Biography:
I am Rebecca Prewitt, and have worked at The Kansas City Zoo for three and a half years. My passion for animals began when I was a little girl growing up on a rural farm in Illinois. I volunteered at a small zoo in Coal Valley, Illinois, throughout high school, which solidified my love for zoo keeping. Thankfully, in late 2005, my husband agreed to move to Kansas City when I received the position at the zoo, and I am once again living my dream.

When Robert Buchanan [PBI's president] came to speak at our American Association of Zookeepers (AAZK) meeting, I was blown away. I knew climate change was occurring, and that it was causing changes to our environment, but seeing how much ice had disappeared was very surprising. For this reason, I am extremely excited to attend the PBI Leadership Camp. I hope to learn more about climate change and new techniques to educate and motivate people to inspire change in others. The only way to help save the polar bears is to educate people about their plight.

What will the world look like in 2014? Hopefully by reaching out to the thousands of people who visit the Zoo every year, we will be able to inspire many of them to make a difference and influence others in their lives to promote change. If we can reach enough people, then maybe we could see a steadying in climate change and a decrease in ice melting in the Arctic. This is truly a group effort and I am honored to be a part of it.