Thuja:
Thuja has always known that she wanted to work with children and wildlife. As a child her
friends often called her house the “zoo”, sharing her home with rabbits, fish, newts, turtles,
dogs and cats, just to name a few! From a young age she recognized that animals were
sentient beings and that their lives were just as important as our own. Thuja’s love of
wildlife created a sense of curiosity and a desire to obtain knowledge about the
environment. She attended many camps as a child, which allowed her the opportunity to
appreciate and interact with nature. Being a “city kid” she was painfully aware of the lack of
green space, and looked forward to the rural camps every summer.
After high school, Thuja decided to pursue a career in healthcare. She developed a passion
for working with children as a 2nd year nursing student, spending her breaks in the
children’s wards teaching them whatever they wanted to learn. Years later she became a
Dental Hygienist and has been working in the field of pediatric dentistry since 2003. In
2009, Thuja travelled to Ecuador twice to volunteer her professional services, working
extensively with indigenous children in the Amazon Rainforest. She has also been involved
with the Street Youth Clinic in Toronto providing dental hygiene treatment and education to
homeless youth.
Thuja has also been working at Jungle Cat World as a Wildlife Educator, allowing her to
share her knowledge and passion for environmental issues with the public, striving to
inspire a love for nature and a desire to protect it. Recently she has teamed up with
COTERC (Canadian Organization for Tropical Education and Rainforest Conservation) to
educate school age children about various environmental issues and to promote rainforest
conservation. Thuja is currently working on a project to provide free dental treatment to
children in Nunavut, which will be followed by another trip to South America in 2010.
Gulo
Gulo’s lifelong desire to work with children began early in his days at Grant Sine Public
school in Cobourg Ontario. Although not much taller than the kindergartens that he cared
for during his lunch breaks, Gulo realized his passion to educate children as he contorted
himself into each letter of the alphabet teaching the ABC’s to a tiny group of 15. After
perusing Environmental studies at both the university and college level, traveling
throughout Europe, South America, the United States & Canada, and volunteering with
organizations such as Ontario Humane Society, Boys & Girls Club, and the Ontario Forestry
Association, Gulo has since refined his teaching style...as well as the complexity of his
material.
Gulo offers a great deal of charisma and humour as one of Zoo Camps most vibrant
characters, but even more so, a great amount of professionalism and experience in the field
of experiential education and youth recreation. Gulo also offers Safari Zoo Camp his
unlimited energy and enthusiastic attitude while introducing children to some of his passions
including animal tracking, camping, rock-climbing and if he could...surfing.
Gulo’s next adventure will be taking him back to Central America where he will be using his
specialized knowledge of water systems to implement safe drinking water practices
throughout a number of indigenous communities. Upon his return, he will be counting down
the days until camp begins, and is excited to make this the most epic year of Zoo Camp yet!
T and G Bio
Safari Zoo Camp is proud to introduce Camp Directors Gulo and Thuja. Having collectively
traveled throughout Canada, the United States, South America and Europe, they have
witnessed firsthand the importance of wildlife conservation and public education. They are
tremendously excited to embark on many new adventures with campers from previous
summers, and are equally as excited to welcome some new faces to the Zoo Camp community.
Offering unique learning experiences to a wide variety of age groups, Gulo and Thuja have been
rigorously planning a variety of innovative programs to encourage participants to take on new
challenges and build upon their individual skills. This experiential style of teaching is designed to
inspire campers to get actively involved in maintaining the health of the Earth’s natural
environment, while encouraging them to respect fellow individuals, creating lifelong
friendships.