Name of Project: Marine Conservation in Peru (ProDelphinus)
Field of Contact: Joanna Alfaro Shigueto
Nationality: Peruvian
Location of Project: Peru, South America
Brevard Zoo’s Role: Brevard Zoo has provided two environmental teaching suitcases ($1400) on ocean ecosystems to Joanna’s NGO ProDelphinus. The suitcases contain puppets, games, posters, maps, binoculars, puzzles, field guides and art supplies. In addition BZ has given a $900 grant to create educational materials. For more information on ProDelphinus please see: www.prodelphinus.org
What prompted you to want to want to study/work with animals in the wild?I guess my favorite dictionary, which had at that time pictures of the weirdest animals that I didn't have an idea if they were real or fiction. So I decided to go and find that out myself. I am still looking for some of them.
Why this particular species?
I enjoy the ocean.
When did you first know you were interested in animals?
During primary school.
Who had the most influence on you in terms of wanting to study/work with animals?
A dictionary that my dad bought, which had a lot of animal pictures.
What is it like to work in the field?
A unique experience with lots of things to learn.
What is the hardest part of doing fieldwork?
To see how hard is the daily living of communities I work with.
What is the best part of doing fieldwork?
To get to know different kinds of people with different perspectives on conservation and amazing life experiences.
Did books influence your interest in animals? What are some of your favorite books both fiction and nonfiction?
A simple dictionary with lots of animal pictures made it for me. Jules Verne books were fun to read when I was a kid.
To get some experience before making the decision to become a field researcher.
What do you ultimately want your project to accomplish?
We finally would like to help improve the conservation status of marine ecosystems and at the same time have the active participation of the coastal communities to which these ecosytems relate, seeing in conservation a tool to improve their livelihoods as well.