Victoria:
Our guest this week is Brooke McWherter. She is a doctoral student in the Department of Forestry and Natural Resources at Purdue University. She got her bachelor’s degree in Wildlife Biology at Missouri State University and her master’s in Environmental Justice and Conservation Ecology at the University of Michigan. As a natural resource social scientist, she studies people’s thoughts and behaviors around natural resource management and conservation. As part of her work, she often works with many other social scientists and resource managers. She is currently focusing on a project in Bolivia where she’s doing surveys and interviews with farmers about water conservation and another project on understanding people’s concerns around wildlife conflict.
This week’s questions were submitted by the listeners through emails and on social media.
Thank you so much for joining us today.
Brooke McWherter:
Thanks for having me.
Victoria:
(Julian – What is a social scientist?)
Let’s get to the questions. The first question is a great question to start off with, from Julian. What is a social scientist?
Brooke McWherter:
Yeah, that’s a perfect question for the start of this, right. A social scientist is someone who uses the scientific method that I’m sure a lot of your students are learning about in school to explore and investigate individual, societies, and different kinds of social processes. So social scientists are people that ask, how do you think about things, how are we perceiving the world, how are our communities and our relationships and those networks affecting how we are acting our behaviors and our attitudes towards a whole host of things.
Specifically for me, I focus on natural resource management. So a lot of my work focuses on how people think about the environment, about which could be about water or land or wildlife.
And social scientists are very diverse. So you can think even like economists, right? They talk about the market, they’re a social scientist. And so we’re pretty diverse group.
Victoria:
(Katy – What ways do you study people’s thoughts and behaviors?)
(Franky – Do you talk to people in person? Or do you do phone calls and stuff?)
Awesome. And this is a good follow-up question. Actually, this is a pair of questions that go together from Katy and Franky. Katy wants to know what ways do you study people’s thoughts and behaviors; and Franky wants to know, do you talk to people in person, or do you do phone calls and stuff?
Brooke McWherter:
Yeah. Oh, it gets to my heart. I love learning about different ways to study people’s thoughts and behaviors. And I’ve used a bunch of different ways.
So sometimes we do interviews like what we’re doing right now. Other times I’ve used surveys, which I’m sure your students have seen online where maybe you like answer a quiz or something like that, but it’s a little bit more geared to our research.
And there are also a bunch of ways that include people as part of the process. So there are actually even games that have been used to work with people to think about how they think about, give them scenarios that they act out or work together to come up with, or even make maps together, to think about how they think about different things, like land use, or water conservation.
And as far as whether do, I talk to people in person, and that is my preferred way. Yes, I had two summers ago, prior to COVID, I was actually in Bolivia conducting interviews with my team. And so we traveled all over this other half of Bolivia interviewing. We had interviewed over 70 different people, and asking them about their perceptions of this water conservation program that I work with about their lives, about land use. And it was amazing, you know, you get to visit all these different communities, and see the different kinds of houses and how people live. And while I do do more work where there’s just the data’s being sent to me, or I send out a survey. Working with people is definitely my preferred way of understanding, exploring social science, so.
Victoria:
(Eli – What is wildlife conflict?)
Awesome. So, now we’ll get to some questions about wildlife. This first question about wildlife comes from Eli. What is wildlife conflict?
Brooke McWherter:
Yeah, that’s a great question. Wildlife conflict is usually thought of as situations where humans and animals are having some kind of negative or bad interaction with each other. And it usually results in some kind of bad outcome for either people or animals or both.
And you know, a very basic kind of conflict you can think about is if anyone lives in the Midwest or even towards the East, if you have woodpeckers, for example, a common complaint is woodpeckers pecking on the side of people’s houses, because people find that very annoying, right? That is a minor conflict. A net negative outcome is like your social, your wellbeing in that moment. It’s not harming the woodpecker, but it’s bothering you.
A more extreme version of that, for example, in parts of Africa, could be elephants that are stampeding through crops, right. Or you can think of as pests eating your corn and the farm fields and, or, you know, it can be poaching can be thought of in the sense of the conflict, because it’s a negative interaction with wildlife or the wildlife is harmed, though that’s not generally framed in that direction.
