It’s not every day one gets to interact with wild animals up close and personal. But Wildlife Biology student Katlyn Gardner got to do just that this fall—thanks to her service-learning experience at Dickerson Park Zoo in Springfield. A Citizenship and Service-Learning (CASL) staff visited her recently during one of her shifts at the zoo to find out more about why she decided to do service-learning and how she has benefited from the exposure. Why did you decide to do service-learning? I knew service-learning would give me an opportunity to work at the Dickerson Park Zoo and I really wanted to do this. Visiting zoos when I was younger got me interested in wildlife biology and I saw this as a perfect way to get my feet wet in the field. How did you secure your placement at Dickerson Park Zoo? I decided to do service-learning quite late in the semester so I spoke with a CASL staff to see if I could still do it. She said yes as long as the zoo was willing to accept me. I called the director and it all worked out. How has your service-learning experience been? It’s been a … [Read more...] about Service-learning spotlight: Katlyn Gardner