Writing a brighter future for conservation
Over the last decade, your Zoo’s conservation scientists have mentored more than 70 Rwandan students in the journey to earn their bachelor’s degrees and pursue careers in conservation. Through a unique partnership called the Memoirs Program, Cleveland-based zoo professionals and graduate students have become an essential resource for their counterparts in Rwanda, helping build a more robust global community committed to understanding and protecting wildlife. There is no lack of successes to celebrate as this program marks its 10th year, and no slowing down for those driving it forward.
When Dr. Kristen Lukas, your Zoo’s Director of Conservation and Science traveled to Rwanda for the first time in 2012, she was galvanized to do more to advance the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund’s mission to protect gorillas - and bring Cleveland Metroparks Zoo’s unique value and expertise to the table. The Fossey Fund had been collaborating with the University of Rwanda on student training since 2003, but the opportunity to solidify and scale up their efforts by partnering with Cleveland Metroparks Zoo helped formalize what is now called the Memoirs Program. “I am not a field ecologist,” said Lukas, “so I wasn’t sure if my skillset would be useful to the Fossey Fund. But I am passionate about science and training students in research. Our long-standing partnership with the biology department at Case Western Reserve University to train master’s and PhD students here at the Zoo meant we had the expertise, experience, and resources to help make a difference for the Fossey Fund.”
Director of Conservation & Science Dr. Kristen Lukas (center) with Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund interns who have gone on to become DFGF staff members. Photos courtesy of DFGF.
THE MAKING OF A MEMOIR
Each year, 10 to 12 undergraduate zoology and botany students from the University of Rwanda are selected by the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund, then paired with a scientific supervisor from the Fossey Fund, Cleveland Metroparks Zoo, or other academic partners who represents a good fit for the focus of their senior thesis, or “Memoir”. Mentors travel to Rwanda at the beginning and end of the academic year and work with their mentees virtually in between, helping the students formulate their thesis plans, develop their projects, design the protocols for research, collect and analyze data, and finally, present their findings.
“It’s a very intense mentorship,” said Dr. Winnie Eckhart, Senior Manager of Primate Research for the Fossey Fund, “but I think that’s the secret that makes it such a rich experience. That close mentorship helps them to have better outcomes in their project and it really nurtures passion for conservation.”
Cleveland’s role is threefold: participating Zoo scientists each serve as advisors to one student, but they also administer essential training to the entire cohort, and the Zoo and Zoo Society provide funding. The training hones the students’ abilities to conduct sound science as well as to communicate effectively and build professional relationships. Participating students leave the program with the tools and confidence to pursue careers and become skilled drivers in their field.
This holistic approach is a key differentiator for the Memoirs Program, Dr. Eckhart said, and word of the value it represents has spread organically:
"When we ask why they’ve applied for the program, students commonly say that their colleagues who have been participating in the Memoirs Program - they have been transformed. So they see the difference, they highlight how passionate they are about conservation, how many science and professional skills they have learned, and they simply want to become like them and have that experience."
So, what types of research do participants undertake? Research topics span in focus from botany to the human dimensions of conservation and everything in between. Memoirs students have studied the attitudes and behavior of local community members regarding wildlife and conservation, helping shape future education and engagement initiatives. Others have looked at the status and distribution of key plant, insect, and bird species in Volcanoes National Park to better understand and protect the area’s biodiversity. As for gorillas, 27 Memoirs projects have focused on gorillas in the last decade, producing a wealth of research investigating behavior, diet, ecology, skeleton morphology, disease transmission, and more. This work advances strategies for the monitoring and protection of wild gorillas, and it can help inform husbandry practices for gorillas in human care, too - zoo-based animal care professionals look to wild populations to identify opportunities for promoting healthy, natural behaviors.
Zoo Society CEO Sarah Crupi and Zoo Society Director of Capital Campaign Nicole Stracensky speaking with Senior Manager of Primate Research for the Fossey Fund, Dr. Winnie Eckhart.
OPENING DOORS
Aime Bruce Nzeyimana Ngenzi, a Memoirs graduate who now works as a Research Assistant for the Fossey Fund’s Biodiversity program, said, “When I was in college, I heard that if you participate in Memoirs, you can be selected to work with the Fossey Fund, have a mentor to give you skills you don’t have and guide you on how to do your dissertation, and I thought maybe if I work hard, maybe it can be me who’s selected.” Bruce’s research led him to discover a passion for insects, and he plans to pursue a master’s degree in Entomology.
In addition to the undergraduate mentoring program, four Memoirs Program graduates are selected for professional internships at the Fossey Fund each year. These interns, funded by your Zoo and Zoo Society and thus called the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo Interns, gain an additional year of professional development with the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund. The training affords them invaluable experience in four areas, from conducting gorilla research to monitoring amphibians and birds for the Fossey Fund’s biodiversity program, to leading education and engagement initiatives with children and welcoming guests to the Fossey Fund’s Cindy Broder Conservation Gallery for interpretive tours.
Cleveland Metroparks Zoo intern Emmanuel Izabayo shared the professional path he forged through the Memoirs program and subsequent internship:
"This program has been a very good opportunity for me. Working here with Fossey Fund staff, trackers, and communities, you learn the most amazing things. It’s one thing to learn in a classroom, but this is where it turns into practical work. I was selected for a Cleveland Metroparks Zoo professional internship after the Memoirs program, and last fall I began my new role (at the Fossey Fund) as a Research Assistant."