Victoria:
Yikes. I definitely have experienced the woodpecker thing.
Brooke McWherter:
Yes. That’s common. One of the fun ones I learned about here in Indiana was they released otters a while back you know, for reintroduction, and the otters for whatever reason, really like people’s fish ponds.
Victoria:
Oh, gosh.
Brooke McWherter:
They wouldn’t be in their habitats and go into the fish ponds, and they would just like eat people’s fish.
Victoria:
Oh man. Aside from having my fish eaten, I’d be pretty happy to see an otter.
Brooke McWherter:
Yeah. Right? I think it definitely depends on who you are and how much money you invested in.
Victoria:
It’s true.
Brooke McWherter:
You’re like, I really liked and enjoy you, but in the river.
Victoria:
(Sierra – What kinds of wildlife conflicts are you studying?)
Yeah. Okay. And Sierra wants to know what kinds of wildlife conflicts are you studying?
Brooke McWherter:
Yeah. So I’m currently collaborating with a team of researchers at Purdue to study vulture-rancher conflict. And so there are black vultures are probably something people have seen throughout most of the United States, at least if they live in the Midwest, East half, but they look like normal vulture, except they have a fully black head and neck. So that we have like Turkey vultures, which are really common, they have a red head. Black cultures have a black head. And black vultures are interesting because they are actually not just scavengers. They will also hunt. And so there have been reports that black vultures may be also attacking people’s like baby cows, like cats. And black cultures are increasing in population, and they’re expanding their range, they’re moving into more places. There’s a potential for increased conflict there.
And prior to COVID, I was also working on a study all the way in Bolivia, where farmers are having problems with this endangered macaw, which is a type of large parrot that was eating a bunch of their corn, especially in the dry season when parrots didn’t have as much food. And it was a problem because obviously the farmers don’t want their corn being lost, but because the macaws are endangered, you don’t want people just going out and shooting the macaw.
Victoria:
(Jarod – Why are there conflicts between animals and the farmers?)
Yikes. This question from Jarod, kind of builds on that question. Why are there conflicts between animals and farmers?
Brooke McWherter:
Yeah, so that’s what I study. Right? Why are these conflicts happening? Some, you know, when you think about this question just on the surface, you think, well, you know, the animals causing some kind of problems usually. But that’s not actually always the truth.
Sometimes the animal we think is causing the problem is actually not causing the problem. There was a study done where these farmers thought baboons were absolutely responsible for eating all of these crops. And when they did a study, it was actually goats that were doing it like domestic goats. So sometimes our emotions and what we feel about an animal makes us target that animal, makes us think that animal is the problem when they’re not always, maybe they’re just there at a bad time. Right. You just see them around. And so we associate them. We think that they’re part of the problem.
Sometimes animal is part of the problem. They are actually doing what the farmers are saying they’re doing, and which case we need to think of, well, what can we do about this? There are ways that we can remove them. Are there ways that maybe you’re okay with losing a little bit of corn or a little bit of whatever they’re doing to you? Are there ways that we can coexist with those animals?
Sometimes people actually don’t have a problem at all with animals. They have a problem with other people, and the animals are how they’re dealing with that. So for example, you might have problems with how the government is managing things on your land or how they’re managing animals. And so your problems actually with the government or your problem is actually with some kind of manager group, and you’re using the animals of reason to get at that because you can’t address the people.
And so that these like all these different ways that can lead to how we think about wildlife conflict is what makes it so fascinating to study, at least for me.
Victoria:
Yeah. That is really interesting. I just kind of picture people being mad at animals, but I never thought there could be other layers or other causes of that.
Brooke McWherter:
Yeah. We’re complex beings. Sometimes we don’t even realize always why we’re mad, at what we’re mad at.
Victoria:
(Hayden – What is Bolivia like? I think of South America as being very wet and rainy, so why is water conservation needed there?)
Okay. Switching gears a little bit. We’ve got a couple of questions about South America. So Hayden wants to know what is Bolivia like? I think of South America as being very wet and rainy, so why is water conservation needed?
