Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute (2013). Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute [Photograph]. Flickr. https://www.flickr.com/photos/nationalzoo/29096060814/
The Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute (SCBI) is nestled among the rolling mountains of Front Royal, Virginia. The cluster of red-roofed buildings and surrounding land had previously been a US Army Remount for breeding horses, before being acquired by the Smithsonian National Zoo in 1975. Now those lands are used to breed endangered animals, and the buildings serve many purposes including endocrinology, cryobiology, a veterinary hospital, and classrooms. These classrooms are a part of the Smithsonian-Mason School of Conservation (SMSC), a partnership between SCBI and George Mason University. This summer I had the opportunity to go to SMSC to learn about Conservation Biology and the many careers associated with it.
My first full day at SMSC started with a tour of SBCI’s facilities. First, we visited the endocrinology laboratory where scientists analyze animals’ hormones. To measure hormones, scientists use samples of blood, saliva, hair, urine, or feces which they extract hormones from. These measurements can be used to assist with breeding endangered animals by showing the best time to introduce a mate or artificially inseminate the animal, as well as the progress of a pregnancy. Hormones can also be used for other purposes, such as determining how stressed an animal is.
Later during my stay, I would hear a lecture from Dr. Kathleen Hunt, a scientist who specializes in endocrinology, about how she applied these techniques to the problem of declining Northern Right Whales. To discover more about the factors influencing their decline she analyzed the hormones in baleen to determine how often the whales were reproducing. Baleen grows over a long period of time and provides a record of a whale’s hormones, so by analyzing one piece of baleen she could discover how often a whale was pregnant throughout the 10 years the baleen took to grow. By analyzing the baleen of many females she was able to determine how many years on average the whales spent between pregnancies.
Next, we visited the cryopreservation lab where they store frozen semen and embryos for artificial insemination. This is very important in species with a small population size because it can be used to help to restore genetic diversity, preventing the population from becoming too inbred. The evening lecture for that day, by Dr. Klaus-Peter Koepfli, was on the related topic of Biodiversity Genomics, which is the application of DNA sequencing to understanding biodiversity. This lecture focused on using genomes to tell how genetically diverse or inbred a species is. This is useful in measuring the level of inbreeding of species that have gone through a bottleneck (decreased to a very small population size before increasing again), knowledge that can help inform conservation and breeding efforts for that species.
SBCI also contains a satellite tracking and GIS laboratory. Here they showed us the GPS collars that they put on animals to track their movement. The information about animals’ distribution and movements can be used to determine how changes in habitat are affecting a species and locate areas that should be protected to aid conservation efforts.
We learned about another way to monitor populations of wild animals, using indexes to determine population size. “Indexes” are indicative of the size of a population as a substitute for physically counting each animal. These can include the number of photos of a species taken by a camera trap, the number of nests or feces in an area, or many other indicators. By examining these indexes over a long time period, scientists can determine whether the population is growing or shrinking. Camera traps can also be used to determine other things about a species such as the time of day that they are most active.
Later in the day, I was able to try out the process of collecting and analyzing camera traps, which had been set up a week before by SMSC staff members. Our first task was to retrieve these traps with the aid of a GPS. After we had retrieved the camera, we went back to the computer lab to upload and analyze the photos. We sifted through hundreds of photos, recording the species that we could see. My group had many photos of deer with their fawns, as well as raccoons, but other groups even obtained photos of black bears and their cubs. We also analyzed the times of day when the deer were most active by recording the number of different sightings for each hour.
In the final part of our tour, we had the opportunity to see several of the endangered species bred at SCBI and meet the people involved with their care. SCBI breeds 12 different mammal species and 9 bird species. The animals bred at SCBI are species that would benefit from larger areas of land and less public disturbance, and which would, therefore, be more difficult to breed in zoos. These animals are used to maintain captive populations of these species and they or their descendants may be reintroduced into the wild. Animals at SCBI also are researched by scientists at the institute to improve understanding of the species and conservation efforts.
On the tour, we saw clouded leopards, red pandas, Przewalski's horses, Scimitar Horned Oryx (a large antelope with huge curving horns), zebra, cheetahs, and several species of cranes. One rare species that SCBI also breeds is the black-footed ferret, which has been one of their most successful conservation projects. Black-footed ferrets had dwindled to as low as 18 known animals in the 1980s. Since that time, zoos and breeding programs have resulted in the births of over 7,000 black-footed ferrets, with 2,600 of those being released into the wild. Over 1,000 of those ferrets were born at SCBI. Access to the ferrets at SCBI is extremely restricted due to their rarity and their susceptibility to diseases such as COVID-19, which is why I was not able to see any of them during my stay.
Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute (2013). Critically Endangered Black-Footed Ferret Diversity Improves by Using Frozen Sperm for Assisted Reproduction [Photograph]. Flickr. https://www.flickr.com/photos/nationalzoo/19919848834/
Being an animal keeper is another important job in Conservation Biology. Keepers are responsible for feeding the animals, cleaning their cages, and providing enrichment for the animals. This involves more physical labor than many of the other Conservation careers and also allows working most closely with the animals.
There are two main career paths in Conservation Biology: working for a university or working for a zoo or aquarium (such as SCBI which is a part of the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute). Some general skills that Dr. Hunt recommended for people interested in research in Conservation biology are statistics, programming in R, photography, navigation, small engine repair, and drone flying. Scientists working in Conservation Biology usually either specialize in a specific species or a specific technique (for example, Dr. Hunt specialized in hormones and has worked with several different species from elephants to whales over the course of her career). To specialize in a technique she recommended taking a technique that you learn one step further to a more niche level so that when other scientists need someone to help them with that area, they will seek you out to collaborate with.
I really enjoyed my stay at SCBI, and I learned a lot about the many different career fields available in Conservation Biology. We covered a lot in my 3 days at SCBI, so I was only able to include a small selection of the experiences in this article. The Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute is not open to the general public; however, they do sometimes offer live webcams of certain families of their animals. The Cheetah Cub Cam is live now at https://nationalzoo.si.edu/webcams/cheetah-cub-cam. If you are interested in attending the Smithsonian-Mason School of Conservation, they offer summer and semester-away programs for college students as some high school programs for college credit (these are different from the program I participated in which only spent 3 days at SMSC). Information is available at https://smconservation.gmu.edu/programs/.
About the Author
Marcella is a Junior at Northwood High School who is interested in a career as a Conservation Biologist. She enjoys reading, playing the piano, and being outside.
Sources
History of the SCBI Complex. (n.d.). Smithsonian National Zoo and Conservation Biology
Institute. Retrieved October 23, 2022, from
Department of Animal Programs. (n.d.) Smithsonian National Zoo and Conservation Biology
Institute. Retrieved October 27, 2022, from
Black-footed ferret. (n.d.) Smithsonian National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute.
Retrieved October 27, 2022, from https://nationalzoo.si.edu/animals/black-footed-ferret
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