Hello everyone! My name is Alle Foster and I am the Conservation Program Manager for the WAVE Foundation at the Newport Aquarium in Newport, Kentucky. I have been working for the WAVE Foundation since April 2012, but have been with the Newport Aquarium since April 2011. Before that, I was an Educator and Zookeeper for the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden from 2007-2011. I have my Undergraduate Degree in Zoology from Miami University and am almost finished with my Master’s Degree in Zoology from Miami University as well. I have traveled the world for various conservation efforts (Mongolia, Belize, Namibia and Peru), and hope to continue to travel and spread my passion for helping any and all animal species possible! I hope to keep this blog updated with interesting and informative conservation projects and ideas that I experience through my work for the WAVE Foundation, plus share past experiences as well. I may not be the only person to update this blog, because I plan to enlist the insight from my various coworkers from the Newport Aquarium. The Biologists and other staff at the Aquarium are a great resource to have and I couldn’t do my job without them most days. Please leave any feedback and help me keep this blog alive! If there is anything that you are wondering about, or if there are any questions that I can answer, please post them in the comment section! Thanks for reading!

Pictures below in clockwise order from the top-right: This is me in Belize (hence the beautiful bandana. It was HOT there!) and our bus driver had stopped to help this little turtle cross the road. The next picture, also in Belize, this grasshopper flew at my head and wouldn't let go (I look a lot calmer in this picture than I actually was when it happened...). Below that, also in Belize, we worked with the Belize Zoo staff to feed their baby tapirs. Then, to the left of that is a picture of me with one of the Aquarium's African Black-Footed Penguins named Red-Pepper (she is one of my favorites!). Then, above that is a picture of my cat, Pedro and my now passed tarantula, Juliet. Pedro and Juliet had one of those "odd friendships" that you often see between animals. And finally, the top-left picture shows me trying my best to smile while holding a 100 pound bag of penguin guano in Peru (just to say I did it!). If you are interested in learning more about the penguin and marine mammal conservation efforts that we were involved with in Peru, then read the Peru Adventure blog at www.aquariumworks.org to learn about those adventures...