Jennifer
Davis became
a Tracking Intern with the International
Crane Foundation (ICF) in summer 2010. Driving
a tracking vehicle and using radio
telemetry, Jen will
help track Whooping cranes in the new Eastern flock cranes
on their fall and spring migrations.
While Jen is working as a Tracking Intern, she is finishing
up her Masters in Zoo Management at Michigan State University.
She likes making connections between the environment
and people, so conservation was a natural focus for her
energy. She previously worked in zoos doing everything
from office work to keeping. Some of her favorite animals
to work with at the zoo were birds and cats.
She didn’t have previous experience with cranes
when she started as a Direct Autumn Release Intern, but
she knew a little bit about animal behavior, and really
enjoyed working with birds in the past. She also thought
it would be amazing to train birds from hatching so they
could be released into the wild, working to restore a
wild population.
Jen had only a limited amount of tracking experience
before she became the tracking intern. She learned a
little about tracking the cranes during her time as a
DAR intern, but everything before that came from tracking
Blanding’s turtles in Toronto, Canada.
"My desire to help the survival of wildlife in their
natural habitats is drives me to keep working in
conservation," Jen told Journey North. "I want
most out of life to
make a positive difference for other species who
share this
planet. If this Eastern Whooping crane population
is successful (by that, I mean it can eventually survive
with
limited—or even better, without—human management),
I will be able to say that I helped.
I made the world
a more beautiful place."
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