta to deepen its already strong collaborations with our member colleges and universities.”

“Zoo Atlanta is excited to partner with ARCHE,” said Dwight Lawson, senior vice president of collections, education and conservation. “We are committed to providing an informative, educational and engaging experience to communities throughout Atlanta.”

“Atlanta is a region where colleges and universities, community groups, businesses, and nonprofit organizations work together to fuel economic growth and make this a better place to live,” said Gerber. “ARCHE works with its community partners to enhance these collaborations.”

An accredited member of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, Zoo Atlanta inspires value and preservation of wildlife through a unique mix of education and outdoor family fun. From well-known native wildlife to critically endangered species on the brink of extinction, the Zoo offers memorable close encounters with more than 1,000 animals from around the world. Zoo Atlanta is home to the nation’s largest collection of great apes and a global center of excellence for the care and reproduction of vanishing amphibians and reptiles. Atlanta is also the proud home of Xi Lan, the only giant panda cub born in the U.S. in 2008.

The Atlanta Regional Council for Higher Education brings together 20 of the Atlanta region’s public and private colleges and universities. ARCHE builds awareness of the size, scope, impact and value of higher education and helps its members share strengths through cooperative programs such as cross registration for courses and library sharing. Founded in 1938, ARCHE’s membership also includes five affiliated libraries and 13 corporate and nonprofit community partners. Visit www.atlantahighered.org for information about ARCHE, its members and its research reports.

SUMMARY OF ZOO ATLANTA’S RELATIONSHIPS WITH ARCHE MEMBERS
October 2009

CENTER FOR BEHAVORIAL NEUROSCIENCE (CBN)
One of only four National Science Foundation (NSF) funded Science and Technology centers in the nation, the CBN is an interdisciplinary research consortium formed by Georgia universities and community partners, including Zoo Atlanta.
 
University Partners  
• Georgia State University (lead institution) 
• Emory University
• Georgia Tech University
• Morehouse College
• Morehouse School of Medicine
• Spelman College
• Clark Atlanta University 

Community Partners
• Georgia Aquarium
• Georgia Biomedical Partnership
• Fernbank Museum of Natural History
• Institute of Biomedical Philosophy

Brain Day: Brain Awareness Month (BAM) in Atlanta has become famous for CBN’s annual Brains Rule! Neuroscience Exposition, the largest public education event of its type in the country, held at Zoo Atlanta.
• 2006 Brains Rule! Expo reached almost 4,000 visitors
• 2009 Expo is tentatively scheduled for April 2009

Educator Training: Each summer, Zoo Atlanta hosts a week-long educator workshop funded by the Center of Behavioral Neuroscience taught by CBN staff, Zoo Atlanta animal care staff, and researchers from both organizations.  The workshop, entitled Why They Do What they Do at the Zoo: Animal Behavior & the Brain, allows 18 educators to expand their content knowledge, learn activities to use in their classrooms, and earn Professional Learning Units required by the state, all without cost to the educators themselves. 

CBN-funded projects
• Orangutan Cognitive Tree
An interactive exhibit that enables Zoo scientists to study the cognitive abilities of orangutans and provide Zoo guests with a unique opportunity to see science in actions.  Ongoing research collaboration between Dr. Tara Stoinski and the laboratory of Dr. Hampton of Emory University and Yerkes National Primate Research Center.

• Gorilla training panel
An interactive feature in the gorilla exhibit that enables staff to train gorillas in front of the public and provide guests with unique opportunity to see great ape learning up close
      
Dr. Tara Stoinski, Dr. Ben Charlton and Dr. Rebecca Snyder are also individual members of CBN.

EMORY UNIVERSITY
• Adjunct faculty: Dr. Tara Stoinski is adjunct professor of psychology
• Adult Continuing Education courses taught at Zoo Atlanta including photography
• Law professors bring students in Animal Rights course behind the scenes tours and discussion with curatorial staff

GEORGIA STATE UNIVERSITY
Teaching contract: Zoo Atlanta has a contract with the College of Arts and Sciences to teach:
• Zoo Biology (taught at the Zoo)
• Upper level Animal Behavior Course (at GSU)
• Upper level Animal Behavior practicum course (at Zoo)
• Two special topics course (both at Zoo)
o Internship in Animal Management
o Internship in Zoo Research

These courses enable students to achieve a minor in Zoo Biology. Students who complete these courses often continue on as employees of the Zoo.

Saturday School for Scholars and Leaders:  Zoo Atlanta has created various Zoo courses for talented students in GSU’s Saturday School program for several years.  Four to five week sessions are held 2-3 times per year.

Adjunct faculty: Dr. Dwight Lawson, Dept. of Biology, Dr. Rebecca Snyder and Dr. Tara Stoinski, Department of Psychology.

GEORGIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
Memorandum of Agreement: Currently have an MOA with GA Tech that supports former zoo director Dr. Terry Maple’s Center for Conservation and Biodiversity graduate students research in applied and theoretical animal behavior. Zoo is used as a living laboratory.
• One course per academic year is taught at Zoo Atlanta
• Adjunct faculty: Dr. Tara Stoinski (who, along with Dr. Rebecca Snyder, earned her Ph.D. at Georgia Tech)
• Longstanding relationship with Dept. of Psychology Experimental Psychology Program

MOREHOUSE COLLEGE
• Former Curator of Invertebrates and current board member Dr. Duane Jackson is on the faculty in the Biology Department and serves as the Board of Directors Education Committee Chair
• Dr. Duane Jackson incorporates the Zoo into his curriculum, bringing students for behind the scenes visits, animal encounters, and discussions with curatorial and keeper staff

UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA
• Teaching: Dr. Sam Rivera, Associate Veterinarian, is a visiting instructor at the UGA Collage of Veterinary Medicine and teaches at UGA biannually. Dr. Rivera also works with veterinary and pre-vet students in career counseling.  Dr. Joseph Mendelson, Curator of Herpetology, contributes to the Herpetology course offered in the Warnell School of Forestry by contributing lectures, joining student field trips and touring the students through the Zoo’s Herpetology Program. 
• UGA veterinary students also participate in “Grand Rounds” at the Zoo and the Georgia Aquarium.
• Clinical and research collaboration: Zoo Atlanta participates in a Joint Zoological Pathology Program with the College of Veterinary Medicine and Riverbanks Zoo.
• Dr. Rita McManamon, former Senior Veterinarian at Zoo Atlanta, is pursuing a graduate degree in animal pathology at UGA and is teaching in the Small Animal Medicine Department

WIDE-REACHING RESEARCH SUPPORT AND COLABORATION
• Zoo Atlanta serves as a resource for unique and important biomedical specimens, materials and data for the research community at large and cooperates with other universities in Georgia, as well as nationally.