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| Ashley Young, left, and Jessica Jones were surprised by the cognitive abilities of orangutans and bonobos at Great Ape Trust of Iowa. |
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Des Moines, Iowa – June 26, 2007 – If it had been suggested that she might one day become a scientist studying the linguistic abilities of great apes, Ashley Young says she would have laughed at the notion. But a future in primatology or a related field of scientific inquiry became a distinct possibility for the Des Moines East High School junior on June 15 when she visited Great Ape Trust of Iowa.
“I’m thinking about it,” said Young, who was on the world-class scientific research center’s southeast Des Moines campus along with about three dozen other metro-area high school students taking part in Simpson College’s six-week Upward Bound program. Designed to prepare students for college and help them ultimately succeed by strengthening their study and academic skills, Upward Bound is a national program serving students from low-income families, families in which neither parent holds a bachelor’s degree and low-income first-generation military veterans who are preparing to enter post-secondary education.
Students receive instruction in four core areas – literature and composition, math, science and a foreign language – and they visited Great Ape Trust as part of the science unit. The tour was arranged by T.J. Kasperbauer, a bonobo caretaker at Great Ape Trust who graduated from Simpson College and assists his alma mater with the Upward Bound program.
Another Upward Bound participant, North High School student Carolina Hernandez, was aware that a background in science would allow her to work in a number of different fields, but was surprised those options include working with apes who have acquired language. “There are so many subject areas in science,” Hernandez said. “Who would have thought there would be one where you would learn how to speak to apes?”
Levi Lyle, assistant director and academic adviser for Simpson’s Upward Bound program, said it’s important for high school students to see the array of interesting and rewarding careers available across the spectrum of scientific inquiry. “Students of this generation are going to have much more awareness of the connectivity of all things,” said Lyle, a high school science teacher before he joined the staff at Simpson. “Experiences like this can serve as a good foundation. We have to live in harmony with all species, animal and plant, for our own survival.”
Lyle said teenagers today best thrive when presented with experiential, interactive learning opportunities at places like Great Ape Trust. “Education competes with the things they have to entertain themselves – movies, DVDs, iPods, videogames and things like that – and interactive experiences help kids take ownership of what they are learning, to get hooked,” he said.
Kelsey Hedrick, a Simpson student from Omaha who served as a science tutor, said students were keenly interested not only in how Great Ape Trust’s resident bonobos acquired language, but also in related topics about conservation of apes in the wild, the ethics surrounding great apes in captivity and the apes’ self-awareness. “The ones that are inclined toward science had a lot of things to talk about,” Hedrick said.
Students participating in the Great Ape Trust tour were from Lincoln, East and North high schools in Des Moines, and Indianola, Norwalk and Southeast Warren high schools.
Great Ape Trust Background
Great Ape Trust of Iowa is a scientific research facility in southeast Des Moines dedicated to understanding the origins and future of culture, language, tools and intelligence. When completed, Great Ape Trust will be the largest great ape facility in North America and one of the first worldwide to include all four types of great ape – bonobos, chimpanzees, gorillas and orangutans – for noninvasive interdisciplinary studies of their cognitive and communicative capabilities.
Great Ape Trust is dedicated to providing sanctuary and an honorable life for great apes, studying the intelligence of great apes, advancing conservation of great apes and providing unique educational experiences about great apes. Great Ape Trust of Iowa is a 501(c) 3 not-for-profit organization and is certified by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA). |
Great Ape Trust is certified by the Association of Zoos & Aquariums
