My name is Alice and I am a fourth-year zoology student at the University of Calgary.  Growing up, we had many pets, except for dogs and cats. We’ve had birds since I was 10, along with amphibians, fish, and hamsters. If you were to ask me what in particular I love about birds– it’s hard to say! Ten-year-old Alice would say; “I like how they look and fly!”. But 22-year-old Alice says that their behaviour, anatomy, and diversity are super interesting!

I didn’t receive too many teachings or lessons about animals when I was younger. However, what I did learn is that they should be respected and treated fairly, just like we treat each other as humans. 

Living in Calgary, with the yearly Calgary Stampede, visiting the farm animals was a must. Volunteering at the SPCA helped me appreciate the farm animals a lot more, and I helped with Aggie Days.  My main personal interest from when I was little were birds. That’s why I decided to pursue a degree in zoology!

It wasn’t until recently that I began birding. I had always thought that there were no cool birds in Calgary, but wow was I ever wrong! Instead of taking the bus home from school, I began to walk home, taking photos of birds. While birding, I have also developed an interest in other animals and nature in general.

I took an entomology (study of bugs) course last year, which was super inspiring to me. We had to go and find bugs out in Calgary and either take a photo of them, or do a bug collection. Because of bug ethics, I decided to make most of my collection digital. Insects are such important animals! Because of my love for both birds and bugs, I now want to become a naturalist.

I think it’s important to appreciate the diversity and role of animals in our environment. Every individual animal is important and carries out a very important role in our ecosystem. Sadly, through a lot of human activities, we are going through a sixth extinction event. It is important that we learn and appreciate all life, so that we can make sure we are doing our job to protect them.