Pam Swan             wildlife research

Organizations with whom Pam has worked in the past 25 years: 

Great Smoky Mountains Baby Animal Zoo 1978

       Internship; assistant to head keeper, providing daily care, socialization and exercise for

a variety of juvenile exotics, including African lion, serval and orangutan.      

Georgia Department of Natural Resources 1978-79

        Assistant to editor of Outdoors in Georgia magazine, the state agency publication

of the Dept. of Natural Resources, featuring articles on wildlife ecology and state parks

of Georgia.

Stonebridge Services 1980-93

        Head trainer for service dog organization. Prepared dog and handler teams for

tracking, drug detection, protection and general obedience for Bay Area police

departments.  Developed program for partnering police dogs  with community

groups.  Set up training protocols and taught handlers how to train advanced service

behaviors for companion dogs for the disabled.  Worked with dogs preparing for

Search & Rescue certification and AKC titles.  Trained professional trainers.

 Marine World Africa, USA  1985-91

        Research associate with Project Circe, a communications and cognition study of

Atlantic Bottlenose Dolphins.  Assisted in animal care and media contact during the

rehabilitation of various cetacean species including beaked whales, pygmy sperm

whale and dall's porpoise.

The Armchair Naturalist  1991- 93

        Naturalist. Taught classes in biology, behavior and identification of animals in the

San Francisco Bay Area, leading hikes, overnight nature programs, snow camping

and whale watching trips in California and Alaska.  Assisted in gathering field

research data on bald eagles, orcas, humpback and gray whales in Alaska. 

Handled live animals for public programs, including great horned owls, hawks,

vultures, falcons and a variety of small mammals and snakes.

Lindsay Wildlife Museum  1991-99

        Education Manager.  Taught and administrated classes in biology, behavior and

educational animal handling of species including bobcats, foxes, eagles, hawks, owls,

reptiles and rodents used in museum's educational programming and exhibits.

        Lead field trips and managed adult education programming.  Founded the

wildlife research program and animal behavior team.

        Managed volunteer program for exhibit educators and supervised professional

museum teaching staff.  Conducted visitor research and managed special events

such as wildlife festivals with visiting animals such as mountain lion, black bear

and Andean condor.

        Published articles for museum periodicals, spoke at symposia and conferences

on the results of field studies examining behavioral patterns of owls, eagles, rattlesnakes

and beaver in the San Francisco bay area.  Published and spoke on exhibit design and

museum education.  Hosted several week-long interdisciplinary Elderhostel programs.

Cygnus Research & Education 1999-2001

        Executive Director, managed field research projects, agency publications, staff

and volunteer operations.  Developed ongoing programs which have been distributed

to other non-profit organizations for public wildlife education. 

California Academy of Sciences 2001 - 2005

       Public Programs.  Developing and presenting programming for changing

science exhibits including "Venoms! Striking Beauties,"  "Science Under Sail:

Russia's Great Voyages," and "Skulls."  Presentation of live animals in Naturalist

Center and ongoing guest lectures in new Howard St. location.

 Publications: 

            Outdoors in Georgia

       The Cygnus Report

       The Peregrine Watch

       Museum Scene

       Wild Times

       California Wild

       Journal of IWRC (International Wildlife Rehabilitation Council)

Guest Lectures:

            National Association for Interpretation

            Cultural Connections

            International Wildlife Rehabilitation Council

            Elderhostel

            Rotary International

            California Academy of Sciences