Getting Ahead: It's a Wild, Wild World

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AUTHOR BILL BRYSON WAS ON a plane when he realized he didn't know the first thing about Earth. You can read about it in "A Short History of Nearly Everything," Bryson's book on the natural sciences and what makes the planet tick. Rob Sorey, U.S. Patent and Trademark officer, was doing exactly that — reading the book — when he realized he didn't know the first thing about planet Earth, either.

The 28-year-old Mt. Pleasant resident, a former accountant and Peace Corps worker, found himself discovering the National Zoo, volunteering in the Small Mammal House on weekends and using the experience not just to teach visitors about golden lion tamarins but to learn more himself.

Then he found the classes.

"They're one of Washington's best-kept secrets," says Posie Beam, 67, who's been taking classes at the zoo for a few years. Indeed, only about 20 to 25 people take the natural science classes offered about every quarter by the Friends of the National Zoo (FONZ).

Sorey's first class this spring was on coral reefs, taught by experts Mary Hagedorn and Mike Henley (the latter is a keeper in the invertebrates exhibit). Though most of the courses are lecture-style and held in classrooms, in the coral reef class, Sorey and his classmates participated in a hands-on session based on Hagedorn and Henley's research in coral reproduction. "We got to frag coral — that's short for 'fragment' — and break it apart and start new coral." He's not quite grinning as he says it, but the "kid on Christmas Day" look is definitely rising to the surface.

And, yeah, it is pretty cool. Who but these students can say they spent a weekend afternoon tying animals to rocks? Seriously. "You cut them with scissors," says Henley, 31, "and secure them with a piece of fishing line or rubber band to a rock."

Class topics vary widely, says Liz Dannes, education programs specialist with FONZ. "A lot of it is ... [based] around projects that are going on at the zoo currently." So, Brian Gratwicke, head of the zoo's amphibian conservation program, teaches a class on salamanders. Architects and designers lecture on the building of the Asia Trail. And one zoo staff member, the curator of training and enrichment, teaches a class on the various tricks the staff use to keep caged animals happy. "This is an interesting class because people can apply this to their pets at home," Dannes says. (Orangutan owners, rejoice.)

Students pay $75 for a three-session class (members, of course, pay less). Completing six courses — including one each in animal behavior, conservation and ecology — earns animal lovers a neat certificate, worth 2.7 continuing education credits at GMU, which can't be put toward a degree but can add interest to a resume for folks pursuing animal-focused careers. Joanna Duong recently earned her certificate with class topics ranging from elephants to pandas to animal reproduction. "I'm tired of working in an office," she says. "I would rather work with animals, even if it's in a doggie day care center." Yet, she says, "I don't have 10 years to go to veterinary school. But who knows? Maybe it [the certificate] will help me, with no other background in animal studies."

There are more benefits to animal studies than a piece of paper. Besides learning about cheetahs and turtles, Beam says she's learned "that scientists are really cool people. You can talk to one at a party and they'll talk about their kids or a movie, and they seem really normal. But they're not normal, because next week they could be tromping through some leech-infested jungle."

As for animal lovers who want to take the next step and turn a hobby into a career, the FONZ classes are a foot in the door at the zoo. And at least for Sorey, the zoo seems to be where his career trajectory is headed. "I haven't yet decided [to become a keeper], but this is definitely something I'm interested in."

Photos by Express contributor Regan Kirellis
Written by Rachel Kaufman for Express