After a quick welcome, the Delegates were free to explore the zoo on their own. Bau Bau, the panda was a big draw.
Other students headed straight for the Reptile Area.
Two of the lionesses had three cubs each. They were very cute!
After the general exploration, and some lunch, Delegates attended a number of breakout sessions including behind-the-scenes experiences with Zoo staff on veterinarian medicine, primate conservation, kiwi conservation, whooping crane conservation, design and fabrication of nature exhibits, the "great cat chat", a talk on endangered amphibians, improving the lives of aging animals, and polar bear conservation.
I chose the session on kiwi conservation. Kiwis are mammalian-like flightless birds from New Zealand and we got the rare opportunity to interact with Kathy Brader, a world-famous kiwi conservation biologist. She even let us touch the rare and elusive nocturnal
animal!
After the break out sessions, we rounded up the troops for a tour of the Capitol and its surroundings. First stop, the White House.
Here's our Orange Group!
We also got to see some protestors. This one against nuclear war.
Some clowning around with the Orange Group flag.
Here, one of the delegates is learning from Faculty Advisor Chris Sonne about water quality engineering.
Even though it was a long day, the delegates still had some energy to burn.
We visited the World War II Memorial.
We also stopped by the Vietnam Memorial and then continued on to the Lincoln Memorial.
Some of the students even salsa danced among a group that was performing not he steps of the memorial.
The capitol is pretty at night.
Tired, we loaded the buses and deeded for home at George Mason University.
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