University of New Orleans joins forces with the Smithsonian's National Zoo, the San Diego Zoo and Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo to carry out advanced research and training for the management and survival of wildlife species around the world.

(University of New Orleans) - The University of New Orleans (UNO) has joined forces with three of the nation’s premier zoos--the Smithsonian’s National Zoo in Washington, D.C., the San Diego Zoo and Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo--to carry out advanced research and training for the management and survival of wildlife species around the world. 

Under the terms of the five-year memorandum of understanding, to be called ZUNO, UNO and the zoos will work together to recruit and train exceptional undergraduate and graduate students in conservation biology, and apply research advances to the management and survival of wildlife species, both in captivity and in the wild. The partners will also work together to further public education and awareness of conservation issues, and to raise funds to support their activities.

Dr. Barbara Durrant, who heads the Reproductive Physiology Division, Conservation and Research for Endangered Species (CRES) at the San Diego Zoo, said, "The ZUNO program represents the first formal agreement between the Zoological Society of San Diego and a major university for training Ph.D. students in Conservation Biology.  This unique collaboration provides the opportunity for ZSSD scientists and UNO students to enhance ongoing studies at each institution and to enter new areas of research that are critical to conservation.   ZUNO's success will be a model for other universities and conservation organizations to form teams that will share knowledge, expertise and creativity to benefit endangered species and their habitats. The Reproductive Physiology Division of CRES is developing a program to conserve genetic diversity and reproductive potential by preserving gonadal stem cells.  UNO expertise in cell imaging, oocyte and embryo metabolism, DNA quantification, in vitro culture, cryobiology and assisted reproductive technology is the perfect complement to CRES's access to cells from its mammal, bird and reptile collections, and the facilities at its new state-of-the-art Beckman Center for Conservation Research."

Dr. Durrant said the ZUNO initiative will allow graduate students in UNO’s Ph.D. program in Conservation Biology to gain up to three months of hands-on research experience at the facilities of the three zoos and at their sites in Africa, Asia and elsewhere. UNO faculty engaged in animal reproduction and conservation research, meanwhile, will design research projects with the research lab directors of the three zoos. Research staff from the zoos in turn will gain access to UNO’s state-of-the-art facilities and equipment, including the Keck Foundation Molecular Biology Laboratory and the Brown Foundation Cellular Imaging Facility.

Dr. Naida Loskutoff, ZUNO Director at the Omaha Zoo, where she is Head of Reproductive Physiology at the Center for Conservation & Research, states, “I constantly get requests from students to come to Omaha to do graduate research on some aspect of reproductive sciences as it applies to wildlife conservation.  We lack a structured program for teaching them fundamental aspects of reproductive physiology and how this can be applied to conservation breeding programs.  Now I can refer such students to your program where they can learn the basics and apply that knowledge to designing research in non-traditional species.  Many advances in reproductive technology have proven highly successful in humans and livestock.  However, that same technology cannot be applied directly to wildlife or non-domestic species because of species-specific variability and the fact that we know very little about natural reproduction in the vast majority of species on this planet.

“One ZUNO program project would be to develop a cryopreservation protocol for snake sperm. We have tried all of the standard methods for cryopreservation – including vitrification – with no success.  In light of the catastrophic losses in global biodiversity – and particularly in amphibians and reptiles – it will be important to safeguard the future of rare and endangered species by developing the capability for effectively preserving genetic material to use in assisted reproductive technology.”

According to Dr. David Wildt, head of reproductive science at the Smithsonian's National Zoo and the Zoo's ZUNO director, "The future of successful conservation rests on these kinds of partnerships.  No one organization can do it all, so the Smithsonian's National Zoo welcomes collaborations where we can share ideas and uncover knowledge that will help save rare species. For too long, universities and zoos have been doing their own thing -- conducting research within their own institutional walls. ZUNO's benefits are mutual. By working alongside each other, we all benefit from fresh and open perspectives and experience, which will result in more research of better quality."

Wildt said the Smithsonian's National Zoo may begin their collaboration with a behavioral ecology and endocrinology project. "UNO students who are studying the behavior of species in nature could measure reproductive and adrenal hormones in free-living species at the National Zoo's Conservation & Research Center.  This is important for characterizing basic reproductive biology as well as assessing the impact of environmental stressors on reproductive and adrenal fitness. We could train UNO students to measure hormones in the urine or feces of wildlife species and spend an intensive, 3-month training adventure at the Center. This noninvasive technology has innumerable advantages for conservation biologists working in zoos or in the field," said Wildt.

Dr. Barry Bavister, of the Department of Biological Sciences and UNO’s ZUNO Co-Director, said “I am excited by this novel Program. It links UNO with three of the best-known Zoos in the world, each of which has a well-respected research laboratory and which has developed novel methods for studying reproduction in wildlife and exotic species.  The combined capability of these three Zoos is incredible. Our UNO students will have opportunities to study on-site at one or more of the Zoos, and some will be able to study at foreign sites where endangered species are native/indigenous.  We are remarkably fortunate to have this great opportunity, and I look forward to years of productive collaboration."

“I look forward to working with the ZUNO program since it will be an innovative initiative linking UNO with three Zoos whose scientists have already established successful international research programs. The ZUNO PhD students will be academically trained in reproductive sciences on the UNO campus before applying that knowledge to designing research in exotic species. This collaboration will advance assisted reproduction technologies and their application to wildlife. My specific interests will aid in developing collaborative research programs to conserve genetic diversity and reproductive potential by preserving gonadal and embryonic stem cells. I feel privileged to be part of this amazing opportunity," said Dr. Carol Brenner, in the Department of Biological Sciences at UNO and the co-director of UNO’s ZUNO program.

The three Zoo reproductive research directors, all internationally known animal conservation researchers, will visit UNO periodically to participate in formal and informal teaching activities, under the terms of the MoU.  They can also serve on the Ph.D. committees of selected graduate students as adjunct UNO faculty. 

This new MOU complements the existing collaborative affiliation between the University of New Orleans and the Audubon Center for Research of Endangered Species (ACRES), which emphasizes research in reproductive and cell biology, whereas ZUNO provides students with additional opportunities to work in laboratories of some of the most active research zoological parks in the world and to visit sites where the study species are native.