Deborah Berry

As well as being a lecturer for the Zoological Management and Conservation course, based at the Clifton campus, Debbie is also the Programme Lead. Debbie completed a BSc (Hons) in Animal Science - Behaviour, and a Post Graduate Certificate in Education for Post 16 teaching and learning. She is also a qualified (BHSAI) riding instructor, having taught in this discipline for many years, and continues to teach horse riding in her spare time. Debbie has undertaken field work in Brazil, surveying biodiversity in the Mata Atlantica, studying the vocalisations of the masked titi monkey and foraging preferences in hummingbirds. She took a sabbatical from work in 2008 in order to travel around the world. Debbie visited zoological collections and conservation projects along the way, meeting staff and learning about their work, which included the hairy nosed otter (L. sumatrana) conservation project, where Debbie took part in survey work and stayed overnight with researchers at Tonle Sap lake’s floating village, in Cambodia – a stronghold for this endangered species of otter. Debbie has had a long professional association with Bristol Zoo Gardens, spanning over 20 years. She started her academic teaching career in 2002 as a lecturer in both Animal Management and Equine Management for FE courses previously based at the Zoo. She also worked as a volunteer on Bristol Zoo’s Bird Section, before moving on from FE and taking a job as an Education Officer with the Zoo’s education team. Debbie progressed to Senior Education Officer, where she remained until her move to SGS towards the end of 2018. During this time, Debbie also spent 17 years working alongside her other roles, as the Regional Coordinator for the Nationally recognised DMZAA zoo keeper’s qualification. She tutored student keepers from animal collections right across the South West and South Wales, to help them achieve this work-based qualification. Visiting different collections and building professional relationships with a wide range of zoo staff has helped Debbie develop an excellent working knowledge of zoological collections right across the UK.