Ross finally had begun to find her footing in Chicago, buoyed by her aha moment with the penguin debate, when she began work on her doctoral dissertation. Researchers had known since the 1970s that birds can see ultraviolet light, and in more recent years they had discovered that many bird species that seem sexually indiscernible or “monomorphic” to humans are in fact very discernible to their own species due to how that UV light interacts with their plumage. Ross began to wonder how this affected birds in captivity, many of whom are housed behind glass that doesn’t allow UV light to penetrate in the same way as the visual spectrum. “And so that’s what my dissertation data was really looking at. How does that affect birds, and how does it affect different birds based on their biology?” she says. “Are you a forest dweller, where you might have patchy availability to UV light? Or are you a savanna dweller, where you’re out in the sun all the time?” She ran experiments, including adding supplemental UV to the exhibits of various habitat groups. She
CLEVELAND METROPARKS ZOO
also studied how and where the birds spent their time. It quickly became apparent, she says, that most of the birds were spending more time in the areas with supplemental UV. Many species showed behavioral changes, too: more social grooming, more preening, more courtship displays. “That by itself is important to know because they’re showing you their preference. And so as a result of it, we’ve added supplemental UV light and UV penetrable skylights to all of the bird habitats here that are indoors,” she says.
Her work didn’t just influence Lincoln Park Zoo. She soon began receiving calls from other facilities, and access to UV lighting is now considered standard care for birds within the Association of Zoos & Aquariums. It’s the sort of change that Sasha, Blueberry, and Helen would have heartily appreciated. “It makes me feel great,” she says. “I love the idea that I have answered at least one very small question about how we can improve the lives of animals.” And soon she would help the
DR. CHRISTOPHER KUHAR Long before he was named executive director in 2013, Christopher Kuhar, PhD Psy 04, joined the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo as a research intern in 1997. “I was enthralled by the complex interactions of the chimpanzee group that I was observing, but the real hook came from the interactions I had with the animal care team,” he says. “Learning about the complexities of animal management, research, and conservation work...that made me want to work in a zoo and eventually led me to Georgia Tech.” While still a PhD candidate, Kuhar worked as a research manager for Disney’s Animal Kingdom, where he stayed for roughly five years before returning to Cleveland in 2008 as the curator of animals. “The complexity of nature and the way plants, animals, soil, and atmosphere interact is truly amazing,” he says. “Humans haven’t come close to really matching it, mostly because we’re still discovering how complex these systems are, particularly in the soil. We’re discovering that nature truly has the power to heal, and intact ecosystems do it best.”
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