Wildlife Conservation Society
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The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) endeavors to save wildlife and wild lands though careful use of science, conservation around the world, education and through a system of urban wildlife parks. The wildlife parks include the world-renowned Bronx Zoo, New York Aquarium, Central Park Zoo, Queens Zoo and Prospect Park Zoo.
According to WCS's website, its mission is:
| “ | The Wildlife Conservation Society saves wildlife and wild lands through careful science, international conservation, education, and the management of the world’s largest system of urban wildlife parks. These activities change attitudes toward nature and help people imagine wildlife and humans living in sustainable interaction on both a local and a global scale. WCS is committed to this work because we believe it essential to the integrity of life on Earth. | ” |
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[edit] History
The Wildlife Conservation Society traces its origin to April 26, 1895 when New York State chartered the organization as the New York Zoological Society. Its name was changed to the Wildlife Conservation Society in 1993. As one of the first conservation organizations in the United States, WCS began with a clear mandate: advance wildlife conservation, promote the study of zoology, and create a first-class zoological park.
Among the founders of WCS were Andrew H. Green, best known as the father of greater New York City, and Henry Fairfield Osborn, Columbia University professor and curator of the American Museum of Natural History. Theodore Roosevelt and other notable New Yorkers were also involved in the Society's creation.
WCS's flagship "New York Zoological Park" — the Bronx Zoo — was designed along the lines of other cultural icons in New York City, such as the American Museum of Natural History. The city provided the land for the new zoo and some funding for buildings and annual operating costs. From private donors, WCS raised most of the funds for construction and operations. It also selected scientific and administrative leadership for the enterprise. This partnership of city government and cultural organization has endured and grown for more than 100 years.
Later, New York City again turned to WCS to renew and manage three city-run facilities in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens. The redesigned Central Park Zoo opened in 1988, followed by the Prospect Park Zoo in 1992 and the Queens Zoo in 1993. From 1994 through 1996 Archie Carr III of WCS was instrumental in the establishment of the Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary in Belize, the world's premier reserve for the jaguar.
[edit] Work on conservation of wildlife and wild places
Even before the Bronx Zoo opened its gates, WCS was at the forefront of conservation and field research. In the late nineteenth century Zoo Director William Hornaday carried out a direct-mail survey of wildlife conditions through the United States, and publicized the decline of birds and mammals in the organization's annual reports. In 1897 Hornaday also hired field researcher Andrew J. Stone to survey the condition of wildlife in the territory of Alaska. On the basis of these studies, Hornaday led the campaign for new laws to protect the wildlife there and the United States as a whole.
Starting in 1905, Hornaday led a national campaign to reintroduce the almost extinct bison to government sponsored refuges. The Bronx Zoo sent 15 bison to Wichita Reserve in 1907 and additional bison in later years. The saving of this uniquely American symbol is one of the great success stories in the history of wildlife conservation. Hornaday campaigned for wildlife protection throughout his thirty years as director of the Bronx Zoo.
William Beebe, the zoo's first curator of birds, began a program of field research soon after the Bronx Zoo opened. His research on wild pheasants took him to Asia from 1908 to 1911 and resulted in a series of books on pheasants. Beebe's field work also resulted in the creation of the Society's Department of Tropical Research, which Beebe directed from 1922 until his retirement in 1948.
Beebe's research in an undersea vessel called the bathysphere took him half a mile under the ocean floor off Bermuda in 1934 to record for the first time human observations of the bottom of the deep sea. The bathysphere is currently displayed at the New York Aquarium.
After World War II, under the leadership of Fairfield Osborn, a best selling writer on conservation and son of WCS founder Henry Fairfield Osborn, the organization extended its programs in field biology and conservation. In 1946 WCS helped found the Jackson Hole Wildlife Park, which became part of the Grand Teton National Park in 1962.
In the late 1950s WCS began a series of wildlife surveys and projects in Kenya, Tanganyika (now Tanzania), Uganda, Ethiopia, Sudan, Burma, and the Malay peninsula. In 1959 it sponsored George Schaller's seminal study of mountain gorillas in Congo. Since that expedition, Schaller has gone on to become the world's preeminent field biologist, studying wildlife throughout Africa, Asia and South America.