Brooke McWherter:
Yeah, we know it, Hayden. I thought that, too. When I first went to South America, I went to Paraguay, which is right in the middle and it looks like a little peanut that’s right in the middle of there. And I actually spent two years living in a marsh. So no forests, but lots of water. And the problem in that area when you can think about water was quality, right? Like if, even if you have a bunch of water, what if you can’t drink it? Right. And so that can be a problem.
And in Bolivia, Bolivia is just North, just above there Paraguay, is also a very diverse country in act. You can go to parks that are like, I’ve worked in the Amazon of Bolivia, which is exactly what Hayden’s probably thinking, there’s like beautiful, large, tropical forest. We are worked with indigenous communities who were having problems with flooding. Right? So you have water, sometimes you got too much water, which can be a problem.
And I’ve also visited parts of the capital city in the mountains. Because they’re up in the mountains, they were usually fed by these big blocks of ice, these glaciers, which are melting and they’re starting to have water issues where they don’t have enough water.
And where I worked in this other area was more like a desert. It was like a dry, there was like half die. Again, another area where they don’t have enough water.
And I work in some areas where they have a lot of water, but it’s maybe located in one area or it’s only available during one part of the year.
And so South America as a continent, you know, or the area, is extremely diverse, because it includes all these different habitats, you know, deserts, mountain ranges, rain forest, marshes. And the types of water issues you can have can span across all of those.
Victoria:
(Jenny – What animals cause problems for farmers in Bolivia?)
Wow. That’s crazy. I guess I was kind of thinking the way Hayden was thinking too, so interesting.
Okay. Jenny wants to know what animals cause problems for farmers in Bolivia?
Brooke McWherter:
Yeah, there are animals, all kinds of animals, that can cause problems for farmers and Bolivia. But what I specifically focused on were, as I said, those parrots that were eating crops. However, when I was interviewing people, they would often talk about lots of other smaller critters that come and eat their crops, or even problems with jaguars, right. Where jaguars sometimes attack cattle. And so there’s a lot of work in Bolivia that looks to address a variety of different wildlife conflict. Some of these, with these very large, very popular animals, like a jaguar, and some with these beautiful, but maybe not as well-known macaws.
Victoria:
(Johann – I have learned about the Amazon rainforest and tribes. I am interested to know what’s being done to protect the rainforests.)
Wow. Okay. Let’s see here. Johann says, I have learned about the Amazon rainforest and tribes. I’m interested to know what’s being done to protect the rainforests.
Brooke McWherter:
Yeah, great question. I’m not sure I’m the most knowledgeable on everything you can do exactly. But I have worked with indigenous communities within the Amazon and Bolivia. And I can say they’re doing a lot to work to conserve their forest since they live in those forests, right, or they live nearby them. And they’re doing a lot to try to promote in some like tourism or conservation.
One of the things that I used to always tell people when I worked with wildlife, and this is kind of apply too for us, is as citizens of the US or as people that live in the United States that don’t live in the Amazon. One of the things that we can do is be very knowledgeable. We can stay aware and know what’s happening. We can educate our friends and families about it.
And one of the things that we in the US have a big impact on is how we consume things. So when we buy a lot of things or product things that might come from the Amazon rainforest, you know, those are things that we can maybe ask our parents to just check before they buy, make sure that they’re sustainable.
Or, you know, also we can just look at how we admit like our CO2. I don’t know if you’ve talked about that in the past, but our carbon emissions. So you can think about maybe walking or using your skateboard or whatever, you know, whatever biking, instead of always driving places. And for students, you know, for kids too, maybe I’m assuming they’re not driving their own cars yet. Right. That’s just something that you can ask your parents like, oh, maybe we can walk there. Or what do you think about bikes there. So that’s something that we can do even here, even when we’re not living in the Amazon rainforest.
Victoria:
(Katy – What kinds of social scientists and resource managers do you work with?)
Yeah, that makes sense. Okay. Switching gears again, Katy wants to know what kinds of social scientists and resource managers do you work with?
