Presentations are available to clubs, organizations, and other community gatherings
Rebecca Rose recently joined the Ohio Wildlife Center team as the conservation liaison, a role that will extend the Center’s outreach into the Central Ohio community and raise awareness about critical conservation issues.
Rose, who previously was the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium’s field conservation manager, also served for many years as an environmental education specialist. She currently serves on the board for the Pan African Sanctuary Alliance (PASA), Friends of Bonobos, and the Center for Conservation Peacebuilding in Washington, D.C. She is also a founding member and steering committee member for the Zoos and Aquariums Committing to Conservation conference.
In the Q and A below, Rose outlines the focus of this conservation initiative:
Question: What are the main goals of this position?
The new position of Conservation Liaison is envisioned as an expansion of the Center’s existing outreach to the Central Ohio community with a focus on the philosophy of “Think Globally, Act Locally.” The goal is to raise awareness of the two most important environmental issues facing our planet – the climate crisis and the extreme loss of biodiversity – and give members of our community practical ways they can engage to become part of the solution to these serious challenges.
Question: How are you carrying out the conservation outreach?
The main component of the conservation outreach will be presentations available to clubs, organizations, and other community gatherings whose members want to join with Ohio Wildlife Center to become a positive force for change in our relationship with other species and our planet. We’ll also be sharing conservation stories and ideas through blog posts, podcasts, social media and the Center’s website.
Question: How can Ohio Wildlife Center contribute to solving the issues related to biodiversity and threats to wildlife in the community?
Ohio Wildlife Center is quite well positioned to continue to be a positive force for change and to expand our reach into the Central Ohio community. With a 35-year history and loyal support from our friends and partners, we are embedded in the community through our environmental education outreach and on-site programs that teach children how to nurture the planet, and the innovative services of SCRAM! that promote peaceful coexistence with our native wildlife. What the staff and volunteers are doing at the Wildlife Hospital every single day is nothing short of heroic. Admitting nearly 6,000 animals of 150-plus species each year – animals that are sick, injured or orphaned – is painstaking and difficult, both physically and emotionally. They are giving animals a second chance at life and modeling empathy and compassion for our entire community. They’re also interacting with citizens on a daily basis and imparting important information about the wild animals among us – changing hearts and minds in the process.
Question: How can ordinary people, citizens, play a role in the issues related to native wildlife, climate threats and conservation?
Of course there are scores of individual, daily lifestyle choices ordinary people can make that definitely have an impact on the planet, and we should absolutely continue all of these and incorporate new changes into our daily routines. My favorite change to share when I’m asked is eating less (or no) meat and not wasting food, since we know that agriculture is the third largest contributor to global emissions. But as important as things like conserving energy, planting native species in our yards and gardens, and cutting out single-use plastics are – these actions are not enough to address the magnitude of the climate crisis and biodiversity loss. We need strong local, national and international leadership, and for this, the most important thing to do is educate ourselves on what needs to be done, then use our vote as our voice for change.
Question: In your work with global initiatives related to endangered species and human-wildlife conflict, what has been the most successful approach in solving problems and how can we apply that to situations here in Central Ohio?
For wildlife conservation to be successful and sustainable, local communities must have buy-in and must be involved and (preferably lead) wildlife conservation initiatives. Especially in terms of peacefully coexisting with wildlife and resolving human-wildlife conflicts, all stakeholders must have a seat at the table and all voices must be heard. It’s also important to remember that human-wildlife conflict is actually conflict between groups of people about wildlife. As more and more wildlife habitat is lost to development, the instances of human-wildlife conflict are on the rise and we must work hard to coexist.
Intact communities of wild animals are crucial to healthy, functioning ecosystems. (When it comes to ecosystems, diversity = stability.) People cannot survive and thrive economically or from a health and happiness standpoint if nature is degraded and destroyed. I’m proud to serve on the board of directors for an innovative organization called the Center for Conservation Peacebuilding (CPeace) based in Washington, D.C. Our organization pioneered the use of conservation conflict transformation (CCT) as a way of thinking about, understanding and addressing conflict between groups of people and the wildlife in their communities. Sometimes the conflict is severe because, for example, predators like lions or wolves are preying on livestock and people feel their livelihoods (and even their own lives) are being threatened. In our own community, conflict can arise when people create landscapes (large grassy areas with ponds) and species like Canada geese move in because they like what we like. Our own SCRAM! team has proven successful in using the methods of conservation conflict transformation to help individuals and organizations coexist with Canada geese and other native Ohio wildlife.
Question: How can you be contacted to set up a program or presentation?
We are now offering several presentations for community groups, organizations, clubs, businesses and professional groups on topics related to wildlife conservation and animal behavior. The presentations run approximately 30 – 40 minutes in length with an opportunity for questions and discussion. They can be scheduled by contacting me via email at: rrose@ohiowildlifecenter.org
Current presentations cover a global perspective on wildlife topics in the news with a special emphasis on the work of the Ohio Wildlife Center and how Ohioans can get involved locally to make a difference for wildlife.
Current presentation options include:
Gimme Shelter: Rescue, Rehabilitation and Why It Matters
Because of severe habitat loss, human-wildlife conflict, and the illegal wildlife trade, hundreds of thousands of wild animals are being cared for in rescue centers and sanctuaries across the globe.
The people who care for these animals and give them a second chance at life are among the wildlife heroes of the world. From chimpanzees in Sierra Leone, West Africa, to great-horned owls in Ohio, rescue and rehabilitation centers are contributing to wildlife conservation in unique, community-based ways that are changing the hearts and minds of people and the way they relate to wildlife in their neighborhoods and in their countries.
The Women Who Saved Birds
More than 100 years ago, groups of passionate Americans came together around a common purpose. They marched; they protested; they organized boycotts. It was one of the first examples of environmental activism in our country. Their message to America was “STOP SLAUGHTERING BIRDS!”
This is the story of how the fashion-craze of feather hats nearly drove several species of birds to extinction, and how citizens around the world fought back and won. The result was the 1918 International Migratory Bird Treaty Act (IMBTA), one of the oldest and most important wildlife protection laws on the books.
Inside Animal Hearts and Minds
Based on the book Inside Animal Hearts and Minds by Belinda Recio, and other recent best-selling books on the topic of animal intelligence and emotion, Inside Animal Hearts and Minds shares how ethologists (specialists in animal behavior) have recently explored the mental abilities of hundreds of species – often with astounding results.
With the use of clever experiments and long-term field studies, we now know that rats laugh when they’re tickled, bears hum when they’re happy, and prairie dogs have complex vocabularies. Did you know that one of the world’s most intelligent birds is a native-Ohio species that most of us see and hear every single day?