T4T Tackles Wildlife Trafficking in D.C.

Hello Tigers!

Last week we had students, alumni, and faculty from four of our Coalition Schools make the trip to Washington, D.C., to speak to their Congressmen about supporting international conservation efforts. T4T’s objective was to gain an increase in funding for the Multinational Species Conservation Fund (MSCF) and to obtain co-sponsors for bills in the Senate (Wildlife Trafficking Enforcement Act) and the House (Global Anti-Poaching Act).

The MSCF is used by the US Fish and Wildlife Service to provide grants for on the ground conservation projects that benefit not only tigers, but also elephants, rhinos, great apes, and sea turtles. Additionally, the two bills we were looking for supporters for are incredibly important in the United States’ effort to combat illegal wildlife trafficking.

(Pictured L to R) Pete Stone, Taylor Tench, Dr. Baker, Robin Lloyd and Sienna Fisher.

I had the privilege of working toward our goals on the Hill last week with Sean Carnell, our National Coordinator, Robin Lloyd of Auburn University, Sienna Fisher of the Rochester Institute of Technology, Pete Stone of Clemson University, and Dr. David Baker of LSU.

For most this was their first time meeting with their Congressmen to discuss issues important to them. “I was very surprised on how accessible people in Congress really are,” remarked Robin of Auburn University.

In our meetings, we communicated to the Congressmen and their staffers the importance of protecting our mascot in the wild, and exactly how the initiatives we were asking them to support would do so.

Dr. Baker, Director of Laboratory Animal Medicine at LSU and in charge of the care for their live mascot Mike, mentioned, “It was interesting to see how much the legislators have to ‘juggle’ at one time. It’s understandable that their personal knowledge of Acts might be minimal…if it is not in an area in which they have particular interest.”  This is exactly why our voice on the Hill is so important, and as constituents to these Congressmen protecting our mascot is of importance to them. They are well aware of the tiger schools that so many of their constituents identify with, and many times are alumni or fans of those very same universities. In fact, when we walked into Representative Duncan’s (R-SC) office, he and Pete were wearing the exact same Clemson lapel pin!

Pete Stone & Taylor Tench pose outside Jeff Duncan's Office

These types of experiences are also great bonding experiences among Coalition members and strengthen relationships between schools that can be turned into great collaborative work throughout the academic year. When asked what he enjoyed most about the trip, Dr. Baker said, “Spending time with and getting to know the students and the T4T staff, and visiting with legislators and their aides.”

When asked what he enjoyed most about the trip, Robin said, “Meeting with Senators and Representatives on the Hill was very insightful and it felt good to be doing some real political conservation and using my voice for tigers in the wild.”

As a Coalition, our strength is in our numbers. So many students, faculty, alumni, and fans from across the country working toward a common goal can make a tremendous difference for tigers. Even in the current political climate, where it is difficult to make forward progress on any issue, we can still make great strides for conservation as Sienna from RIT so excellently pointed out: 

“I have hope though, for the legislation that we were supporting. It is certainly of bipartisan interest to protect species such as tigers from poaching, as it is certainly a very broad scope as far as the impact it has on the US. Some may see the environmental implications as enough reason to act, but not everybody is willing to throw resources into conservation simply to preserve a species and an ecosystem. National security may be the primary concern of others when tackling the issue of poaching and wildlife trafficking. Still, no matter the true motive, by reauthorizing and continuing to raise the amount of money allocated to the MSCF and supporting bills that increase the enforcement of trafficking laws and further incentivize anti-poaching stances around the world, we are all helping save tigers.”

If you want to build on the work T4T does in DC, write to your Congressmen asking for their support on these pieces of legislation to help ensure the continued survival of our mascot. 

GO TIGERS!

Taylor Tench

Policy Intern

NT4TC

Make a Difference Where You Want To

Guest blog by: Jessie Schieler

You know what my favorite thing is about Tigers for Tigers? You can be whatever you want and still get the chance to work with students from all over the United States and make a difference for tigers. How cool is that?

Let me give you a quick introduction: hi, my name is Jessie. I’m an upcoming sophomore at Auburn University, and I’m changing my major from Organismal Biology to Secondary Science Education. In more comprehensible words, I want to be a high school science teacher. More specifically, I want to be a high school zoology teacher. That’s kind of an interesting jump, am I right? It’s kind of in the same ball park, but not really. 

Ever since I was a little girl I had always wanted to be involved with animals. I was that one child who went up to a snarling dog saying, “oh, he just needs a hug!!” while my mother was pulling me away saying, “OH NO, he doesn’t!!!!” Or that one child who came up holding a snake, “look what I found, dad!!” (While he would secretly be proud I was the little snake wrestler) but would have to tell me “Jess, you cannot just go picking up any snake you find.” I’m still surprised at how chill he was about that, I mean, I could’ve been bitten! But hey, at least I was fearless. (Maybe more oblivious.) Anyways, I have always had a passion for animals, I wanted to be able to do something with them, somehow. So, when the time came, I started off as you would think, a scientist. My problem was, I never particularly liked the scientist part—the experiments and what not—I enjoyed telling people about the cool facts. I didn’t necessarily care where those cool facts came from, just as long as I could be the one to tell them.

