Michael Stern (born 1978) is an American

zookeeper A zookeeper, sometimes referred as animal keeper, is a person who manages zoo animals that are kept in captivity for conservation or to be displayed to the public.Hurwitz, Jane. Choosing a Career in Animal Care (World of Work). New York: Rosen Gr ...

, conservationist,

anthropologist An anthropologist is a scientist engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropologists study aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms, values ...

and primatologist currently works at African Wildlife Foundation and previously served as the Curator of Primates and Small Mammals at

Philadelphia Zoo The Philadelphia Zoo is a zoo located in the Centennial District of Philadelphia on the west bank of the Schuylkill River. It was the first true zoo in the United States; it was chartered by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania on March 21, 1859 ...

and is the co-founder of the New Nature Foundation. He previously worked at the

Denver Zoo Denver Zoo Conservation Alliance is an nonprofit zoological garden and wildlife conservation, conservation organization located in City Park, Denver, City Park of Denver, Colorado, United States. Founded in 1896, it is operated by the Denver Zoo ...

and

Honolulu Zoo The Honolulu Zoo is a zoo in Queen Kapiʻolani Park in Honolulu, Hawaii. It is the only zoo in the United States to be established by grants made by a sovereign monarch and is built on part of the royal Queen Kapiʻolani Park. The Honolulu ...

Early life

Stern was born in the Philadelphia area and attended Jack M. Barrack Hebrew Academy, then known as Akiba Hebrew Academy, graduating in 1996. He went on to attend

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

and graduated in 2001 with a degree in biological anthropology. At Harvard, he was mentored by noted primatologist and researcher,

Richard Wrangham Richard Walter Wrangham (born 1948) is an English anthropologist and primatologist; he is Professor of Biological Anthropology at Harvard University. His research and writing have involved ape behavior, human evolution, violence, and cooking. ...

. Starting at age 12, Stern began volunteering at the Philadelphia Zoo nearly every Saturday. At age 13, he became a presenter in the children's zoo. He eventually reached a point where many of the animals knew who he was and was among the first people to meet the zoo's baby

orangutan Orangutans are great apes native to the rainforests of Indonesia and Malaysia. They are now found only in parts of Borneo and Sumatra, but during the Pleistocene they ranged throughout Southeast Asia and South China. Classified in the genus ...

Career

Prior to founding the New Nature Foundation together, Stern and Goldstone did primate behavior research in Africa starting in 2000. Their research discovered why

red colobus monkey Red colobuses are Old World monkeys of the genus ''Piliocolobus''. It was formerly considered a subgenus within the genus '' Procolobus'', which is now restricted to the olive colobus. They are closely related to the black-and-white colobus mon ...

s are a favorite prey of

chimpanzee The chimpanzee (; ''Pan troglodytes''), also simply known as the chimp, is a species of Hominidae, great ape native to the forests and savannahs of tropical Africa. It has four confirmed subspecies and a fifth proposed one. When its close rel ...

s. He continues to visit Africa for 4 to 6 weeks every year and is a lecturer on his work. Stern and Rebecca Goldstone founded th
New Nature Foundation
in 2008. The foundation works with local citizens to protect wildlife habitat in Uganda and Vietnam. Stern and Goldstone's foundation has worked to plant trees, produce fuel using agriculture waste and build five community science centers around

Kibale National Park Kibale National Park is a national park in western Uganda, protecting moist evergreen rainforest. It is in size and ranges between and in elevation. Despite encompassing primarily moist evergreen forest, it contains a diverse array of landsca ...

. Harvard awarded Stern with the Sheldon Traveling Fellowship to partner with local primary schools to bring Ugandan students on field trips to the park. Stern also served as a consultant on efficient stoves to save the

tonkin snub-nosed monkey The Tonkin snub-nosed monkey or Dollman's snub-nosed monkey (''Rhinopithecus avunculus'') is a slender-bodied arboreal Old World monkey endemic to northern Vietnam. It has black and white fur, a pink nose and lips, and blue patches around the eye ...

in Vietnam. From 2011 to 2016, Stern served as the Primate Area Supervisor and Assistant Curator of Primates at the Denver Zoo. There he was tasked with working with the

Species Survival Plan The American Species Survival Plan or SSP program was developed in 1981 by the (American) Association of Zoos and Aquariums to help ensure the survival of selected species in zoos and aquariums, most of which are threatened or endangered in the w ...

to help breed

western lowland gorilla The western lowland gorilla (''Gorilla gorilla gorilla'') is one of two Critically Endangered subspecies of the western gorilla (''Gorilla gorilla'') that lives in Montane ecosystems#Montane forests, montane, Old-growth forest, primary and sec ...

s. There he also created an arboreal feeder for orangutans that was shared with the Association of Zoos & Aquariums. Stern spent time in 2016 and 2017 at the Honolulu Zoo as the zoo's General Curator. In 2017, Stern returned to the Philadelphia Zoo in the role of Curator of Primates and Small Mammals. In that position, he serves as a member of the

gibbon Gibbons () are apes in the family Hylobatidae (). The family historically contained one genus, but now is split into four extant genera and 20 species. Gibbons live in subtropical and tropical forests from eastern Bangladesh and Northeast Indi ...

s Species Survival Plan Management Board and leads the zoos international conservation efforts of the

Rodrigues fruit bat The Rodrigues flying fox or Rodrigues fruit bat (''Pteropus rodricensis'') is a species of bat in the family Pteropodidae, the flying foxes or fruit bats. It is endemic to Rodrigues, an island in the Indian Ocean belonging to Mauritius. Its nat ...

. He designed the $100,000 treehouse for the zoo's

gorilla Gorillas are primarily herbivorous, terrestrial great apes that inhabit the tropical forests of equatorial Africa. The genus ''Gorilla'' is divided into two species: the eastern gorilla and the western gorilla, and either four or five su ...

s. He has provided commentary on the zoo's animals to sources such as

National Geographic ''National Geographic'' (formerly ''The National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as ''Nat Geo'') is an American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. The magazine was founded in 1888 as a scholarly journal, nine ...

CBS This Morning ''CBS This Morning'' (''CTM'') is an American morning television program that aired on CBS from November 30, 1987 to October 29, 1999, and again from January 9, 2012 to September 6, 2021. On November 1, 1999, the original incarnation was repla ...

and KYW News Radio.

Personal life

Stern is Jewish and embraces his Jewish culture, history and Tikkun Olam in his work. Stern was featured in a short film titled "The Zoo Changes You." The film was nominated for a

Shorty Award The Shorty Awards (also known as "The Shortys") are awards for outstanding and innovative work in digital and social media content by brands, advertising agencies, and creators. The awards, which generally focus on short-term content, honor achiev ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stern, Michael Living people 1978 births Harvard University faculty Human evolution theorists American primatologists Scientists from Philadelphia Harvard University alumni Jack M. Barrack Hebrew Academy alumni Jewish American scientists Jewish biologists 21st-century American Jews