Anne Zhang’s passion for birds and conservation is taking her from east Auckland to one of the world’s top universities in the United States.
The former pupil of Saint Kentigern College in Pakuranga is heading to New York to study ecology and evolutionary biology at Cornell University, which along with the likes of Harvard and Yale is a member of the prestigious ‘Ivy League’ group of private research universities.
Zhang, 19, has pursued birdwatching, or ‘birding’ as it’s known to enthusiasts, as a hobby since she was in year 5.
“I was on a school trip to Tiritiri Matangi Island [in the Hauraki Gulf] and I stayed afterwards to be a volunteer every weekend,” she says.
“That’s how I got really addicted to birds. I’d also be going out with dad every weekend and we’d take people around the island and talk about the birds it has, the history, how beautiful New Zealand is, and how we’re so lucky to have access to that island.”
Following that experience, Zhang got involved with Pest Free Howick Ward, a community organisation working to enhance east Auckland’s natural environment.
She won a competition to design the group’s logo, earning a $500 prize, which she used to start a Dotterel Conservation Society while at Saint Kentigern College.
“We had this beautiful pair of New Zealand dotterels breeding on our campus, which we were so lucky to have because they’re more endangered than kiwis,” Zhang says.
“We had shelters and cameras, and we eventually had the only breeding pair of dotterels in the Tamaki Estuary, in 2021, which was really cool.
“I did a lot of birding and when it came to deciding what to do at university I was like, ‘I’m going to study ornithology and there’s no other choice for me’.”
Zhang applied to attend Cornell because of its world-renowned Lab of Ornithology, which developed the apps used by many keen birders.
“It’s a goal that’s been in my mind since I was in year 7, so it’s really cool I can be there this August.”
This year she’s volunteered her time to assist a professor at the University of Auckland working in the field of conservation and birds.
One of the species Zhang has studied is the bar-tailed godwit, which she describes as a “fantastic bird”.
“They come down from Alaska all the way to New Zealand,” she says.
“They’ve gone through so many adaptations. Their blood thickens, their organs change, and they’re just these amazing creatures.
“They stuff themselves full and then come all the way down from Alaska. It’s amazing.
“From Alaska to New Zealand [their flight] was non-stop, but on the way back they stop in China, so that links up pretty well because I’m from China.”
Zhang’s plans at Cornell are to complete a four-year Bachelor of Biological Sciences degree, with a concentration in ecology and evolutionary biology.
“That’s the concentration that gives me all the ornithology courses,” she says.
“There’s a raptors course, which is really cool, and eventually I’ll be able to volunteer with the raptors programme.
“That will be like handling all their falcons every weekend, which I’m really excited about.”
Her long-term plans are to return to New Zealand and work in the field of bird research.
“In New Zealand we have the best birds. Our birds are so wonderful and there are so many things we don’t know about them yet.
“I want to keep going with research and see if I can contribute to that and save some of the birds, because we have the highest ratio of birds going into extinction.”
