CART students partner with Fresno Chaffee Zoo to design enrichment tools for animals

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Students at the Center for Advanced Research and Technology are applying classroom learning to real-world challenges through a long-standing partnership with the Fresno Chaffee Zoo, designing enrichment tools that support animal well-being.

Environmental science teacher Titus Patton said students have worked with the zoo for years.

Students work alongside zookeepers for a semester and are assigned an animal they research before designing a device that encourages natural behaviors.

"Oftentimes for our students, that's some sort of feeding enrichment, or some sort of way to get them to move around their pen differently or interact with something differently," Patton said.

First-year students focus on foundational work such as cutting wood and sanding materials for future feeders.

Some projects incorporate donated items, including hand-woven baskets made from used fire hoses.

Second-year engineering students oversee safety and design while tackling more complex projects, including the development of an app that allows zookeepers to track how animals interact with enrichment items.

Senior Benjamin Bossarte said the experience provides practical skills students can use beyond the classroom.

"You can take this experience, you could write it on a resume, and if you're in a job interview, you can use this as actual experience that could help you get the job," Bossarte said.

Ronnie Kerestus, the Fresno Chaffee Zoo's curator of animal well-being and enrichment, said the partnership enhances the care animals receive.

"Now enrichment gets to be bigger, better and automatic, and we can go even further and then with an app being developed for enrichment to evaluate that enrichment that's being given to them, and all just kind of comes together," Kerestus said. "We can provide the best for our animals."

Patton said the collaboration keeps students engaged while helping them build professional and technical skills.

"I really hope that students can leave here and be successful at anything they want to pursue, and have those skills that they can apply," he said.

All student projects will be completed by the end of the school year.

Students will have the opportunity to see zoo animals interact with the enrichment items they designed.

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