ABOUT ME
I always knew I would make a difference in the world, I just wasn’t sure what kind of positive impact I would make. I decided I would help people in need, so I graduated from California State University Los Angeles with my bachelors of science in Fire Protection Administration and Technology, with a minor in Public Administration. While working as an emergency medical technician (EMT) I was a San Diego zoo member and loved spending my days off unwinding with the animals and the joy they brought me. One day while on the African tram at the Safari Park the tour guide stated that there were only three northern white rhinos left. I assumed I misheard her or that she meant in the park. There is no way there were only three left in the world, people would not allow that to happen. Thanks to modern technology I took out my phone and googled it. My heart sank when I read that there were only three northern white rhinos left in the entire world. I kept asking, "why isn't someone doing something, why is no one stopping this". I quickly stopped asking questions and told myself, "I am someone, I can do something".
Shortly after that I became a San Diego Zoo Global volunteer. I loved sharing my love and passion about animals with zoo guests and learning all I could about every single animal. I volunteered over 100 hours within my first two months and I knew I belonged in a field doing something to help protect our wildlife. I joined the Ocelots to network with people in the conservation field and learn more about the animals in the zoo and in the wild. A few months later I applied for a masters program and was thrilled to learn that I was accepted into the program, to begin my new journey in wildlife conservation. I chose to focus on big cat conservation through mitigation of human-big cat conflict and drive action to further conservation to ensure human-big cat coexistence.
Hi, I'm Tabitha
MISSION STATEMENT
Driving action to further conservation to ensure human and big cat coexistence
In 1996 the San Diego Zoo received giant pandas and my grandma thought it was such a life altering event that she allowed me to skip school to see them. I still remember seeing those beautiful creatures for my first time outside of tv or a movie. Being so young I had no idea how important it was that there were pandas outside of China or what information would be learned during their time here. Now as an adult, I treasure that memory of being one of the first guests to welcome the pandas to San Diego, and one of the last to say goodbye when they left the zoo in the spring of 2019. ​
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I graduated with my Masters in Biology, with a concentration in conservation, through the Advanced Inquiry Program (AIP). The AIP is a project-based degree offered through a collaborative partnership between Miami University and San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance. Its aim is to build conservation biologists equipped to focus on contemporary and challenging issues. My master plan focused on the conservation and ecological issues facing the seven big cats around the world. My goal was to find and critically analyze strategies for helping their populations in the wild, especially through reducing human-big cat conflict. My work and research was pointed at understanding how human behavior change can lead to tolerance and how the communication around big cats is interpreted by various communities through their cultural, religious, ethnic, and/or political lenses. I also delved into human-big cat conflict with regard to wildfire impact on big cats and what humans can do to relieve the negative pressure on wildlife during wildfires.
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I strongly believe the key to accomplishing my mission of driving action to further conservation to ensure human and big cat coexistence will be accomplished through research, hands-on experience, education, intervention, and understanding. Together we can end human-big cat conflict, and protect these species as well as the people who live alongside them.