tarragon gatchell

Covering weekly shifts; duties include food preparation and feeding, administrating medications, shifting cats and cleaning enclosures.

Daily husbandry for a wide variety of species including primates, hoofstock, birds, reptiles and small mammals. Training using positive reinforcement, designing and distributing enrichment, monitoring health and administrating medication, record keeping, conducting keeper chats and mentoring ZooCrew and interns. I was selected as the departments Behavior and Enrichment Committee liaison.

* Not for profit organisation saving big cats from the exotic pet trade and illegal breeding. Caring for lions, tigers, cougars, leopards, cheetahs, servals, lynx, bobcats and ocelots. My duties include food preparation and feeding * cleaning enclosures and yards * distributing enrichment * administrating daily medication and subcutaneous fluids * administrating vaccines * assisting in sedated health checks * monitoring health * record keeping * shifting using positive reinforcement * transporting cats in roll cages * conducting and monitoring introductions * hand rearing * and pool and grounds maintenance. Daily management of a team of 5 keepers, 8 interns and 10+ volunteers.

* I collected and recorded data including weights and temperature, documented care and maintained patient records * restrained animals * handled and processed biological samples * prepared prescribed medications * disinfected and prepared exam rooms, surgery, surgical equipment and kennels * and provided customer service to clients.

During the PGDip, I experienced living and working at 7 different field stations run by the Mauritian Wildlife Foundation and Mauritian National Parks Service. Time at each field station varied from 1 to 2 weeks, totalling 12 weeks. I worked with the Mauritius Pink Pigeon, the Echo Parakeet, Olive White Eyes, Mauritian fodys, Round Island petrels, Wedge tailed shearwaters, Aldabran tortoises, Radiata tortoises, Telfair’s skinks, Gunther’s geckos, Round Island boas and Mauritian fruit bats. I learnt a wide range of skills including carrying out and recording reptile and passerine morphometrics, nest searches and watches, bird ringing, supplementary feeding, artificial nest management, disease screening and treatment, population monitoring, distance sampling, use of GPS, invasive species control and endemic plant managing. I will finish the course by conducting a 7 week project to determine ‘Habitat selection and spatial distribution of the Round Island boa’.

I assisted Alexandra in relocating her business from Australia to the USA. I maintained and managed business accounts, trialled new programs, prepared documents, scheduled appointments with clients and planned events. I also cared for three children: shopping, cooking, cleaning, running errands and taking them to and from school and extracurricular activities. I applied and enrolled the children in new schools and summer camps. I organised and booked family vacations and a permanent move overseas. I often had sole responsibility while Mark and Alexandra travelled for business.

Providing daily care to Tigers, Lions, Cheetahs, African painted dogs and Asian Small Clawed Otters. Training using positive reinforcement and operant conditioning, designing and distributing enrichment, Record Keeping, monitoring health and administration medications and delivering keeper chats.

* I volunteered at Oakland Zoo once a week while living in California, working with the North American River Otters and the Malayan Flying Foxes. I carried out diet preparation and distribution * enrichment design, construction, and distribution * training record keeping * and cleaned enclosures.

Not for profit organization aiming to end animal cruelty in Asia, specializing in ending the bear bile trade. My duties included enrichment preparation and distribution, food preparation, daily medication preparation and administration for over 133 bears, Asiatic black bear behavioural monitoring and updating individual bear behaviour records. I assisted in 5 necropsies recording all data. I proposed research projects, conducted experimental design and data collection, and wrote the following reports: ‘Stereotypies and aggression demonstrated by two Asiatic black bears housed together’ ‘Spatial use of enclosure, and behavioural decisions as avoidance, by two Asiatic black bears’ ‘Behavioural Indications of pain caused by fractured canines in an Asiatic Black Bear’

Privately owned wildlife park whose main aim is native wildlife conservation and education. In this position I worked with native Australian wildlife including wombats, eastern quolls, spotted tailed quolls, echidnas, wallabies, kangaroos, pademelons, Tasmanian devils and native reptiles and birds. I carried out animal husbandry duties and grounds maintenance. I was appointed a construction project which consisted of building devil dens and platforms, and helping build new devil enclosures.

