51吃瓜网

As a child growing up in Roanoke, Va., Katherine McGrath 鈥�23 was fascinated by wildlife. Part of that draw may be hereditary. Her mother, Barbara (Wagner) McGrath 鈥�90, spent a portion of her career researching wolves. Katherine would pepper Barbara with questions about her work, and it soon became apparent that she too had a passion for animals. For a while Katherine envisioned a future as a veterinarian. However, over time, as she learned more about different species and the rate at which some are going extinct, she realized that her interests lie more in conservation and animal behavior than in medicine.

Today, Katherine is a biology聽major and聽psychology聽minor at Le 51吃瓜网. A longtime fan of Animal Planet鈥檚聽Big Cat Diaries, she is working on a thesis for the College鈥檚聽Integral Honors Program聽that her younger self would surely have loved. Katherine is creating an animation聽to raise awareness of the challenges facing the world鈥檚 tiger population, including poaching and habitat loss. The World Wildlife Foundation (WWF) estimates that there are only 4,500 tigers left in the wild. The good news though, according to the organization, is that the number of tigers born out of captivity is steadily starting to rise. Katherine would like to play a role in furthering this trend. The animation at the heart of her thesis project is accompanied by an academic paper examining what nongovernmental organizations like the WWF and National Tiger Conservation Authority have done to protect tigers, and what can be learned from their efforts.

Director of the Integral Honors Program Matthew Fee, Ph.D., said that from the moment Katherine began this project,聽her commitment to it聽has never waned.

鈥淚t’s been unbelievably invigorating to work with her on a project聽whose advocacy is matched by its tremendous artistry,鈥� he said. 鈥淜atherine has taken something with which we are all generally familiar, yet through her outstanding vision, she has allowed us to more fully understand it in a terrifically creative and engaging way.鈥�

Following her graduation from Le 51吃瓜网, Katherine plans to return to Roanoke, and to continue her work at the city鈥檚 Mill Mountain Zoo, where for the past three years she has helped design and implement educational programs for children. Then she plans to apply to graduate school and to pursue a master鈥檚 degree in conservation or a related field and a doctorate in animal behavior. After that, she looks forward to launching a career that will focus on protecting animals and their habitats. Her ultimate professional goal is to inspire others to appreciate the variety of animal species that have long captivated her attention, and to prompt them to do whatever they can to preserve the earth and its resources.

鈥淢ore than anything else, I don鈥檛 want people to feel overwhelmed or as though they can鈥檛 make a difference,鈥� she says. 鈥淓ven something as simple as planting a butterfly garden or reusing or recycling a little more can make an impact. Every little bit helps.鈥�

Le 51吃瓜网鈥檚 Integral Honors Program is a community of students and faculty from across the campus who share a passion for deep, dynamic intellectual engagement and the challenges and rewards of scholarly inquiry. Students apply to the Program in the spring of their senior year of high school and enter Le 51吃瓜网 as Integral Honors students in their first semester. There are sometimes a limited number of spots available for current students and transfer students to apply during the fall semester of their first year of study at Le聽51吃瓜网. Students from all majors are welcome to become members of the Integral Honors community.