Alpha Sigma Phi - University of Washington

Undergraduate Feature >>> F or a young man not yet 20, Micah Adams '16 has lived a life full of intrigue and purpose. Starting in high school, and now as a UW biology major, Micah has developed an attitude of sensitivity and a sense of responsibility regarding climate change and its impact on the natural world. This social consciousness has driven Micah to dedicate his life to finding ways to mitigate the problems that humans are causing. Micah was born in Garrison, New York, a small town on the Hudson River an hour north of New York City. He went to a small K-8 school of 300 students. Thereafter, he went to Millbrook School, a private boarding school in Millbrook, New York, which, in Micah's words, was in the middle of nowhere. But, as you will see as Micah's story unfolds, it was a very happening place for him. Kitesurfing in Spain After Micah's freshman year at Millbrook, he lived a month in Tarrifa, Spain, a small town on the Mediterranean. He went with Lenguaventura, a summer kitesurfing camp for teenagers 14-17 designed to teach and help improve Spanish speaking skills. "It was great fun," said Micah, "and it really accelerated my Spanish track." Doing Marine Biology Research off the California Coast The summer after Micah's sophomore year, he lived two and a half weeks on a boat off Catalina Island, California, doing marine biology research. "We got to pick our own projects," begins Micah. "We had to determine how climate change impacted the ecology and environment of organisms in that area. I looked at hermit crabs to see how salinity affected their activity. With changes in salinity, would they stay active or stay in their shell." Studying African Grays and Pandas at Millbrook and the Trevor Zoo In Micah's junior year, attending Millbrook turned from a place located in the middle of nowhere to an open door to the world. It all began in at Trevor Zoo. Trevor Zoo is the only zoo in the United States located at a high school. Established in 1936 by Frank Trevor, the school's first biology teacher, the zoo was cre- ated to share his love of wildlife with people, especially children. For a future biology major like Micah, the zoo was a trove of intrigue and fascination. It houses more than 180 exotic and indig- enous animals, 80 different species, nine endangered species, and is accredited with the Associations of Zoos and Aquariums. "The zoo is an amazing place," begins Micah. "Students work in it and care for the animals. In addition to animal care, I got to prepare food and do life enrichment for the animals so they wouldn't get bored. Enrichment can be anything that changes the normal enclo- sure, such as providing mirrors, spraying scents in their living area, putting peanut butter on branches, and other exciting things for animals." "I did an independent study on African Gray parrots," began Micah. "I studied how human vocalization affected the behavior of these amazing parrots. They are very smart birds. I found out that it doesn't really matter how you interact with the parrots, rather, it has to do more with how familiar the parrots are with you. I experimented with a variable of different vocalizations— whispering, shouting, and normal talking to determine how adverse the parrots would be with me in the exhibit. There was no correlation on how I spoke. The parrots had less of an adverse reaction to vocalization the more they got used to the experiment- ers. Initially they shrieked up a storm, but, as they got used to us they interacted calmly." "I worked two years in the zoo," continued Micah. "I took one animal at a time. In my junior and senior year, I was made a stu- dent curator, which means I was in charge of an entire section of the zoo. I would have North America or Australia or another area, for example. This was a job with real life consequences because if I didn't do my job right, the animals wouldn't get food. My favor- ite animal was the red pandas. I had a connection with one named Nicholas and got to feed him by hand. We had red panda cubs born while I was there. I think red pandas are the cutest animals in the world, so their babies were almost too much to handle." Onward to Mongolia "Between my junior and senior year," started Micah, "I applied for a research project to go to Mongolia for a month with the for- mer head of the Millbrook biology department, Dr. Barry Rosen- baum, who was heading research for the Denver Zoo. He came back to Millbrook each year offering students the chance to do research with the zoo. I was the only one who applied. I guess no Micah Adams '15 By Jim Hammond '66 5 His Amazing Journey of Intrigue, Passion, and Purpose

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