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Press Releases
Minnesota Zoo Names New Director of Conservation Apple Valley, MINN – May 2, 2011 – The Minnesota Zoo has named Dr. Tara Harris as its new Director of Harris, a conservation biologist who has been at the Minnesota Zoo since 2008, succeeds Dr. Ron Tilson who retired on April 22, 2011. In her new position, she will be responsible for directing the Zoo's local, national, and international conservation programs (in situ and ex situ) and expanding the Zoo's environmental sustainability initiatives. Said Tara Harris, "I'm very excited to have this opportunity. The Minnesota Zoo has a rich conservation history and I'm looking forward to continuing that tradition and finding new ways for the Zoo to further its conservation goals." As staff conservation biologist, Harris was responsible for coordinating the Zoo's conservation grant program, assisting the Tiger Species Survival Program and the South China Tiger Advisory Office, directing zoo research projects, conducting in situ conservation research, and coordinating the Zoo's "Green Team." She is one of the world's foremost authorities on the black and white colobus monkey, a species the Minnesota Zoo has exhibited since 2010 when it opened Faces of the African Forest. Her doctorate was based on several years of study of this unusual primate in the forests of Uganda. Said Minnesota Zoo Director/CEO Lee Ehmke: "We are delighted that Tara will be stepping into this new role. Her academic background, field experience and work here at the Zoo have all been outstanding. Her efforts to improve the sustainability of the Zoo's operations, while at the same time coordinating and participating in a wide variety of field conservation efforts have been impressive. She was the right person to take on the leadership of our Conservation Department, and I anticipate she will significantly advance the Minnesota Zoo's conservation reach and impact." Prior to joining the Minnesota Zoo staff, Harris was a postdoctoral fellow at Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Germany and a research associate at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, Virginia. She holds a number of professional appointments and memberships, has extensive teaching and student training experience, and has been awarded a number of fellowships and grants. She has written numerous scientific publications on primates and is currently leading a conservation project in Namibia on Hartmann's mountain zebras with Zoo Conservation Biologist Jeff Muntifering. Harris holds a Ph.D. in Anthropology from Yale University, and a B.S. in Biology from George Mason University. The Minnesota Zoo is located in Apple Valley, just minutes south of Mall of America. For more information, call 952.431.9500 or visit mnzoo.org. The Minnesota Zoo is an accredited member of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) and an institutional member of the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA).
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