Well, luckily this science major led me to an interesting find, Tigers for Tigers. My professor noticed my knack of talking to people about what I love, big cats, and introduced me to a guy named Sean. Tigers for Tigers was definitely cool, and it got me excited. I had to be involved.

I took on my first project, Cubs for Cubs. Silly me, the first thing I was drawn to was the teaching part of the organization and was still oblivious to how much I loved it. Cubs for Cubs is a branch off of T4T where students attend elementary and middle schools to educate kids about why it is important to save tigers, and more importantly why it is important to want to.

As I got more involved in the group I still noticed how much I enjoyed working with the people and more importantly how much I enjoyed talking to people about the neat things we were doing. I think what really made me click with this group was that in a world full of scientists, I was not one. That’s kind of weird, right? The cool thing about it was that we all had the same passion, so we all got along really well. However, a scientist is different than a teacher, yes? So, why did we work together so well? Because we have the same passion for saving tigers, we can bring each other into our different worlds and see different perspectives which I believe really makes our organization stronger.

Jessie Schieler pictured in orange while filming Earth Day video at the National T4T Summit at LSU

Tigers for Tigers made me realize how much I do enjoy working in the science field, but not as the scientist. It’s important in an organization to have  strengths in various disciplines so you can reach out to different people, but find that same passion. We always focus on trying to get people outside of the science world into our clubs. In order for the scientists to proclaim their work, they need the teachers to share it. The teachers need the scientists to give them something to share. It’s a cool “circle of life” we have going on at T4T.

I honestly think being a teacher is the best move for me, and I would have never realized it without working with such an awesome group of students with T4T. I hope that when I graduate and get a job, I can inspire high school kids to do what they want to do, regardless of the “stereotypes” that jobs normally come with. You don’t have to be a doctor to work in the medical field, and you don’t have to be a scientist to work in the animal field. You can be whatever you want to be, just as long as you love it.

Of course my mom is a teacher. Funny, that’s how it normally goes, doesn’t it? I always said, “I’ll never be a teacher” and yet, here I am!

Jessie Schieler

Auburn University

C/O 2018

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A huge thanks to Jessie for participating as a guest blogger for T4T. We look forward to featuring her many more times in the future!

Carrah Lingo
Communications Associate
NT4TC

Tigers for Tigers Helps to Bring Conservation Practitioners Together

Participants pose for a picture at Land of the Leopard

At the intersection of big predators and people, conflicts arise that disrupt communities and livelihoods. Whether we are talking about wolves in Jackson Hole, Wyoming or tigers in the Russian Far East, successful conservation programs require solutions that mitigate human-wildlife conflicts, empower local people and build community resiliency.

This past fall, with the assistance of the National Wildlife Refuge Association, Tigers for Tigers became involved in a working group of conservation experts from the US and Russia, under the Eurasia Foundation’s US-Russia Social Expertise Exchange Program to share best practices and to determine practical solutions regarding critters with big teeth.

Alyona Salmanova, Deputy Dir. of Science for Land of the Leopard, talks about the park

Earlier this year, we invited our Russian colleagues from Russian Protected Areas to Montana and Wyoming to meet with staff at the Blackfoot Challenge, a collective of ranchers and government officials, and visited National Elk Refuge in Wyoming. We recently returned from our trip to the Russian Far East where we visited Sikhote-Alin Nature Reserve and Land of the Leopard. As a result of the project, our working group is designing three different brochures for local communities to address human-wildlife conflicts with wolves, bears and tigers. It was truly an incredible experience! 

The biggest takeaway from both of these experiences is that perceived conflicts and fears are real problems and whether or not they actually exist, they need to be addressed. If we do not recognize the concerns of our communities, our conservation efforts may be in jeopardy even if the science is sound. Cooperative decision-making with all stakeholders and establishing effective partnerships are key to empowering people. We need to communicate with people on their terms in order to be effective.

Annastasia Kirilyuk sniffs a fresh tiger pug mark in Sikhote-Alin.

As we are learning how to mobilize and empower students through T4T, this was a great learning opportunity for us. For example, there is no “one size fits all” solution to mitigate human-wildlife conflicts with grizzly bears. There is no “one size fits all” solution to recruit students at every campus. As we grow and develop the coalition, we need to recognize different cultures, previous successes and learn from each other. Sharing best practices, whether it is between conservation practitioners or between T4T clubs, will help us grow exponentially. Refuges and protected areas provide constituents with inspiring opportunities to get outside, break down barriers and learn about their backyard. T4T wishes to do the same by providing students exposure to conservation through our activities and national events.

We hope there will be more opportunities in the near future to work with our Russian and US colleagues and to share those experiences with our members and all of you.

All the best,

Sean

t4tcoalition@gmail.com

607.280.4331