Michael Stern (zoologist)

Last updated
Michael Stern
Born1978 (1978)
Philadelphia
Alma mater Harvard University (BS)
Occupation(s)Anthropologist
conservationist
primatologist
zookeeper
zoologist
Years active2000-present
SpouseRebecca Goldstone (2005–present)
Websitewww.newnaturefoundation.org

Michael Stern (born 1978) is an American zookeeper, conservationist, anthropologist and primatologist currently works at African Wildlife Foundation and previously served as the Curator of Primates and Small Mammals at Philadelphia Zoo and is the co-founder of the New Nature Foundation. He previously worked at the Denver Zoo and Honolulu Zoo.

Contents

Early life

Stern was born in the Philadelphia area and attended Jack M. Barrack Hebrew Academy, then known as Akiba Hebrew Academy, graduating in 1996. [1] [2] He went on to attend Harvard University and graduated in 2001 with a degree in biological anthropology. [3] At Harvard, he was mentored by noted primatologist and researcher, Richard Wrangham. [4]

Starting at age 12, Stern began volunteering at the Philadelphia Zoo nearly every Saturday. [3] At age 13, he became a presenter in the children's zoo. [3] He eventually reached a point where many of the animals knew who he was and was among the first people to meet the zoo's baby orangutan. [3]

Career

Prior to founding the New Nature Foundation together, Stern and Goldstone did primate behavior research in Africa starting in 2000. [5] [4] Their research discovered why red colobus monkeys are a favorite prey of chimpanzees. [4] [6] He continues to visit Africa for 4 to 6 weeks every year and is a lecturer on his work. [5]

Stern and Rebecca Goldstone founded the New Nature Foundation in 2008. The foundation works with local citizens to protect wildlife habitat in Uganda and Vietnam. [3] [5] [7] Stern and Goldstone's foundation has worked to plant trees, produce fuel using agriculture waste and build five community science centers around Kibale National Park. [5] Harvard awarded Stern with the Sheldon Traveling Fellowship to partner with local primary schools to bring Ugandan students on field trips to the park. [7] [5] Stern also served as a consultant on efficient stoves to save the tonkin snub-nosed monkey in Vietnam. [5] [8]

From 2011 to 2016, Stern served as the Primate Area Supervisor and Assistant Curator of Primates at the Denver Zoo. There he was tasked with working with the Species Survival Plan to help breed western lowland gorillas. [9] [10] [11] There he also created an arboreal feeder for orangutans that was shared with the Association of Zoos & Aquariums. [12]

Stern spent time in 2016 and 2017 at the Honolulu Zoo as the zoo's General Curator. [13]

In 2017, Stern returned to the Philadelphia Zoo in the role of Curator of Primates and Small Mammals. [3] In that position, he serves as a member of the gibbons Species Survival Plan Management Board and leads the zoos international conservation efforts of the Rodrigues fruit bat. [14] [15] He designed the $100,000 treehouse for the zoo's gorillas. [16] He has provided commentary on the zoo's animals to sources such as National Geographic, CBS This Morning and KYW News Radio. [17] [18] [19]

Personal life

Stern is Jewish and embraces his Jewish culture, history and Tikkun Olam in his work. [2] Stern was featured in a short film titled "The Zoo Changes You." The film was nominated for a Shorty Award. [20]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Orangutan</span> Genus of Asian apes

Orangutans are great apes native to the rainforests of Indonesia and Malaysia. They are now found only in parts of Borneo and Sumatra, but during the Pleistocene they ranged throughout Southeast Asia and South China. Classified in the genus Pongo, orangutans were originally considered to be one species. From 1996, they were divided into two species: the Bornean orangutan and the Sumatran orangutan. A third species, the Tapanuli orangutan, was identified definitively in 2017. The orangutans are the only surviving species of the subfamily Ponginae, which diverged genetically from the other hominids between 19.3 and 15.7 million years ago.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Primate</span> Order of mammals

Primates is an order of mammals, which is further divided into the strepsirrhines, which include lemurs, galagos, and lorisids; and the haplorhines, which include tarsiers and simians. Primates arose 74–63 million years ago first from small terrestrial mammals, which adapted for life in tropical forests: many primate characteristics represent adaptations to the challenging environment among tree tops, including large brain sizes, binocular vision, color vision, vocalizations, shoulder girdles allowing a large degree of movement in the upper limbs, and opposable thumbs that enable better grasping and dexterity. Primates range in size from Madame Berthe's mouse lemur, which weighs 30 g (1 oz), to the eastern gorilla, weighing over 200 kg (440 lb). There are 376–524 species of living primates, depending on which classification is used. New primate species continue to be discovered: over 25 species were described in the 2000s, 36 in the 2010s, and six in the 2020s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Twycross Zoo</span> English animal park specialising in primates

