Garrett Jordan
12 / 30 / 2015
I will be a strong student intern for the CCA thanks to my skills and experience, my
passion for wildlife and my long-held desire to venture abroad and challenge myself in another
part of the world.
I have a solid slate of skills and experience in wildlife biology, ecology, and natural
resources management. As a Forestry student specializing in wildlife biology at California
Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, I have completed classes in these topics as well
as in computer applications, writing, and cultural studies. Cal Poly stands by a “Learn by Doing”
motto that is reflected in the immense amount of hands-on field work conducted in classes. For
instance, I have conducted a distance sampling survey of western fence lizards in the college’s
backyard for my wildlife ecology class, and have traveled to our school’s reserve, the Swanton
Pacific Ranch, to survey streams and roads for my watershed management class. Outside of
class, I have volunteered to track down animals with radio telemetry equipment, whether it is the
rattlesnakes of southern California or the majestic California condors on the Central Coast (in
collaboration with the Ventana Wildlife Society). I have also worked directly with exotic animals
via my volunteer work with a non-profit zoo run by Conservation Ambassadors. Regarding
computer applications, I am adept in Microsoft Excel and have also become proficient in the
ArcMap program thanks to my GIS class at Cal Poly. In terms of public outreach and education,
I have educated Junior Rangers in the basics of the natural environment at my summer job this
year with California State Parks, which also involved communication with a culturally diverse
group of tourists.
Combining my experience in wildlife with my broad skills in natural resource
management, I would be a prime candidate for interning with the CCF. I can help in not only
managing wild cheetah populations, but in connecting cheetahs’ welfare with the health of
African ecosystems as a whole. For instance, the rapid growth of native thornbush species in
Namibia is connected to historical soil degradation caused by burial in slope wash sediments in
the 19th century and by erosion and runoff resulting from excessive livestock farming present
since the 19th century. The CCF’s current efforts to restore traditional open savanna habitat in
Namibia by controlling thornbush populations will benefit not only cheetahs but also Namibian
farmers, who can expect increased fertility and reduced erosion in the soils of restored habitats.
As an intern, I will utilize my aforementioned skills to assist in the restoration of habitats and
communicating the benefits of restoration to the public.
These skills and experiences have prepared me well, but in the end, it is my own passion
for wildlife that will drive my career aspirations. Big cats, including the cheetah, have enthralled
me since birth. Back then, I collected a dozen stuffed tigers that guarded my bed when I drifted
into sleep, and whenever I went to one of California’s major zoos in my youth, my one and only
goal was to see the tigers. Today, big cats continue to impress me. For instance, the cheetah’s
agility-adapted morphology, with enlarged nostrils, scapulae unattached to the collar bone, and
semi-retractile claws for gripping soil surfaces while in pursuit, is an absolutely fascinating
example of their evolution into the top predators of gazelle species. My childhood obsession over
big cats has expanded into a greater interest in wildlife and their evolution, behavior, and
conservation. My Cal Poly classes in biology and ecology have emphasized the fact that much
has yet to be done to save our endangered wildlife. As of 2015, the Internal Union for
Conservation of Nature’s Red List lists 74 species of the Carnivora order as threatened to some
degree. It is up to me and fellow upcoming scientists and land managers of my generation to step
up and protect these species and their habitats.
It is my hope though, to gain more from an internship with the CCF than experience in
field work or exploration of my long-time passions for big cats and other wildlife. I have never
been outside of the United States. If I am to promote conservation of our natural environments
and their resources, including wildlife, then I will need experience working with a public divided
in not only their concerns for our environment, but also in their ethnicities, cultures, and places
of origin. Through an internship with the CCF in Namibia, I will be able to venture outside my
comfortable California home and expose myself to a new part of the world with different
cultures and different values. I may struggle initially with leaving my home and learning to
understand the culture of Namibia, but it is a challenge which all budding conservationists must
face, as the future of environmental conservation relies on collaboration with the diverse people
of the world in order to protect Earth’s biodiversity. I want to be on the forefront of those
scientists. And an internship in Namibia with the Cheetah Conservation Fund will provide the
opportunity to advance my career to the forefront of wildlife and natural resources conservation.