Brooke McWherter:
I love this question because collaborating, working with other scientists, working with other researchers and other landowners is my favorite thing to do. You will never see me on a project that doesn’t have other people working with me. And on my work in Bolivia, I work with a whole bunch of other social scientists, actually, and anthropologists who study culture, economists, another natural resource social scientists like myself, and even politically colleges to kind of look at these like different structures behind what we think of is happening, you know, how like power, quality kind of play into things. And in my experiences, I’ve also worked with biologists. I work with a lot of NGOs who are not social scientists, but they are nonetheless the people that are getting things done on the ground in many ways.
And of course, when you think of resource managers, for me, I always think of all the farmers and ranchers and hunters that I have the opportunity to interact with and talk with and learn from as part of my work.
Victoria:
(Jevan – Do you do a lot of traveling for your job?)
Awesome. Good follow-up to that. Jevan wants to know, do you a lot of traveling for your job?
Brooke McWherter:
Yes, Jevan, I do a lot of traveling. I can tell you that I have traveled, I spent three months out of every year for the past four years in Bolivia. Which means I have not experienced a summer in the US until this past summer, because I couldn’t travel. Last four years actually, because I was in the peace Corps before that it was the last 6 years.
Victoria:
Oh my gosh.
Brooke McWherter:
So I’m enjoying the summer weather, cause in Bolivia, when I’m there, our summer is their winter. So I’m actually, I’m just in winter all year round.
Victoria:
Oh my gosh. I don’t like winter. I would hate that.
Brooke McWherter:
Definitely not my favorite either. Luckily there are parts of it, I have some beautiful wool ponchos and things that I wear when I’m down there, so I stay warm.
Victoria:
Oh, that’s good. Yeah. I was living in New Zealand for a while years ago. And I think I skipped spring, so I didn’t have a spring for like a year and a half or two years or something like that.
Brooke McWherter:
I’d much rather skip winter.
Victoria:
Yeah. Yeah, definitely. Yeah. If it could just be like spring and summer all the time, I’d be really happy.
Brooke McWherter:
Right. I was like, I would just want to travel will be when I’m actually supposed to be in school.
Victoria:
(Ellie – What sorts of conservation programs exist?)
Okay. Let’s see here. Ellie wants to know what sorts of conservation programs exist?
Brooke McWherter:
There are so many types of conservation programs that exist.
There are conservation programs to conserve forests, such as the rainforest that Johann was talking about. There are conservation programs to help conserve water, to help other communities protect their land, to protect all kinds of wildlife, whales, tigers, lions.
And so really if there is something happening in nature, there’s probably there’s even conservation programs that help us protect kind of the little bits of habitat alongside farms, right. There’s so much diversity in the different types of conservation programs that are out there. If you are interested in an animal or a type of resource, you can probably find a conservation program that’s working to protect it or help maintain it in the world.
Victoria:
What’s the best way to find it? Just Google that animal and conservation?
Brooke McWherter:
Yeah. So it depends on what type of conservation you’re interested in doing with. When it comes to animals, for example, and so yeah, you can always Google them. And then I would always kind of just check to see what they’re doing. Maybe look to see what other people say about that organization. I think it’s always important to validate that, you know, things are actually doing what they’re doing. And so yeah, for example, there are some really well-known conservation organizations. And those are the big ones you can think of. You know, like World Wildlife Fund is a huge animal one.
And I’ve worked with sanctuaries who also work and educate about conservation. So if you’re interested in kind of education, you know, I worked with a national tiger sanctuary out of Missouri, and they actually help tigers that are in situations where they’re retiring or they were a pet or they were rescued. And so they give them homes, and so they educate about tiger populations and conservation.
And so it depends on kind of how you want to go about helping conserve. Right.
Victoria:
(Rhonda – What are ways that we can conserve water?)
Okay. Rhonda wants to know what are ways that we can conserve water.
Brooke McWherter:
As individuals, there’s a lot of ways that we can think about conserving water.
The most is just being very aware of how much water we’re using. Right? Some people may be like to take a shower for like an hour, and you can think, do you need that full hour to take a shower. Or do you leave the sink running and run off and go do something? Right? So being aware of how much water we’re using is an easy way for us to conserve water.
