Chester’s Zoo Exhibitions and Interpretations Officer, Zoë Batchelor, gives us an in-depth interview talking about her love for animals, the steps to her job position and what being an exhibitions and interpretations officer involves. Zoë describes what a workday looks like at Chester Zoo, which may involve visiting giant otters. A cheerful description of what seems like a great work environment.
Please could you tell us a little bit about yourself and your role at Chester Zoo?
I’m Zoë Batchelor, and I’m the Exhibitions & Interpretation Officer at Chester Zoo. I’ve always been a huge fan of animals and learning new facts and used to visit zoos several times a year. Somehow, I’ve managed to find a job that links to all of these things and that I didn’t know existed until I was at university!
My role involves researching and organising the production and install of signs, theming and interactives at the zoo. My manager and I are responsible for the zoo’s educational interpretation and most non-permanent theming. We keep up to date with animal moves and maintenance of our interpretive schemes and work with many teams within the zoo.
What is your favourite thing about working at Chester Zoo, and what are the biggest challenges?
There are so many things to love about working at Chester Zoo, but my favourite has to be working with so many passionate and caring people. The education department specifically are a great team and are always happy to support each other. There is always someone to say hello to and to run ideas by, and quite a few of us are friends outside of work too.
Second would be the ability to see our amazing animals every day! If I’ve spent too long at the desk, I can pop out for a break to see the giant otters or arrange a walking meeting to go past specific animals or plants.
What career path did you take before working at Chester Zoo?
In my last year of my BSc (Animal Biology), I undertook a mentorship scheme to encourage secondary school children to go to university. I got a taste of working in education and decided I wanted to pursue it as a career.
After some retail jobs, I found a job at a small zoo as an education officer, which was varied work. This zoo was re-doing its signage, which ended up being a large portion of my work there, as well as researching talks and running workshops. Producing signs involved research on varied topics, which appealed to me. I left that job to teach animal management at a college, but eventually found a job as a zoo ranger at Chester Zoo.
As a zoo ranger, I enjoyed presenting talks and running education sessions, but I missed undertaking more in-depth research. I was very lucky when my current role was advertised at Chester Zoo, as it’s a small team and jobs are infrequent. My education experience, zoo knowledge and previous work producing signs (shown through my portfolio) worked in my favour, and I got the job.
Have you always been interested in working in this sector?
Originally, my only goal was to study animals at university! I didn’t really think in depth about jobs until university. I had always wanted to keep learning about animals, so I aimed to become a college lecturer, to begin with. When I discovered zoo education jobs existed, I knew I wanted to aim for that instead, as I really wanted to promote conservation.
My work in interpretation has really opened my eyes to the museum sector to the point that I would absolutely consider moving to a museum for the right opportunity… most likely if animals and conservation were still involved!
What does a typical working day look like for you? Or is there a ‘typical day?
Days at the zoo are extremely varied. Some days I don’t sit down at the desk at all! The main types of work I do are researching and writing, maintenance, and supervising contractors.
On a non-contractor day, I usually spend at least half of the day at my desk, usually on some kind of research or writing. As an example, I am currently finishing the content for our new elephant interpretation scheme, which totals around 65 signs (including two signs with embedded interactives). I may also be liaising with other teams to get more information, have my sign content checked, have graphics produced or organise contractor works in the zoo. As a result, I meet plenty of people who work in different areas of the zoo, which is a benefit and definitely interesting.
The other half of the day could be spent on meetings (which could be idea development for myself or other teams or more standard team meetings), maintenance walks to check on interpretation around the zoo, installing signs or measuring spaces for new signs or schemes.
A contractor day will throw most of this out of the window! We usually book contractors for a few days a month to undertake bigger or more specialist installs, such as the building of decorative crates or audio installation. I am usually the main supervisor for our contractors and give them their worklists, check their work is going to plan and make sure our health and safety requirements are met.
Do you have any advice for current Museum Studies and Art Museum and Gallery Studies students?
Try as many things as possible to gain varied experience and to learn where your interests lie. I also recommend keeping a portfolio, as it is a useful tool to use in interviews to highlight your experience. Good luck with your future careers!