Colleen Cavanaugh Email and Phone Number

Support and mentor conservation education staff focused on cultivating and equipping conservation leadership for our community and support diverse and accessible conservation workforce development in the Zoo’s employee pipeline. Guide the development and facilitation of programs to inspire teens and early career professionals to act on behalf of animals in the wild. Promote a positive culture of innovation, empowerment and collaboration to meet the Houston Zoo’s mission.

Cultivate the next generation of conservation heroes through Zoo wide teen programming and off-site adventure programming. Create experiences for teenagers that ignites a passion within them to save animals in the wild. Connect teens to the Houston Zoo's animal collection, Zoo staff and field conservation partners with the intent to foster their behavior change to help protect wildlife. Foster a love for the natural world by providing opportunities for teens to participate in outdoor recreation.

Contribute to the strategic planning of the association, act as a representative for all members in the North America Region, recruit new members, recognize current members, and promote engagement of members within the North America region and across the other global regions.

Lead strategic planning process and development of education initiatives for the Small Cat Alliance which is a collaborative partnership dedicated to engaging the zoo community in the management of four small cat species: black-footed cats, fishing cats, Pallas’s cats, and sand cats.

Advance volunteer development by promoting volunteer opportunities, actively recruiting, processing, engaging, monitoring and recognizing volunteers. Manage donor database and acknowledge donors for their contributions. Assist with coordinating special events.

Develop and manage the budget for the Siskiyou Environmental Education Center (SEEC). Perform clerical duties such as answering phones and emails, filing papers, purchasing supplies, and processing reimbursements. Manage social media accounts including Facebook, Instagram, Flickr, and Wordpress Blog.

Taught interdisciplinary science-based classes to elementary, middle and high school students. Developed environmental education curriculum. Facilitated challenge course and climbing elements with all age levels. Maintained and cared for educational animals.

Engaged guests in interactive conversations and activities focusing on conservation action and awareness, wildlife natural history and animal behavior in various settings throughout Disney’s Animal Kingdom.

Assisted with the research of wild African felids, performed distance sampling surveys to estimate prey densities, collected genetic samples of Namibian carnivores, organized and managed large databases, composed scientific reports.

Assisted with environmental education programs and outreach events for elementary aged students and the general public at Saguaro National Park.