I’d like you to meet our new summer intern. Amélie Le Roy will be joining the panda team at the end of June when Stephanie leaves and she’ll primarily be working on finishing up the stereotypical and personality studies that Stephanie is working on.
Amélie grew up in a little French Island near Madagascar, where her closeness with nature and wildlife peeked her interest in Ecology and Conservation biology.
She is currently pursuing her fourth year of higher education in France, leading to a Masters of Sciences Degree, with a specialization in functional, behavioral and evolutionary ecology. She plans on going into researcher in this field. Her program requires that she spend an entire year of internship abroad which has given her many valuable research experiences.
She has worked in Argentina on predator/prey relations between pumas and vicunas under the direction of Dr. Emiliano Donadio from the University of Wyoming. She also just finished a stint with the Wildlife Conservation Society in Guatemala working with jaguars, scarlet macaws, and tortuga blanca. This position also included a visit to New York to finish the research project. She is well traveled and has visited India, Indonesia (including living two years in Bornéo), Madagascar, Brazil, and Tunisia. She already speaks English, French and Spanish and tells me she’s excited to learn Chinese.
She decided to apply to the Giant Panda project in order to learn more about how to protect this charismatic endangered species, and get experience with captive conservation biology and the research methods associated with large captive breeding facilities. She believes those two months with the panda mating behavior project will help build valuable experiences she needs to start her thesis, while also allowing her to experience Chinese culture and language.
Help us welcome Amélie to the team!
-Meg
