By Mary Watson

We had two well-attended educational events during the spring.

The first event was at Zoo Atlanta on March 15th in the beautiful new Carlos Ballroom of Savanna Hall, overlooking the African Savanna and the greatly expanded elephant habitat. Savanna Hall was the home of the Cyclorama for more than 90 years, and it was a treat to have our program and luncheon in this re-imagined space.  Upon arrival, one of the zookeepers and a couple of their ‘Animal Ambassadors’ greeted us, giving us an opportunity to see these interesting creatures up close and to learn more about them. We enjoyed a delicious lunch catered by Proof of the Pudding while our speaker, Dr. Sam Rivera, Senior Director of Veterinary Services at Zoo Atlanta, gave a slide presentation educating us about what goes on behind the scenes at the Zoo. He focused on the training that the animals receive to assure the safety of the zookeepers during veterinary care in the least intrusive way. Dr. Rivera shared many amazing stories and photographs in his presentation and allowed time for our group to ask questions.

We then proceeded outside to the African elephant habitat and saw a demonstration of the various commands the elephants have been trained to do so the zookeepers can examine them and provide any specialized veterinary care. Our visit concluded with a walking tour of the Zoo guided by Cressie Lewis, the Director of Annual and Planned Giving. Cressie has been at the zoo for over 10 years and was very familiar with all the animals and knew most of them by name!  Watching the behavior of the various troops of gorillas (including the bachelors and the geriatrics) and of course the pandas were highlights of the tour!   Special thanks to Robin King and her husband Raymond King, President and CEO of Zoo Atlanta, for facilitating such an amazing visit.

The Emory National Primate Research Center, formerly known as the Yerkes Primate Center, was the final event for the year, held April 20. The ENPRC is a center of biomedical and behavioral research and is dedicated to improving human and animal health. It is the oldest of seven National Primate Research Centers which are partially funded by the National Institutes of Health. We visited the main center on the Emory Campus, and they also have a field station in Lawrenceville which houses most of the primates. Our speaker, Dr. Paul Johnson, Director of the Emory Primate Center, explained that their primary research focus is in the areas of Infectious Diseases, Neuroscience and Transplantation. His slide presentation focused on the important research being conducted at the Center as well as some of their significant discoveries including their role in the early understanding of Covid-19 and the development of a vaccine. After his presentation, we divided into small groups and toured three different research labs. Dr. Johnson and his staff were already familiar with ARCS and they too are committed to supporting the next generation of scientists. To learn more about the research conducted at the Emory Primate Center and about the mission and vision of the National Primate Research Centers, visit enprc.emory.edu/research and nprc.org.