Twycross Zoo is a medium to large zoo near Norton Juxta Twycross, Leicestershire. The zoo has the largest collection of monkeys and apes in the Western World, and in 2006 re-launched itself as "Twycross Zoo – The World Primate Centre".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Houston Zoo</span> Zoo in Houston, Texas, United States

The Houston Zoo is a 55-acre (22 ha) zoological park located within Hermann Park in Houston, Texas, United States. The zoo houses over 6,000 animals from more than 900 species. It receives around 2 million visitors each year and is the second most visited zoo in the United States, surpassed only by the San Diego Zoo. It is accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA). The zoo has been operated by the non-profit corporation Houston Zoo since 2002, and was previously operated by the City of Houston.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Woodland Park Zoo</span> Zoo in Seattle, Washington, United States

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zoo Atlanta</span> Zoo in Atlanta, Georgia, United States

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cleveland Metroparks Zoo</span> Zoo in Cleveland, Ohio, United States

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Apenheul Primate Park</span> Ape and monkey focused zoo in Apeldoorn Netherlands

Apenheul Primate Park is a zoo in Apeldoorn, Netherlands. It specializes in apes and monkeys. It opened in 1971 and was the first zoo in the world where monkeys could walk around freely in the forest and between the visitors. It started with just a few species, now it displays more than 30 different primates, among them bonobo, gorilla and orangutan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">San Francisco Zoo</span> Zoo in San Francisco, California

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Little Rock Zoo</span> Zoo in Little Rock, Arkansas, United States

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ragunan Zoo</span> Zoo in Jakarta, Indonesia

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Lisa Marie Stevens is an American retired zoologist who served as the senior curator for mammals, and managed both the giant panda program and the primate program, at the Smithsonian Institution's National Zoo. She worked at the National Zoo from 1978 to her retirement in 2011. She managed the National Zoo's panda breeding program as early as 1987, but rose to national prominence following the birth of panda cub Tai Shan in 2005.

References

  1. ↑ "We Love Our Alumni". Jack M. Barrack Hebrew Academy . Retrieved 2020-12-03.
  2. 1 2 "Alumni Spotlight". Jack M. Barrack Hebrew Academy . Retrieved 2020-12-03.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Philadelphia Zoo Gala_100319 looped end". Philadelphia Zoo . Retrieved 2020-12-03.
  4. 1 2 3 "Speaker Series 2016 Kickoff: Michael Stern '01 and Rebecca Goldstone". Harvard University . Retrieved 2020-12-03.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Tikun Olam Fuels Our Work". Jack M. Barrack Hebrew Academy . Retrieved 2020-12-03.
  6. ↑ Stern, M.; Goldstone, R. (2005). "Red colobus as prey: the leaping habits of five sympatric Old World monkeys". National Institute of Health . 76 (2): 100–112. doi:10.1159/000083616. PMID   15775681. S2CID   6859872 . Retrieved 2020-12-03.
  7. 1 2 "Saving one of Africa's most stunning parks through biomass briquettes and fuel-efficient stoves". Mongabay . Retrieved 2020-12-03.
  8. ↑ "Staff & Board". New Nature Foundation. Retrieved 2020-12-03.
  9. ↑ "Denver goes gorilla for Tinga and gorilla conservation in Africa". Denver Post . Retrieved 2020-12-03.
  10. ↑ "Identifying the genomic basis of cardiomyopathy in Gorilla gorilla gorilla". Gorilla Species Survival Plan . Retrieved 2020-12-03.
  11. ↑ "Denver Zoo Announces Important Staff Changes". Blooloop. 7 August 2011. Retrieved 2020-12-03.
  12. ↑ "ARBOREAL FEEDERS FOR ORANGUTANS" (PDF). Orangutan Species Survival Plan . Retrieved 2020-12-03.
  13. ↑ "Chimp that climbed out of exhibit had prior escape". Honolulu Star-Advertiser . 16 May 2017. Retrieved 2020-12-03.
  14. ↑ "GIBBON SSP MANAGEMENT GROUP". Association of Zoos and Aquariums . Retrieved 2020-12-03.
  15. ↑ "GIBBON SSP MANAGEMENT GROUP". Association of Zoos and Aquariums . Retrieved 2020-12-03.
  16. ↑ "Wistar and the Philadelphia Zoo Work Together to Improve Global Health". The Wistar Institute . Retrieved 2020-12-03.
  17. ↑ "Why This Gorilla Prefers to Walk Upright". National Geographic . 19 March 2018. Retrieved 2020-12-03.
  18. ↑ "Gorilla with a human-like strut likes to keep his hands clean, zoo says". CBS News . 19 March 2018. Retrieved 2020-12-03.
  19. ↑ "Party animals celebrates gorilla's 34th birthday at Philadelphia Zoo". KYW News Radio . 23 January 2019. Retrieved 2020-12-03.
  20. ↑ "THE ZOO CHANGES YOU". The Shorty Awards . Retrieved 2020-12-03.
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