And if you live in areas that are more drought prone, you could think of like California or Nevada, you can also be very aware about when you’re using water, right? Are you using a lot of water to water your lawn when it’s the dry season, things like that. Maybe you can, instead of having a green lawn, you can have a desert type of lawn, right? That is more native plants. And there’s also people that are starting to do a lot of native gardens in their yards, which is more water conserving than a traditional grass lawn.
So there’s a whole variety of things that we can do as individuals to help conserve water.
Victoria:
Awesome. And is that because the native plants are adapted to living in places where there’s not a lot of water?
Brooke McWherter:
That is exactly why. Yes. They are more adapted to the lower water conditions and our grass that we know and have always had in many places it’s like green lawn requires a lot of water. Is anyone that has a house or have watched their neighbors constantly use the sprinklers, going to test it. Right.
Victoria:
(Grace – Do you do any work with people in California dealing with water and the fires there?)
Yeah. Speaking of water. Grace wants to know do you do any work with people in California dealing with water and the fires there?
Brooke McWherter:
Yeah. I have friends that are living in California right now that have shown me pictures of that red haze that you’re starting to see across the area, but I do not work with anybody that is doing any work on California fires or water.
Victoria:
(David – Do you study endangered species?)
Switching gears a little bit. David wants to know do you study endangered species?
Brooke McWherter:
So the only endangered species that I have attempted to work with, but has been kind of postpone due to COVID was the, it was called a red-fronted macaw, which I would suggest if you’re a listener to look it up cause it’s a beautiful macaw that has these like red and blue colorations. And they are found only, they’re endemic, which means they’re only found in Bolivia in these very small areas. They live in like these desert-like locations on these bluffs and then like using these trees. They’re gorgeous bird.
Unfortunately for them, people love to keep them as pets. And so they are often taken out of the wild to be sold as pets. And also, as I mentioned, they sometimes cause problems with farmers by choosing to eat their corn and the farmers don’t always appreciate that.
Victoria:
(Zain – Do you study climate change and its impact on the world?)
I’ll put a picture of one of them in the description of the episode. So you can just click the link and see what.
Zain wants to know do you study climate change and its impact on the world?
Brooke McWherter:
Yeah. So climate change, I have studied how people are adapting to things that are happening because of climate change. But I do not study the actual process of the climate changing. That’s a different type of science.
So when I was in the Bolivian Amazon, I was working with indigenous communities to understand how this increase in flooding events was affecting their relationship with wildlife and their ability to hunt and farm in these areas that used to be right along the river. And so because of climate change, they’re predicting more water, more flooding. And so it’s causing a lot of communities to kind of think about, can I continue living this way? Do I need to move away from the river? Do I need to hunt different things? Do I need to start trying different kinds of livelihoods that maybe, you know, my family’s never done?
Victoria:
(Johann – Can anything be done to care for lions in Africa? I heard that a lot of lions die due to rabies.)
Wow. This next question is from Johann. Can anything be done to care for lions in Africa? I heard that a lot of lions died due to rabies.
Brooke McWherter:
I don’t have as much experience with lions. I did work with a large cat sanctuary, as I said, the tiger sanctuary for a number of years. And so in that job, I worked with a lot of tigers and lions and mountain lions. And so I was able to learn a lot about these animals.
And what I know of within the tiger case, and it may extend to lions, is that in many cases, the rabies or distemper are due to large packs of feral dogs, like domestic dogs that we have in our houses, that tend to roam around. They can pass on those.
But I would definitely suggest you’re going to a biologist that maybe studies it to help you more. Right. I think in situations like that, what we can do, it has helped support organizations who are working with communities to deal with it. Because things like that are often going to be in a community who lives in these areas we’ll need to address.
Victoria:
(Johann – What can I and my friends do to help save the whales?)
All right. And speaking of other animals, Johann also wants to know what can I and my friends do to help save the whales?
Brooke McWherter:
Yeah. I know you guys have so many good questions about animals that I don’t get to study, but I can tell you with whales what I know of them one of the things you can do to a lot of marine wildlife is reduce your single plastic use, right? So like things that you just would use this one time that are plastic and you throw away. And you’re starting to see as a society, we’re moving to doing less of that. So you could think of the removal of plastic straws, which is a very small, but it’s a shift. And so you as an individual can work to do that as well, right? Bringing your own straws, using reusable cups, not, you know, not using your own water bottles, things like that, that can help reduce single plastic waste.
