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When the San Diego Zoo prepared to welcome the first giant pandas to enter the United States in 21 years, Jana Biedenweg ’20 was one of the first to meet them. Biedenweg is a wildlife care specialist at the zoo with experience ranging from mountain lions to grey wolves to black bears. Her expertise led to her selection as a caretaker for the zoo’s two new pandas, Yun Chuan and Xin Bao.

In June, Biedenweg went to Bifengxia Panda Center in China to learn how to best care for Yun Chuan and Xin Bao. Biedenweg worked with their care specialists to familiarize herself with the bears’ personalities.

“Xin Bao is very inquisitive and explores her whole habitat, while Yun Chuan is more goofy and enjoys playing in his pool,” said Biedenweg. “They are a joy to work with every day!”

Biedenweg did not anticipate a career like this when she was an organismal biology major at �鶹ԭ��. She thought she would go to veterinary school. However, thanks to her coursework, the pre-veterinary club, and internships, she discovered other possibilities.  

“Through gaining experience working with animals in a medical setting and a wildlife care setting, I saw that in wildlife care you are able to gain more of a bond with the animals,” said Biedenweg.

Her hands-on approach to animal care aligned well with her curriculum. �鶹ԭ��’s organismal biology major teaches physiology, ecology, and evolutionary biology through experiential research and fieldwork. Biedenweg experimented with courses such as animal behavior, vertebrate physiology, and herpetology. The research tools and learning she gained at �鶹ԭ�� proved foundational.

“My coursework exposed me to different aspects of biology and animal science that I still use every day in my career,” said Biedenweg.  

Biedenweg has also found her undergraduate education useful as she pursues a master’s degree in biology through Miami University’s Project Dragonfly. This program features online courses, conservation action, and immersive learning with scientists and experts around the world.  

Biedenweg contributes to the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance’s research. Their care specialists have studied giant pandas’ olfactory communication, hearing, and reproduction and male-female interactions. Their efforts have supported an increase of giant panda births worldwide.

“We need to conserve species and their habitats in order to maintain healthy ecosystems,” said Biedenweg. “There continues to be a lot of human-caused environmental issues, so anything I can do to help combat that feels important.”

Now Biedenweg has the privilege of helping the new giant pandas flourish at the San Diego Zoo and building her repertoire of wildlife conservation in ways she’d never imagined. If it weren’t for the friends and professors at �鶹ԭ�� who encouraged her, Biedenweg wouldn’t be where she is today.

“My time at �鶹ԭ�� has greatly influenced my life,” she said. “I gained a confidence in myself during college that allows me to be more creative and try new things in my career.”