During the week long AZA Course, we worked on a group Conservation Education project, a mock grant proposal presentation. My group came up with "SOS- Snot Otter Stewards." Hellbenders, aka Snot Otters, are a large, aquatic amphibian, similar to a giant salamander or mudpuppy (If you've never seen one, look it up. They are so ugly, they’re cute!) These threatened creatures are native to the Appalachians, including West Virginia. While at a local sports bar with my family, I asked around if people knew of the Hellbender. Some of the responses were "I've been on that rollercoaster before." "Is that a kind of beaver?" "My brother does that trick on his dirt bike." "Isn't that a mixed drink?" Only 2 people knew what it was, my dad and sister's boyfriend! To counteract this unawareness, our project dealt with linking local children to this animal through a series of stream restoration trips and working with captive breeding projects at the zoo. While we didn't win the class competition, we did get the honors of the "Best Local Topic." I'm attempting to get this project put into effect by some local groups and the Oglebay Zoo. In the meantime, 'Go Snot Otters!'

For the presentations, our instructors dressed up and created 'characters' for themselves to put us more at ease… Rachel, Allyson, Kirsten, Chris, Candy, Mike, Lars

Three international students won awards to come to this class- Fabiola (White-winged Guan Captive Breeding Center-Peru), Carol (Ocean Park-Hong Kong), and Jeta (Pan African Sanctuary Alliance). Fabiola was in my group and a hoot to be around. I never realized how many weird English phrases we use… Explaining what "snot" is and how someone could be a "people person" was rather interesting. She was also appalled by our eating practices… huge meals doused in grease, butter, or sugar … truthfully, I have to say I agree with her there…