And then you can also just stay educated and you can share this with your friends and family and support efforts too, in whaling activities and things like that.
Maybe you’ll end up being a scientist yourself one day and you can work towards directly helping whales.
Victoria:
(Johann – I often see dead pigeons on my way to school. They die while sitting on the electric posts. Is there a way we could avoid that?)
That would be great. All right. And another question from Johann about pigeons. Johan says I often see dead pigeons on my way to school. They die while sitting on the electric posts. Is there a way we could avoid that?
Brooke McWherter:
I will not lie Johann. I looked up. Because I didn’t think pigeons could get electrocuted from wires. And when I was looking online, it seems like pigeons generally don’t get electrocuted from wires. And if they are it’s because there’s wires of two voltages maybe. And what I would suggest is if you were seeing a lot of dead pigeons by these wires, contact you energy company, maybe let them know. Because I am not an expert in this, but it does seem like that is not something that should be happening.
Victoria:
Oh, so something’s wrong with the wires?
Brooke McWherter:
Yeah. They might be too close or something. Yeah. Or maybe you have, I am not seeing these pigeons. Right. But maybe they did not die electrocuted, maybe you have something that’s attacking them nearby. And so they’re being killed along that area, you know, that could be hawks or feral cats, things like that. I don’t work here. They don’t have to be feral, outdoor cats.
Victoria:
(Sierra – What’s your favorite animal?)
Yikes. Well, switching gears a little bit. we’re going to move on to some questions all about you. Sierra wants to know what is your favorite animal?
Brooke McWherter:
Yeah. I have two favorite animals. I love tigers and I love jumping spiders.
Victoria:
Oh wow.
Brooke McWherter:
And I love tigers because I used to work with them and they say hello to you. And they chuff at you, which is like a “chaa” sound. And there’s nothing like going to go see an animal, and they’re just like “chaa” at you. Right. It’s just so fun.
And jumping spiders are a very cool spider. I don’t know how many people here don’t like spiders, but if you are wanting to get rid of your spider fear, look up jumping spiders, they’re cute. They’re tiny. They’re able to track what they look at. They’ve even done studies with them in space, where they can actually account for low gravity to find their prey. They’re very cool little spider, and they’re very colorful.
Victoria:
(Tasmin – What’s your favorite place to work?)
Alright. Tasmin wants to know what’s your favorite place to work?
Brooke McWherter:
Well, so far, I’ve only worked in Bolivia and I love it. I would say I prefer working in the Amazon regions over the mountains. I love the people and the culture in the mountains, but I’m not a big fan of cold weather.
Victoria:
That’s fair.
Brooke McWherter:
Yeah.
Victoria:
(Gage – Is this what you wanted to be when you were a kid?)
Gage wants to know is this what you wanted to be when you were a kid?
Brooke McWherter:
Yeah. Well, if you looked at my degrees, you’ll see that it’s kind of been a diverse range of things that I’ve done. And part of that is because when I was a kid I wanted, all I knew was I wanted to work with animals, and I wanted to work with large cats, which is why I talked about working with this tiger sanctuary. I went into school thinking I’m going to study large cat. I want to work with animals.
And what changed was is when I went into the Peace Corps, I realized if we really want to help animals, if we really want to protect them or conserve them or help people live alongside them, people need to be involved in that process. Right. And I realized that I just wasn’t seeing as much involvement with involving communities or people in that process. And I worked with a lot of communities in my own area to talk about human animal relationships. And so that’s why when I got out, I decided to start working with environmental justice and then later natural resource, social sciences. To start studying, how can we include more people in this process? And how can we understand how people think about these different interactions with nature and wildlife?
Well, I would say in the end, it’s kind of what I wanted to do, but it’s definitely a different way of doing it.
Victoria:
(Connor – Why do you this conservation work?)
And this, this next question from Connor, I think you may have answered that with this answer, but if you have more to add to that. Connor wants to know why do you do this conservation work?
