Landau, October 24, 2026: On December 1, Lisa Kern from Karlsruhe will start part-time as Managing Director at Sphenisco. She studies biology, geography and education. She already has her bachelor's degree, and she plans to complete her master's degree in 2027. Although young in years, she is already an "old" zoo educator and conservationist.
She has been involved with the Karlsruhe Zoo since 2018. First she completed a voluntary ecological year and then a traineeship at the zoo school. Since 2020 initially as a freelancer and since 2025 as a part-time employee, she conducts guided tours, moderates workshops and designs events. In addition, she participated in conceptual work in the field of environmental education and species conservation.
Lisa Kern has been committed to species conservation since 2019. Specifically, she gained experience in the "Northern Bald Ibis Team-Conservation and Research" and as a breeding assistant for lapwings (Vanellus vanellus) and curlews (Numenius arquata) at the Karlsruhe Zoo.
After an internship with the Northern Bald Ibis (Geronticus eremita) team, she became a foster mother in 2022, raised chicks by hand, created social bonds, and imprinted the birds on herself. The main problem with reintroduction is that Northern Bald Ibis are migratory birds and young birds have to learn their way to their winter quarters from their parents. In the case of human-reared birds, foster parents must take over this "training". For example, foster mum Lisa flew in an ultralight aircraft with her baby birds from Austria near Salzburg to southern Tuscany to show them the way to their winter quarters. Lisa Kern has remained loyal to the Northern Bald Ibis project in various functions. From public relations work to helping with hand-rearing and reintroductions, she is now involved as a volunteer auditor in the support association of the Northern Bald Ibis team.
After caring for and advocating for highly endangered European birds, Lisa Kern is now turning her attention to the endangered Humboldt penguins in Chile and Peru. Sphenisco, especially managing director and chairman Werner Knauf, is looking forward to working together with Lisa.
W.K.
Translated by Erich Greiner
