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2015 ZACC...........
Highlights of the 2015 ZACC Conference - Denver Zoo host
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20th anniversary of the ZACC Conference
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First time at Denver Zoo
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310 conference attendees (first time ever a ZACC has sold out)
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38 sponsors with 19 first time sponsors
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Over 166 organizations represented with:
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63 zoos
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12 universities
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42 field projects
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and 49 conservation related affiliations
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26 countries represented
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4 amazing keynote speakers
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15 graduate students from Colorado State University – CLTL program
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2 pre-conference workshops and 2 post-conference field trips
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45 posters
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5 panels with 32 panelists
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11 conference sessions with 44 presenters
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3 first time “travel scholarship awardees” - bringing people from Rwanda, Democratic Republic of Congo and Tanzania
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$11,000 given out to 6 projects from the ZACC Conservation Grants Fund
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$900 in awards given out from the ZACC Photo Contest
2013 ZACC Presentations
Please click below for pdf versions of the paper & poster presentations from the 2013 ZACC. If your presentation is not currently up. please send to Jessie Lowry at jrlowery@blankparkzoo.org
ZACC 2013 POSTERS
Caribbean Flaming Poster John Krogmeier
Ensuring a Future for the_Lake Titicaca Frog
Etty Rahmawati Poster ZACC 2013
HZI Mane Event 16x40 Kristin Ufer
J Palmer ZACC Oyster Restoration Poster
Kunal Patel - Rusty Spotted Cat
Peter Clay Gishwati Overview Poster
Poster genetic projects 2013 Anne Schmidt-Küntzel
Pupfish Poster Lori Boatwright
Russ Van Hornetal13 ZACC Poster small
Tara Harris Tiger Conservation 2 Page Poster
ZACC BFF Poster Rachel Santymire
ZACC 2013 PRESENTATIONS
Francine Madden Human/wildlife conflict
Rebecca Goldstone New Nature Foundation
Susie McGuire Conservation Fusion
Bengt Holst Building Bridges across Sectors
Maggie Esson- Asiatic Elephants
Susan Lutter Ape Action Africa
Fred Koontz TKCP Conservation Coffee
Beth Armstrong Innovative Fundraisers
Impressions from 2013 ZACC attendees
First, many thanks from everyone at Lewa for the generous grant we received from the Blank Park Zoo Foundation. We really enjoyed the conference and found it tremendously helpful and interesting. Warm regards, Sabrina
Thanks again for all the work you and the volunteers put into organizing and running ZACC 2013! I thought it was a productive, interesting, and well-run conference, and I was impressed with the investment that Blank Park Zoo makes in conservation. My only regret was that I didn't give myself more time in central Iowa. Best regards, Russ Van Horn
The ZACC conference was Awesome! Just by sitting back and observing, you can tell there was much preparation and organization put into it by you and your staff. Great Job!
BPZ volunteer
The vendors in the room was beyond brilliant and will become one of BPZ's signature additions to future ZACC's. I don't know exactly what happened at this ZACC but man something shifted, was elevated to another level - just a kind, sincere feeling of welcome while at the same time delivered with a highly professional polish. Well done! Beth Armstrong
Thank you so much for all you did at the 2013 ZACC conference. For this to be my first conference and be so inspired is amazing. The information and motivation I needed to continue my own efforts will come back to the week I spent in Des Moines. Julie Anderson San Diego
Just wanted to say thanks for organizing such a great conference. Sorry I could only be there for a day, but it was an awesome day! Dr. Zarin Machanda
Thank you so much Jessie and all the staff from the BPZ for such a great conference. Congratulations! It was fantastic. Arnaud Desbiez
Great job all round Jessie - you and Blank Park Zoo should be very proud! Julian Fennessy
2013 ZACC Sponsors - Blank Park Zoo-host
The ZACC steering committee and the Blank Park Zoo would like to take this opportunity to thank the sponsors of the 2013 ZACC conference. Without your generous support, this conference simply would not be possible. Thanks you so much to those zoos and individual donors listed below - because of your commitment this ZACC was a success!
2013 ZACC Sponsors
AFH Design
Armstrong/Baird Family
Blank Park Zoo
Brevard Zoo
Cleveland Zoo
Columbus Zoo
Disney
Denver Zoo
Houston Zoo
Jacksonville Zoo
Jerilou Fox Leeman
Nashville Zoo
National Missisiisppi River Nuseum & Aquarium
Oaklsna Zoo
St. Louis Zoo
Seneca Park Zoo
Virginia Zoo in Norfolk
Woodland Park Zoo
THANK YOU 2013 ZACC SPONSORS!
Testimonial from a 2013 ZACC attendee
"I feel like my experience at ZACC took what I knew and felt and multiplied it by the dedication and passion of the 200+ attendees. It is hard to contain that kind of excitement for change – I have been waking up in the middle of the night since ZACC to write down the ideas that have been coming to me in my sleep. I dream of ZACC!
Coming away from ZACC I feel like my perspective has been broadened and my horizons have been expanded. I think everyone has the tendency to get caught up in the day-to-day aspects of work and maybe lose sight of the big picture. ZACC brings that picture into incredibly clear focus. It’s a reminder of why we are all here, a reminder of why we started in this field. It’s an experience that makes you think outside of the box and renews your dedication to conservation.
Networking is such an important part of ZACC – meeting the field researchers, as well as the colleagues in the zoo and aquarium world. These connections are vital for so many reasons. They allow us to understand the needs coming from the field, they help us to avoid recreating the wheel, they open the lines of communication, they provide inspiration and most of all these connections provide lasting friendships and working relationships. Counting down the days until the next ZACC conference!"
