Page 7 - January 2026 Insider

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INSIDER January 2026

Page 7
Field Trip to Frozen Zoo (San Diego Zoo

Safari Park) (November 13, 2025)… Continued from Page 6

description, is “nothing short of a treasury of life on Earth. This indispensable resource, part of
our Wildlife Biodiversity Bank, holds frozen living cells from more than 11,500 individual animals
of 1,300 species or subspecies, many of them
endangered or even extinct. Within these
microscopic samples lies the extraordinary
potential to reintroduce valuable genetic
diversity into wildlife populations,

safeguarding species for generations to
come.” The Frozen Zoo® which changed
conservation science forever, was founded
by none other than Dr. Kurt Benirschke,
our Scientist of the Year in 1997 and father
of ARCS San Diego Chapter President Elect,
Ingrid Benirschke-Perkins.

Afterwards, the members enjoyed lunch and camaraderie at The Watering Hole restaurant within
the park as various animals lumbered by on the fields below. A big thank you to Leslie Bruce
for the write-up and Mike Roeder for the photos from this enlightening field trip!

SDSU Check Presentation
(November 12, 2025)

SDSU hosted the ARCS check ceremony
with President Adela de la Torre,
Provost Bill Tong, Sciences Dean Jeff
Roberts, and Associate Dean Carmelo
Interlando in attendance. President de la
Torre offered a particularly heartfelt
expression of gratitude for ARCS’s
scholarship support, echoed by both Dean
Roberts and Provost Tong. ARCS
representatives Leslie Bruce, Tanya
Schierling, and Cathie Atkins were
Front row (l to r): Jeff Roberts, Cathie Atkins,
Tanya Schierling, Adela de la Torre, Leslie Bruce, Bill Tong present, and each of the eight attending
Back row (l to r): Adrian Vargas, Carmelo Interlando, ARCS Scholars shared brief overviews of
Kian Bagheri, Amanda Lee, Morgan Farrell,
Christina Veziris, Nancy Leon-Rivera, Gregory Jordan, their research and personally expressed
Brittany Conley their thanks for the organization’s support.