Lorie Tarou

 Lorie Tarou was formerly a research assistant for giant panda behavioral studies at the Smithsonian National Zoological Park and a graduate student in the doctoral program the School of Psychology at the Georgia Institute of Technology. She is a native of Lake Charles, Louisiana, where she received her Bachelor of Science degree in zoology and a Master of Arts degree in psychology from McNeese State University. She has conducted research on the giant pandas housed at Zoo Atlanta, the San Diego Zoo, the Smithsonian National Zoo, and the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding in Chengdu, China, where she spent 4 ½ months in the Fall of 2000. She is specifically interested in foraging and cognition. In addition to her research on giant pandas, she has experience conducting both basic and applied research on a variety of other captive exotic species including gorillas, orangutans, black and white ruffed lemurs, red ruffed lemurs, golden lion tamarins, and giraffe. She is the author of several scientific publications including peer-reviewed journals, book chapters, and conference proceedings and has presented the results of her work in the form of both oral presentations and poster presentations at regional, national and international conferences. Her research on giant pandas was recently featured on a 28-minute educational video designed to educate students in grades 6-8 about the scientific method. The video, titled “Giant Pandas: The Science of Finding Food”, provides a behind-the-scenes look at how scientific researchers use the scientific method to make hypotheses, collect data, and interpret information about giant panda behavior. The video was filmed by the Fairfax Network of the Fairfax County Public School system and was sponsored by Fujifilm and Friends of the National Zoo (FONZ). This video program was chosen for viewing by school districts in 39 different states, including Hawaii and some districts in Canada, and aired to an estimated 7.5 million school children on October 10, 2002. It can now be seen on some local Public Broadcasting stations. For more information about this video, you can visit www.fcps.edu/FairfaxNetwork.