Mentor Interview: Ali Crumpacker Director of the Fund for Animals Wildlife Center
The consequential email interview of a productive office on a righteous mission.
Ali Crumpacker is the director of the Fund for Animals Wildlife Center in Ramona. Previously she was at the De Beers Venetia Limpopo Nature Reserve in Africa, tracking lions, cheetahs, hyenas, and other wildlife. She was appointed by the Human Society to run one of their five animal centers in San Diego.
The first time we met was when I came up to Ramona to visit the site where I would be caring for the cats and doing office work. I began my long journey through the unfamiliar mountain roads. It was a beautiful winter day in southern california, so 75 degrees with a cool breeze. As all my classmates were in humanities I felt a sense of freedom and responsibility that would become much more familiar as internship proceeded. When I arrived to the address I approached a large metal fence. I drove up to the intercom and called the front desk. They let me in and as the gates slowly opened I let out a depth breath of nerves. I parked without much direction and wandered around until someone found me. They picked up their walkie talkie
“Sara to Ali”
“Go for Ali”
“A new intern Lula is here”
“Send her to the new building”
“over”
She pointed towards the back of the property and I walked down the dirt road. When I reached the front of the building a women in jeans and a wooly vest approached me. This was Ali Crumpacker. We shook hands and she asked me what it was I wanted to see. She took me inside and walked me around for a moment. The new building was large and empty, as they were transitioning from the old building. There wasn't much to see except rooms and what they would become. After 5 minutes that was all. She seemed very busy and the tour seemed complete. I got back into my car a little disappointed and drove back to school.
When I started my internship I was given a white binder labeled “intern” full of questions. This was my training workbook. The questions ranged from where the cat food was located to what is the evacuation plan for Chewy the coyote. The difficult part was that the information was spread out through binders, experience, the internet, and staff. It was my job to seek out the information and teach myself. Between scheduling, meetings, and legal issues my Ms. Crumpacker was a very busy women. Even with all this effort I find it extraordinary that she and the staff could accomplish so much. Sometimes I felt like my own mentor however I know for me to be a useful member of this organization I need to know what i'm doing first.
On the friday afternoon before the last week of my internship Ali told me she was leaving town for a conference—I panicked. I had planned on interviewing her on the following monday so we had to improvise. She asked me to email her my questions. The fund for Animals Wildlife Center is a busy place. As the ribbon cutting event for their new facilities approached it was even more chaotic. She was almost always on her computer or on the phone. While she couldn't always been reached or personally train me I had a lot of respect for her and felt grateful to be her intern. Something was lost in the interview experience via email. This is a product of the hecticness of a work environment of people so dedicated to the same goal. Although I could not here her tone throughout my past experiences with Ali Crumpacker I know it is direct, thoughtful, and genuine.
Why do you do what you do? Where does your passion for animals stem from?
This is what I have always done, since I had my first job at 16 years old. Working with animals is what I always dreamed of doing, the vision changed over the years as I learned and tested the waters but helping native wildlife specifically is where I found my passion flourished.
Where did you go to school?
Ramapo College for my BA and George Mason University for my MA.
What would you consider your biggest accomplishment with wildlife?
Helping build programs that expose other people to the benefit of working with and saving wildlife.
Where did you think you'd be today 10 years ago?
Delivering education programs to school groups about respecting wild animals.
Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
Working on poaching and wildlife trafficking cases to try and reduce this abuse.
The consequential email interview of a productive office on a righteous mission.
Ali Crumpacker is the director of the Fund for Animals Wildlife Center in Ramona. Previously she was at the De Beers Venetia Limpopo Nature Reserve in Africa, tracking lions, cheetahs, hyenas, and other wildlife. She was appointed by the Human Society to run one of their five animal centers in San Diego.
The first time we met was when I came up to Ramona to visit the site where I would be caring for the cats and doing office work. I began my long journey through the unfamiliar mountain roads. It was a beautiful winter day in southern california, so 75 degrees with a cool breeze. As all my classmates were in humanities I felt a sense of freedom and responsibility that would become much more familiar as internship proceeded. When I arrived to the address I approached a large metal fence. I drove up to the intercom and called the front desk. They let me in and as the gates slowly opened I let out a depth breath of nerves. I parked without much direction and wandered around until someone found me. They picked up their walkie talkie
“Sara to Ali”
“Go for Ali”
“A new intern Lula is here”
“Send her to the new building”
“over”
She pointed towards the back of the property and I walked down the dirt road. When I reached the front of the building a women in jeans and a wooly vest approached me. This was Ali Crumpacker. We shook hands and she asked me what it was I wanted to see. She took me inside and walked me around for a moment. The new building was large and empty, as they were transitioning from the old building. There wasn't much to see except rooms and what they would become. After 5 minutes that was all. She seemed very busy and the tour seemed complete. I got back into my car a little disappointed and drove back to school.
When I started my internship I was given a white binder labeled “intern” full of questions. This was my training workbook. The questions ranged from where the cat food was located to what is the evacuation plan for Chewy the coyote. The difficult part was that the information was spread out through binders, experience, the internet, and staff. It was my job to seek out the information and teach myself. Between scheduling, meetings, and legal issues my Ms. Crumpacker was a very busy women. Even with all this effort I find it extraordinary that she and the staff could accomplish so much. Sometimes I felt like my own mentor however I know for me to be a useful member of this organization I need to know what i'm doing first.
On the friday afternoon before the last week of my internship Ali told me she was leaving town for a conference—I panicked. I had planned on interviewing her on the following monday so we had to improvise. She asked me to email her my questions. The fund for Animals Wildlife Center is a busy place. As the ribbon cutting event for their new facilities approached it was even more chaotic. She was almost always on her computer or on the phone. While she couldn't always been reached or personally train me I had a lot of respect for her and felt grateful to be her intern. Something was lost in the interview experience via email. This is a product of the hecticness of a work environment of people so dedicated to the same goal. Although I could not here her tone throughout my past experiences with Ali Crumpacker I know it is direct, thoughtful, and genuine.
Why do you do what you do? Where does your passion for animals stem from?
This is what I have always done, since I had my first job at 16 years old. Working with animals is what I always dreamed of doing, the vision changed over the years as I learned and tested the waters but helping native wildlife specifically is where I found my passion flourished.
Where did you go to school?
Ramapo College for my BA and George Mason University for my MA.
What would you consider your biggest accomplishment with wildlife?
Helping build programs that expose other people to the benefit of working with and saving wildlife.
Where did you think you'd be today 10 years ago?
Delivering education programs to school groups about respecting wild animals.
Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
Working on poaching and wildlife trafficking cases to try and reduce this abuse.