Not for profit organization raising awareness about the plight of the cheetah through an education programme and campaigning for the cheetah’s survival. I conducted food preparation for cheetahs, jackals, caracals, servals and meerkats; cleaned enclosures and distributed enrichment. I informed guests of safety procedures; carried out encounters, photography and tours, while giving detailed information to the public about problems that wild cheetahs face and what actions Cheetah Outreach are taking. I had some experience on admissions and in the gift shop. I collected data by focal animal sampling to write a report on ‘Factors effecting the activity budget and patterns of captive cheetah cubs’.

Not for profit organization dedicated to promoting a better understanding of native American wildlife through education. I carried out daily food preparation and feeding for 150 American black bears, grounds maintenance, stock take and organized daily feeding allowance. I educated the public, through 20 minute talks and answering queries, about black bears and how to prevent bears becoming pests.

Animal rescue centre in Ecuador, located in the Amazon rainforest, providing care for orphaned animals and animals from the illegal pet trade. I worked with a variety of monkeys, boas, capybaras, agoutis, anteaters, kinkajous, parrots and passerines. I carried out food preparation, feeding, cleaning of enclosures, bottle feeding orphaned woolly monkeys, and assisted in soft releases. I conducted informative tours lasting up to an hour, in Spanish and English; I was selected as Head volunteer putting me in charge of administrative work including downloading and organizing trail camera data, updating individual records, constructing rotas, ordering food, collecting food, receiving volunteers, receiving guests and working in the shop. I used GPS to navigate the area.

Charity which endeavours to save threatened species around the world. I worked with the bird department at Durrell, working with blue cranes, white-naped cranes, grey crowned cranes greater flamingos, Chilean flamingos, red-breasted geese, Meller’s duck, Madagascar pouchard, Mauritius pink pigeon, Bali starling, and northern bald ibis. I carried out food preparation, feeding, cleaned enclosures, ringing, wing-clipping, incubation and hand rearing.

The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee, founded in 1995, is the nation's largest natural habitat refuge developed specifically for endangered African and Asian elephants. The Sanctuary operates on 2,700 acres in Hohenwald, Tennessee — 85 miles southwest of Nashville.The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee provides captive elephants with individualized care, the companionship of a herd, and the opportunity to live out their lives in a safe haven dedicated to their well-being. The Elephant Sanctuary also exists to raise public awareness of the complex needs of elephants in captivity and the crisis facing elephants in the wild.

Zoo and Aquarium Science Diploma. Exotic Animal Management and Conservation. Environmental and Education Outreach, Husbandry and Record Keeping, Animal Nutrition, Health and Disease, Animal Enrichment

I studied Zoology of the University of Glasgow learning extensive biology, zoology, and statistics. I carried out my dissertation on my summer internship at Cheetah Outreach, conducting behavioural research on captive cheetah cubs and then analysing the data statistically using R and minitab and writing up the report "Factors affecting the behaviour of captive cheetah cubs" for which i received an A. I was also an avid member of the Glasgow University Zoological Society during my time at University. During my first year I was appointed Vice President and Treasurer of Murano Street student halls, I was in charge of 5000 pounds to spend. It was up to myself and the committees discretion to decided what needed replacing in the halls and to organize events including a street party, a christmas party and a ceilidh for over 1000 students. I was a member of the woman's hockey team, and attended the 2008 tour in Spain. Activities and Societies: Zoological Society, Glasgow University Union, Murano Halls Vice President

My subjects were as follows: Maths, Chemistry, Biology and Spanish at Higher Level. English, History and French at Standard Level.Theory of Knowledge, CAS and Extended Essay. King William's College is a boarding school on the Isle of Man which I attended for my last two years of school. I was head of the girls boarding house, took part in regular sports and music competitions and played in the orchestra. Activities and Societies: Orchestra, Cookery, Sports, Violin, Boarding House