An intern gives a tour at the Cindy Broder Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund Conservation Gallery in Rwanda in 2023.
The individualized support that defines Memoirs elevates and enriches the students’ learning, equipping them to enter the workforce as meaningful contributors upon graduation or pursue a graduate-level degree. Participants have gone on to do incredible things in Rwanda and beyond, and the ripple effect of their collective contributions is helping advance conservation around the globe. Among the 155 students who have gone through the program, over 80% are engaged in conservation-related work.
Take Dr. Deogratias Tuyisingize. The Fossey Fund’s Biodiversity Research Program Manager is celebrating 10 years on staff at the organization. Dr. Tuyisingize began as an intern, went through the Memoirs program, and eventually became the first PhD-level Rwandan on staff. His passion for conservation and for his work are contagious, and he credits the Memoirs program’s collaborative approach for building a dedicated pool of talent to drive conservation goals in Rwanda.
Tuyisingize’s interests led him to research golden monkeys, the only other primate living with mountain gorillas in Rwanda; his work paved the way for the Fossey Fund’s golden monkey research efforts, part of the Biodiversity Research Program he now heads. When asked about the significance of the Memoirs program, Tuyisingize’s concise response said it all: “Our students work with the best-ever advisors in a conservation organization that has been on the ground for more than 50 years.”
The impact in Rwanda is tangible, with emerging conservation professionals joining a field of qualified, driven scientists making a real difference right where they live. The commitment to training young conservation and science students, paired with the Fossey Fund’s collaborative approach to all it does, is seeing measurable results. Dr. Eckhart said, “This is a great example of what can be achieved if stakeholders across all levels, from government to research to conservation organizations to local communities, come together and work together toward one goal. The growing number of mountain gorillas is the best testimonial for the success of this combined effort.”
(l. to r.) Cleveland Metroparks Zoo Director of Conservation & Science Dr. Kristen Lukas, Zoo Society Director of Capital Campaigns Nicole Stracensky, Zoo Society CEO Sarah Crupi, and Biodiversity Research Program Manager at the Dian Fossey Fund Dr. Deogratias Tuyisingize. Picture taken at the Ellen DeGeneres Campus of the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund in 2023.
BENEFITS ON BOTH SIDES
The Memoirs program comprises a major commitment from Cleveland Metroparks Zoo, both in funds and time. Your Zoo is lending top scientists and scientists-in-training for nearly a month each year in the effort to build a strong, global scientific community for the future. This capacity building helps further conservation work in Rwanda, but it also benefits the scientific community here at home - Memoirs mentors gain first-hand exposure to contemporary conservation issues and science, as well as a window into another piece of what zoos do beyond excellent animal care and welfare.
Dr. Laura Bernstein-Kurtycz, former Graduate Research Assistant at the Zoo, shared that her time as a Memoirs mentor equipped her with skills she now employs in her role as Conservation Coordinator at Little Rock Zoo:
"Along with the joy I got from working with such a dedicated group, I learned new skills that have made me a better teacher. This was the first time I taught a group in which all of the students’ first language was something other than English. Thanks to this experience, I learned a number of new techniques for making my presentations more accessible to non-native English speakers, which I have applied to many presentations since."
Bernstein-Kurtycz went on to praise the work ethic and character of the Rwandan students, saying, “They were dedicated, focused, and serious, but don’t get me wrong, they had a lot of fun, too! I always enjoy teaching, but there was something special about teaching a group that was so deeply committed to learning the critical skills for their field.”
“Participating in the memoirs program has been extremely rewarding and enjoyable for me on both a professional and personal level,” said Maura Plocek, current Graduate Research Assistant and a current Memoirs mentor. “It has afforded me the opportunity to learn about the complex work of in-situ conservation, apply my skill set in a way that contributes to the positive impact of the Fossey Fund, and experience the beauty of the Virunga massif and the Rwandan culture.” Plocek traveled to Rwanda this February to work with the current cohort.
WRITING THE STORY OF THE FUTURE
The Memoirs program has seen great success in its first 10 years, and for the team behind it, there is no dearth of ideas for how it will grow in the next decade. They hope to reach more students in several ways: by integrating more Rwandan universities, diversifying research topics, facilitating projects in other areas of Rwanda, and expanding mentoring to master’s and PhD students. Growing the supervision team and training previous mentees to become mentors will enrich the program further, and increasing evaluation efforts across stages will strengthen the science as well as the scientists behind it.
Dr. Tuyisingize also hopes the Memoirs program might serve as a model for conservation organizations in other parts of the world, giving them the structure and resources to create a groundswell of qualified, inspired scientists working to protect wildlife and wild places where they live.
Your Zoo’s dedication to securing a future for gorillas manifests itself in various ways, but Memoirs is a true feather in the program’s cap, leveraging Cleveland Metroparks Zoo’s unique capabilities in research and mentorship to invest in the future of Rwanda’s scientific community. The program has achieved tangible outcomes in its first decade, and with the continued passion and support of your Zoo’s expert conservation and science team, Memoirs will continue to write a story of hope for gorillas in the wild.