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The Schubot Center opens its doors to our local communities

One of the main goals of the Schubot Center for Avian Health Center is to promote knowledge related to avian species, among university students, animal research professionals, clinicians, and the general public. This goal includes educating younger generations of enthusiasts about how to study avian species in captivity and in the wild.

Since 2017, the Schubot Center has had opened its doors to our communities to offer a series of activities to learn about topics related to avian exotics. Under the leadership of our aviary manager Debra Turner, the center provides tours of the TAMU Aviary for local middle schools, high schools, and summer camp programs as well.

The typical aviary visit lasts about one hour and visitors can participate in a variety of activities: tour the aviary’s different facilities, build toys and other enrichment for the birds that live in the aviary, conduct a microscopic analysis of avian parasites/blood, and speak with a Schubot member specialist. This final part is adjusted according to the interests of each particular group. For instance, a vet camp may speak with veterinary students, while a STEM camp may have a researcher scientist talk about the Schubot Center research projects. The Schubot Center also offers Virtual Veterinary Enrichment Camp Zoom tours.

TAMU Aggie STEM Summer 2022 group on their tour to the Schubot Aviary
Middle school students receiving a tour of the Schubot Aviary
Students from the Youth Adventure Program 2022 #YAP_TAMU building toys and other enrichment for aviary birds

This Summer 2022, has been a busy summer out at the Aviary. Starting on June 24, the Future Aggie Veterinary Experience received a tour led by Dr. Meredith Anderson, Dr. Ken Turner , second-year vet student Cora Garcia, and Debra Turner. On June 29th, Dr. Niyazi Erdogan, PhD, Program Coordinator of Texas A&M University Aggie STEM Project brought 75 High school and middle school students to visit the Schubot Aviary facilities. This visit was led by Dr. Caitlin Mencio, second-year vet student Madison McClintock,  Amanda Harvey  and Yahel Acosta  and Ms. Turner. 

July has had two aviary tours so far: on July 13th, 13 students from the School of Veterinary Medicine’s Youth Adventure Program led by Dr. Tamy Frank-Cannon and on July 15th, 46 students from the TAMU Aggies STEM camp led by Dr. Niyazi Erdogan. The next Aviary virtual tour will take place on July 19th, 2022.

#YAP_TAMU Young Adventure Program 2022 from the Veterinary Medicine School in the Schubot Aviary lab working on microscopic avian blood analysis

 All these Schubot Aviary tours and learning opportunities are free of cost. They may be scheduled any time of the year as part of the Schubot Center for Avian Health’s commitment to serving our local communities and youth.

Spread the word about this opportunity. We recommend to schedule Schubot Aviary tours two months in advance.  The Schubot Center is happy to promote bird health and provide some hands-on activities to any teaching curriculum.

Dr. Caitlin Mencio giving a science talk to the TAMU Aggie STEM Summer 2022 group on their tour to the Schubot Aviary
Dr. Ken Turner and Madison McClintock in the lab leading the microscope activity with the Youth Adventure Program 2022
Left to right: Yahel Acosta (Bird enrichment leader) , Mackenzie Hoffman (bird enrichment set up) and Amanda Harvey (tour guide)

The Aviary manager, Debra Turner, coordinated the summer tour events at the Aviary and is extremely thankful to Caitlin, Ken, Madison, Amanda, Yahel, Mackenzie and Jenna for inspiring kids from our community and making good memories with them.


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