Amy Reaume
Brevard Zoo
2015 ZACC sponsors
Denver Zoo-host
The ZACC steering committee and the Denver Zoo would like to take this opportunity to thank the sponsors of the 2015 ZACC conference. Without your generous support, this conference simply would not be possible. Thanks you so much to those zoos and individual donors listed below.
2015 ZACC Sponsors
Abilene Zoo
Armstrong/Baird Family
Blank Park Zoo
Brevard Zoo
Butterfly Pavilion
Columbus Zoo
Denver Zoo
Houston Zoo
International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW)
Jacksonville Zoo
KM Concessions
Leah Jay - Nature Illustrator
New Belgium Brewing
North Carolina Zoo
Oakland Zoo
Oklahoma City Zoo
Oregon Zoo
Phoenix Zoo
Pueblo Zoo
St. Louis Zoo
San Diego Global
Seneca Park Zoo
Service Sysytems Associates
Tracy Aviary
TRACKS
Topeka Zoo
Virginia Zoo in Norfolk
Unite for Literacy
Utah's Hogle Zoo
Virginia Aquarium
Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS)
Woodland Park Zoo
THANK YOU 2015 ZACC SPONSORS!
ZACC Stories
Interviews with 2015 ZACC attendees........
For additional stories tap: 10 ZACC Interviews
Name: Joseph Karama
Organization: Akagera Management Company, Akagera National Park, Rwanda
Email: josephk@african-parks.org
Who or what inspired you to support conservation?
A book?
A person?
A documentary or movie?
None of the above!! It was an experience!
Tell us about it:
Growing up as a squatter on a ranch near L. Mburo National Park in Uganda I witnessed a lot of wildlife killings for bushmeat. One day, I saw a waterbuck run into a valley dam with spears sticking out of her sides and dogs holding on its flanks and hunters chasing, as the animal entered the puddle of what was left of a drying up valley dam, hoping to find some refuge there. I watched the animal circle around in agony before collapsing into the mud and dying. I vowed to myself to go to school and one day become a warden and protect these animals.
Tell us your ZACC story:
My ZACC story is one of inspiration. Everything form everyone was inspiring to me. But I will choose one that I think I am going to do something about. It’s the Women of the Wild story from Brevard Zoo. I hope to lead (inspire) the women around Akagera National Park to form a WOW Rwanda chapter.
What is your favorite ZACC memory?
I went to greet Laurie Marker of CCF, Namibia and when I left her (after just a minute of hello) I had tears in my eyes. I don’t know why that happened but that’s going to be something I remember for long. She is an amazing person with all the things she has done.
Name: Jillian Rutherford
Organization: America's Teaching Zoo (student keeper)
E-mail: rutherford.jillian@gmail.com
Who or what inspired you to support conservation?
I'm fortunate enough to have grown up in a time and place where valuing conservation was instilled in me from the time I was a child. Living on an island in the Pacific Northwest exposed me to some of the most beautiful and raw scenes of nature I believe exist in the world, and when I grew up and left that protected place for areas degraded and damaged by human wastefulness I always carried with me the vision of what could be, if these places were as valued and as cared for as my home. So I suppose it was nature itself that inspired me to conserve.
Tell us your ZACC story.
At ZACC I met the people I have been searching for for what seems like my entire adult life. I met the authors of paper's I've cited throughout my school career, the heads of organizations I've dreamed of working for, and the way-makers in the field I'm trying to make my way in. I met people for the first time who I have a feeling I've known for years, because we all share this same deep connection to the natural world around us and passion to protect it. I left ZACC with an understanding of where I belong and how to start, which may seem more simple than a specific partnership or contact, but in actuality light up a path that will lead to countless partnerships and contacts over what I now know will be a long and fruitful career.
What is your favorite ZACC memory?
My favourite ZACC memory was the evening I plucked up my courage and sat down next to a group of distinguished conference attendees and spent the next few hours entirely welcomed into their conversations about the intricacies of running primate sanctuaries.
As you can see, ZACC had an enormous effect on me, and I thank you for being the first smiling face I saw as I came into the hotel lobby on the very first day. That you invited us to sit down with you and talk was an incredible introduction to the community I've chosen, and I hope to be able to do that someday for a new ZACC attendee.
Name: Monica Bond & Derek Lee
Organization: Wild Nature Institute
Email: monica@wildnatureinsitute.org
Derek @wildnatureinstitute.org
Who or what inspired you to support conservation?
A person?
David Attenborough and my cat
Tell us about it:
David Attenborough transported me to wild places around the planet & inspired me to care. My cat taught me that animals have feelings and are as worthy of our love as my fellow humans.
Tell us your ZACC story:Who did you meet?
Too many amazing awesome people to list, but very happy to have met Rebecca Rose after 2 years of generous support.
What resulted?
Also memorable was meeting Kathy from Blank Park Zoo and we will implement some of her ideas she shared!!
What is your favorite ZACC memory?
Lots of tears – sadness at hearing what threatens wildlife around the globe, and tears of joy at what people are doing to change the world & save wildlife. Also tears of happiness at receiving the ZACC Conservation Grant – Thanks!!!!
“I have finally found my people…”
What is ZACC?
field conservation, community, inspiration, partnerships, in situ, ex situ, zoos and aquariums, field projects, funding, conservation grants, Denver Zoo 2015 host, Blank Park Zoo 2013 host, local and indigenous peoples, making contacts, zoo grants, saving species, protecting species, protecting wild places, local conservation efforts, regional conservation efforts, international conservation efforts, conservation conference, ZACC history, ZACC hosts, Zoos and Aquariums: Committing to Conservation, Africa, Latin America, Central America, Asia, North America, Europe, colleagues meeting, networking, mutual support, benefits to zoos, benefits to field researchers, making a difference.