PITTSBURGH (PTTP)- Graduating from the University of Pittsburgh in Dec. 2019, Casper Peters works as a biologist aide at the Adventure Aquarium in Camden, New Jersey. Majoring in natural sciences, Casper is now responsible for the care of animals like hippos, porcupines, penguins, and parrots.
On a typical day, Casper helps with feeding, cleaning, enrichment, and keeping records of the animals. He often works with the aquarium’s thirty-nine African penguins and seventeen little blue penguins.
“The African penguins and little blue penguins are going to eat somewhere between 20 to 30 pounds of fish for the two groups of penguins combined. So [a typical day] is taking all of the fish out of the freezer, thawing them out, and kind of proportioning it throughout the day. The African penguins get three feeds a day and the little blues get two, so we have to measure everything out into our buckets,” says Casper.
Casper’s interest in taking care of animals began when he worked as an assistant camp counselor at the Philadelphia Zoo summer camp program in high school. Later, he worked in the education department of the zoo, which further helped him decide that he wanted to pursue this career path. While at Pitt, Casper did an internship at the National Aviary, where he first worked with African penguins. Aside from a degree in science, Casper also completed a theatre minor and was involved in the Redeye Theatre Project and Pitt Tonight during his time in college.