Brooke McWherter:
Yeah. As I said, I think the, I mean, I tell you go way back. Right. I was luckily enough to have a family that really enjoyed being outside and in nature. And so I grew up outdoors. I grew up interacting with lots of wild animals, and that’s where I first really got this idea that I wanted to work in conservation because I just loved being in nature, and I loved working with animals, and I really do feel that when we can serve animals and our environment, water, air, earth, it not only benefits the earth, but it benefits us as well as, we’re part of that structure.
Victoria:
(Lilian – What is your accomplishment that you are most proud of?)
Okay. And this is our last question from Lillian. What is your accomplishment that you are most proud of?
Brooke McWherter:
What a hard question I feel like that’s when I’m at a job interview. You know, I think there are like degrees of different accomplishments. Right?
My work with the tiger sanctuary was very, I wouldn’t call any one thing an accomplishment, right? But like being able to work with and help save large cats was something that I highly valued and getting to see those cats kind of come out of their shells and become their own true selves was something that I have always been very proud of my contribution to that effort.
And as part of my academic career, you know, I think my accomplishments are really more my interest in maintaining collaborative kind of environment. So I’m proud of my ability to continue working with the people that are involved in these environmental situations or people that are involved with wildlife, as well as all these different scientists who provide these different ways about thinking about these things and studying these things and working with all of them together, is something that I am proud of. And I hope to continue doing as I work to finishing my PhD and becoming a professor or a researcher.
Victoria:
Oh, that’s awesome. And this is a question that I thought of, since you’ve been talking about your work with the tiger sanctuary. And you have probably gotten this question several times recently. What are your thoughts on the Tiger King documentary?
Brooke McWherter:
Yeah, it’s, you know, I, yeah, that’s definitely something a lot of people ask me about all the time. You know, I think the Tiger King documentary really focuses on the people more than it focuses on the cats in a lot of ways. And I think in that sense, the idea, I think that pay for play, which is this idea of a petting cubs is a real problem with when it comes to large cats, because you can only legally handle them for a certain long time. And then you have to do something with them and they cannot be released back into the wild. And most cats in captivity aren’t even a one type of tiger. They’re like tigers from Siberia, It’s the tigers which are Bengal tigers in India. So they couldn’t be released in the wild, even if you like sent them to where would they go? Right.
And so I think situations and organizations that promote that are really contributing to this massive problem of large cat ownership in the United States, where, you know, we have so many tigers in the United States, more than exists in the wild. And the tiger King didn’t really focus on any of that, instead of focus on these people and these relationships that I agree were kind of crazy. I don’t know enough about any of those people to make comments about them. The Big Cat Sanctuary I had heard of and in my professional capacity working with sanctuaries, and they’d always had a good reputation as a sanctuary. I don’t know anything personally about Carole Baskin.
But I would hope that what people could take from that, so is that there are diverse types of tiger sanctuaries out there, and people should really educate themselves on what the sanctuary stand for and what they’re actually doing with their cats. So a good sanctuary is a sanctuary that does not allow people to touch cats. And a good sanctuary is one that does not breed their cats because those cats are generally not purebred. If you want to look for genetic diversity, that’s generally what zoos will do. And then also you want to look for ones that keep their cats for life, because where else would they be going? Right. So you want them to have a lifetime home that is safe and stress free for those cats that are living out their lives in captivity because they have no other options. That’s the most I can add to that.
Victoria:
That was great. That was interesting. Thank you.
So that’s all of our questions. Do you have any questions of your own for the listeners or any comments?
Brooke McWherter:
Yeah. I mean, I would love to hear from the listeners, what they thought about it, just like about the idea about social science, do they think it could be something that’s useful or, you know, in their interests? Do they see how it could be used?
And maybe if they’re, you know, hanging out with their family, they could do some social science themselves, see how their family feel about these different issues or things that are happening. It’s always fun to understand more about people’s perspectives. Right.
And I would encourage students to always ask questions, whether it’s, what are you thinking about, or why do you think this, and what would you think if I did, you know, if I, something like this happens. So always be questioning. That’s what I would say to your listeners.
Victoria:
Awesome. Thank you.
Brooke McWherter:
Thank you.
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