The conservation activities of the Bronx Zoo and WCS continued to expand under the leadership of William Conway, who became director of the zoo in 1962 and President of WCS in 1992. Active as a field biologist in Patagonia, Conway promoted a new vision of zoos as conservation organizations, which cooperated in breeding endangered species. He also designed new types of zoo exhibits aimed at teaching visitors about habitats that support wildlife, and encouraged the expansion of WCS's field programs.
[edit] Fordham University and Bronx Zoo Announce Master's Degree Program
The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), headquarters for the Bronx Zoo, and the Fordham University Graduate School of Education (GSE) will offer a joint program leading to a Master of Science degree in education and New York state initial teacher certification in adolescent science education (biology grades 7-12), beginning in September 2008.
The partnership was announced on Friday, March 23, at Thirteen/WNET and WLIW21’s second annual Celebration of Teaching and Learning at Pier 94 in New York City. Joseph M. McShane, S.J., president of Fordham University; James Hennessy, Ph.D., dean of the Graduate School of Education at Fordham; and John F. Calvelli, senior vice president for public affairs of the Wildlife Conservation Society announced the program.
“I’m pleased to announce today the partnership of two great Bronx institutions—two great global institutions—Fordham University and the Wildlife Conservation Society,” said Father McShane. “Fordham’s Graduate School of Education and the WCS’s Bronx Zoo are teaming up to offer a master of science degree in Conservation Biology Education, a cutting-edge science education curriculum that is second to none. The program will tap the Zoo’s incomparable scientific and educational resources, and the Graduate School of Education’s deep store of teaching expertise.”
Steven E. Sanderson, Ph.D., WCS president and CEO, reinforced the relationship between these two institutions saying, “This is truly a historic collaboration. We believe this partnership can be a model for others to ensure a greater understanding and appreciation for the sciences, while sparking the imagination of teachers who will influence young minds of future generations. The Wildlife Conservation Society is delighted to be associated with Fordham University in this important endeavor.”
The two institutions will fill a need for well-trained science educators through the partnership—the first degree-granting program of its kind in the United States—that will serve as a national model for pairing universities and informal science institutions such as zoos, aquariums, botanical gardens and science museums. The Bronx Zoo/Fordham University Graduate School of Education program will provide scores of graduate-level education students with increased knowledge in the sciences, better teaching skills, confidence in science teaching and an understanding of the value of informal science institutions as resources for teaching science.
“The new joint program brings together the strengths of both institutions,” said Hennessy. “The WCS is the best ‘zoo education’ organization in the world, and GSE has a long and distinguished history as a provider of highly qualified teachers to the schools of the metropolitan area. Bringing together these two areas of expertise responds to the serious criticisms of most major science organizations regarding the low quality of most science education programs that focus only on pedagogy. This program will incorporate world-class science instruction into a nationally recognized teacher education program.”
Courses offered by the Bronx Zoo will focus on science content (including such topics as conservation biology, habitat ecology, environmental science, natural resource use, ecosystem function, wildlife conservation and population biology) and the effective use of informal science resources in classroom instruction. Courses offered by Fordham University will focus on teaching methods, the psychology of adolescent development and learning, learning environments for adolescents, and teaching linguistically and culturally diverse adolescents, among other areas. The program involves field experience based on an existing teaching fellowship model at the Bronx Zoo and on a variation of the New York City Department of Education’s Teaching Fellows Program.
“Amid the growing distress about the low achievement in sciences on the part of American middle and high school students, there is a new appreciation for the fact that science instruction needs to be exciting and relevant to the lives of today’s students. Together, Fordham and WCS are creating a new model for how universities and informal science education institutions, such as the Bronx Zoo, together can provide urban science teachers with content, tools and venues to bring science inquiry alive for their students,” said Tom Naiman, WCS director of curriculum development and international education.
