Getting Better All the Time

Education, Raising Consciousness, and Saving the World

By James F. Gesualdi with Terran McGinnis

To keep ahead, each one of us, no matter what our task, must search for new and better methods—for even that which we now do well must be done better tomorrow.
—James F. Bell

Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.
—Nelson Mandela

We are always learning. Sometimes we gain information and insights intentionally. Other times we pick up things through experience, hardship, inspiration, and/or necessity.

Formal schooling has been an important part of my life. It was a primary focus for 21 years as a student and about 8 as an adjunct professor.

In addition, out-of-the classroom learning has changed (and saved) my life and work. In 1989, this journey began with a welcoming greeting from an educator. Soon thereafter, I met and bonded with a dolphin named Little Bit, who inspires me to this day. Lessons that followed sensitized me and stopped me from eating tuna. Later, self-education—in a quest to save my kidneys—made me a vegetarian, and my daughters have taught me about the added health benefits of eating vegan.

Working in animal law has amounted to an ongoing, lifelong study of our relations with fellow living beings. It has taught me much about both nonhuman and human animals. The largely informal instruction, including growing in understanding of different and sometimes critical perspectives, has transformed me and my work and raised my consciousness. Still, there remains a long way for me to go to be a better human being and fellow traveler in this life.

Legally and professionally, education concerning animals and their care and treatment is necessary and important, and the writing of this column for the last decade has been an integral part of the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance Academy’s education. Many states in the U.S. require humane education within their schools. Federally, the Marine Mammal Protection Act, 16 U.S.C. §1371, et seq., requires that those making it possible for the public to observe marine mammals in their facilities provide “a program for education or conservation purposes that is based on professionally recognized standards of the public display community” 16 U.S.C. §1374(c)(2)(A)(1). Those professional standards have evolved over the years, and that is good.

Among the most fascinating and inspiring programs I have encountered recently is ZooTampa’s mock manatee rescue. It provides school-age children with insight into manatee rescue, rehabilitation, and release through direct, simulated, hands-on experiences.

In addition to this column, ideas have been published elsewhere for further elevating educational programs and their beneficial impacts, such as Furthering Marine Mammal Interests, Protection and Welfare Through Existing Law, American Bar Association, Tort Trial and Insurance Practice Section Committee News, and the Animal Law Committee Newsletter, Special Aquatic Animals Issue (Spring 2020), p. 14. Please contact the Academy (sdzwaacademysales@sdzwa.org) for a copy.

My reflections on education were enlivened through conversations with longtime, passionate environmental educator and education leader Terran McGinnis. From working as a young park ranger to three decades as a zoological educator, she has been able to tell the most fanciful, inspiring, and mesmerizing stories about the planet. With great respect for her contributions on behalf of animals, especially marine mammals, and environments, here is Terran to provide a (nonlawyer) educator’s perspective.

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Over my 30 years as an educator at zoos and aquariums, I have watched the field evolve and grow—and the role of education has evolved and grown with it.

Years ago, we designed our programs and measured their success based on the goal of teaching facts:

“How many teeth does a bottlenose dolphin have?”
“How long can a California sea lion hold its breath?”
“What is the difference between a dolphin and a porpoise?”

We wanted to be taken seriously, and so our programming was correspondingly serious. Anthropomorphism was sin. Emotion was frowned upon. We were scientists, and we had to focus on the facts.

In more recent years, we have changed our tune. We are still scientists, and the facts still matter, but the truth is, facts can be found in a book or online. Emotional connections between people and animals are where zoos and aquariums shine and providing opportunities for these connections to develop and thrive is the magic that can only happen at our facilities.

Bring on the emotion! Educators are now free to show how much they love the animals they work with and their wild counterparts, and that passion opens the door for guests and students to feel it as well. This is critical, because when paired with clear action items aimed at protecting wildlife, passion can become the catalyst to move anyone from concerned observer to active conservationist.

For me, finding this clarity in our purpose—helping people forge an emotional bond with an animal and providing achievable goals for participating in the survival of that species—has given me strength to persevere.

Everyone learns and finds inspiration in their own way.

For people who are inspired academically: Read a book or attend a lecture, and then go save the world.
For people who are inspired by nature: Go for a hike or a sail, and then go save the world.
For people who are inspired by connection: Go to a zoo or aquarium, and then go and save the world.

We are not in competition with other methods of education and inspiration. On the contrary, we are in partnership. If we all work together toward the same goal of protecting wildlife, then we all succeed. As long as different people learn differently, we will need different ways of teaching.

Now who are the magicians who facilitate the emotionally fueled programming, supported by peer-reviewed science and conveyed with clearly communicated tips for how the average citizen can become a conservation ally? These magicians are none other than zoo and aquarium educators—and they are heroes.

They are never the stars of the presentation. They have mastered the art of humbly stepping back to let the real stars—wildlife—be the center of attention and compassion.
They are frequently asked, “Are you just doing this until you can get a job as a dolphin trainer?”
They work with the most dangerous animals around: humans!
They are masters at adapting on the fly when students, or the animals or the weather throw them a curve ball.

And despite all of this, they love what they do and are brilliant at doing it. They frequently have advanced degrees and skills that could get them employed anywhere in the world. Yet they choose to play this critical role: building a bridge for guests who have connected with an animal to take the next step toward protecting it.

Here’s to the educators: the unsung conservation heroes!

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The challenges facing animals, environments, people, and our world often seem insurmountable and overwhelming. Our collective future demands that we learn and grow. Every human is at a different point of consciousness, and success in saving the world and making it a better place for nonhuman and human animals alike requires reaching people at all levels of consciousness.

Caring, thoughtful zoological educators can connect lots of people at different levels of consciousness with animals and species in need of their help. Working in concert with others outside the zoological community, even those with some differing perspectives, we can be the difference-makers the world needs—right now.

Change does not necessarily assure progress, but progress implacably requires change. Education is essential to change, for education creates both new wants and the ability to satisfy them.
—Henry Steele Commager