What is AZAD?
The Association of Zoo and Aquarium Docents (AZAD) is a growing international not-for-profit association whose purpose is to facilitate communication and the exchange of information between zoo and aquarium docents. AZAD promotes this free exchange of ideas between members to enhance educational presentations and to renew enthusiasm for the invaluable service docents contribute to their individual institutions.
Membership in AZAD is open to any person who volunteers as a guide or interpreter at any zoo or aquarium in the world. It is also possible for zoos and aquariums to hold organizational membership and by so doing can send a docent as a voting delegate to the annual delegate meeting held during the conference. Click on the Join AZAD link for various levels of membership.
If you join us, you will soon see that the dedication you have for your zoo or aquarium is universal and that dedication is shared with colleagues and friends at our conferences. Come and share in this camaraderie.
History
The first International Zoo Docent Conference was held in Houston in October 1985 where 35 zoos were represented. The following year in Kansas City, delegates from 41 zoos and aquariums established guidelines, chose the name Association of Zoo and Aquarium Docents (AZAD), created bylaws and a newsletter: Symbiosis.
Since the first conference in Kansas City, there has been an
international conference/delegate’s meeting each year at the following zoos:
Los Angeles Zoo; Baltimore Zoo and Baltimore Aquarium; Columbus Zoo; San
Antonio Zoo; Phoenix Zoo; Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo; Chicago Lincoln Park Zoo;
Cleveland Metroparks Zoo; Portland Zoo (now Oregon Zoo); Saint Louis Zoo; Zoo
Atlanta; Woodland Park Zoo, Seattle, Denver Zoo, Cincinnati Zoo and
Botanical Garden, Brookfield Zoo, Chicago, Houston Zoo , Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo,
Philadelphia Zoo, National Zoo in Washington
DC, Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, and Saint Louis Zoo. Delegate’s Meeting in 2008
has been awarded to Riverside Zoo in
Historical listing of AZAD Executive Board Members 1986 - 2008
04/11/07