Field experiences will enable participants in the master’s degree program to work side-by-side with experienced Bronx Zoo instructors and science teaching specialists, gaining valuable teaching and curriculum development practice, both at WCS’s New York City facilities (the Bronx Zoo, New York Aquarium, Central Park, Queens and Prospect Park Zoos,) and in the school classroom.
The Wildlife Conservation Society encompasses a unique combination of international conservation projects, award-winning environmental education programs and wildlife parks across New York City. As one of the preeminent New York City cultural institutions, WCS provides an important educational and recreational resource to the community, reaching four million visitors annually. Together, these activities change individual attitudes toward nature and help people imagine wildlife and humans living in sustainable interaction on both a local and a global scale. WCS is committed to this work because we believe it essential to the integrity of life on Earth.
The oldest education department of any zoo in the country, the Bronx Zoo Education Department has been a leader in the science education field since 1929, providing audiences in New York City and throughout the world with innovative programs based on the most current research in the environmental sciences. The Zoo’s Education Department was the first of its kind to develop comprehensive life science curricula that use animal collections; the first to design hands-on teaching environments in zoos; and the first to offer major national teacher training seminars. Its curricular programs have served millions of students in 50 states and 16 countries. Its school, professional development, and public programs have been independently proven to significantly increase science understanding. The breadth, quality and effectiveness of the Zoo’s education programs have earned them numerous prestigious awards and recognition from professional organizations such as the Association of Zoos and Aquariums AZA (previously American Zoo and Aquarium Association), the National Science Foundation, the National Science Teachers Association, and the U.S. Department of Education.
Fordham University’s Graduate School of Education has prepared educators to be leaders in scholarship and service to individuals for more than 85 years. In keeping with the University’s Jesuit values, its students, faculty, and administrators share a commitment to the professional development of the whole person. The Graduate School of Education currently serves students who are engaged in professional development of teachers, counselors, and school leaders in master’s, advanced certificate, and doctoral degree and certification programs. The 47 full-time faculty of the Graduate School of Education are scholars who conduct cutting-edge research and practitioners who can apply the best instructional practices in K-12 schools. In particular, the faculty specialize in multiracial, multilingual, multicultural, and economically diverse environments such as New York City.
Founded in 1841, Fordham is the Jesuit University of New York, offering exceptional education distinguished by the Jesuit tradition to approximately 15,600 students in its five undergraduate colleges and its six graduate and professional schools. It has residential campuses in the Bronx, Manhattan and Tarrytown, and the Louis Calder Center Biological Field Station in Armonk, N.Y.
[edit] Today
Today WCS is at work in 53 nations across Africa, Asia, Latin America and North America, protecting wild landscapes that are home to a vast variety of species from butterflies to tigers.
The current CEO of WCS is Dr. Steven E. Sanderson.
[edit] Mannahatta Project
The Mannahatta Project is a project by the WCS to reconstruct and map how Manhattan existed in 1609 when Henry Hudson discovered the island. Elements being mapped include where the streams flowed, where each species of tree grew. The Lenni Lenape people who lived there called the island Mannahatta, or "land of many hills." The project highlights the ways that development has altered the natural ecosystems.[1][2]
[edit] Forests Now Declaration
The WCS has given support to the Forests Now Declaration, which calls for new market based mechanisms to protect tropical forests.
[edit] Criticism
In Malaysia/Sarawak WCS is the only NGO that has been working hand in hand with the Sarawak Forestry Corporation, the Sarawak Forest Department and one of the most aggressive logging companys worldwide (Samling Corporation) since 1984. Until 2007 almost 97% of all primary rainforest in Sarawak will have been cleared.
The WCS is involved with international timber certification which the sampling Corporation need to sell the timber on the European market. This timber certification promote and encourage sustainable forest management and provides an assurance to buyers that the timber products come from sustainably managed forests.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
[edit] References
- ^ Wildlife Conservation Society
- ^ Nick Paumgarten, Our Local Correspondents, "The Mannahatta Project," The New Yorker, October 1, 2007, p. 44.
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