Hi Everyone! 👋

We'd like to explore community interest in a potential new Wildlabs group - Zoos and Aquariums.

This group would focus on in situ and ex situ conservation efforts, animal welfare science, field tech transfer opportunities, and other programs originating or involving participation from zoo and aquarium institutions like those accredited by AZA (https://www.aza.org/) and WAZA (https://www.waza.org/).

The group's purpose will be to make it easier for members and collaborators at these types of institutions and related ecosystems to coordinate efforts and stay up to date on news and research, and for conservation technology professionals who aren't yet part of these ecosystems to get connected! 😎
It can also be a resource for asking questions and getting answers related to the interface between conservation technology and zoos & aquariums. 🌠

Institutions like zoos and aquariums often serve as an effective nexus in their respective communities around the world, to facilitate strong, distributed, triple-helix style collaboration networks with compelling potential to support the awesome efforts of the conservation technology community. ("Triple helix"👉https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triple_helix_model_of_innovation)

There are also a bunch of AZA/WAZA folks & friends already on Wildlabs, so this group could provide a coordinated space to find one another, and serve as an effective channel for AZA/WAZA institutions to engage with the conservation technology community in a discoverable/intuitive way - by visiting the new group! 🤓

Please let us know if this group sounds useful/interesting. If you have any specific topics or projects of focus you'd like to highlight, feel free to share those too - thanks!