The zoos listed below are presently participating in our reciprocal zoo program. Scholarship information, application and internship descriptions can be found on the zoo’s RISE Scholarship page by visiting a member of the Toledo Zoo, your membership allows you 50% discounted admission to more than 150 zoos throughout the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Students must be 18 years of age and complete the application by Aug. Students must commit to 12 weeks in animal care internship positions or 240 hours of work in other non-animal areas from September through December. Each recipient will receive a $5,000 scholarship (non-animal care internships will be paid biweekly via payroll) to offset expenses or be paid hourly up to $5,000 through the scholarship fund. Starting this fall, there will be 15 individual scholarships available dedicated to various positions across the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, The Wilds, Zoombezi Bay and Safari Golf Club. Wirtz adds that applications will be reviewed by the Board of Directors DEIAB committee. Our family of parks are for everyone and educational opportunities should be no exception,” said Carman Wirtz, senior vice president of human resources. “To create access you have to identify barriers and then remove those barriers to create opportunities that are equitable. This program also furthers the zoo’s strategic goal to recruit more underserved and underrepresented candidates into our organization. The goal is to remove financial barriers that may be caused by unpaid internships. There are a multitude of career paths at all zoos and aquariums such as guest services, IT, finance, nutrition, security, operations, fundraising, community relations and education, horticultural, and much more. But it does take a village of people in various roles to keep the daily operations going of a zoo, conservation center, waterpark and golf course. When most people think of zoo jobs, they picture a veterinarian or keeper. The end-goal is to inspire these students to join the zoological profession and better reflect the communities we serve,” said Tom Schmid, president and CEO of the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium. Students will have the opportunity to learn from and work with our talented staff. These internships will provide valuable exposure, and we hope spark interest in careers in animal care, conservation education, and related fields. “We are excited to launch this new program right here in central Ohio. The RISE scholarship program provides internship experiences from business to biology to students from a variety of backgrounds, including racial/ethnic groups, gender, and low-income/underserved populations who are underrepresented in the industry. There are other disparities in the zoo field such as gender identity/expression and low-income. Comparatively, 16.3% are Hispanic or Latino and 4% are Black. The goal of this new program is to increase diversity representation in the zoo field.Īccording to a study by Zippia, 74.1% of zoo keepers are White. On Tuesday, the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, along with The Wilds, Zoombezi Bay, and Safari Golf Club, announced the establishment of the RISE Scholarship program.
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