Jennifer Mickelberg

Director

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Jennifer began working with Golden Lion Tamarins in 2000 at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo as the Assistant Golden Lion Tamarin Studbook Keeper, and continued working at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute as a population biologist.  She received her doctorate degree from George Mason University in 2011 after completing her graduate studies at GMU, her field work in Brazil, and defending her dissertation entitled “Understanding and Managing Isolation in a Fragmented Population of Golden Lion Tamarins.”

In July 2012, Dr. Mickelberg left the Smithsonian’s National Zoo to become the Curator of Primates at Zoo Atlanta which includes the largest captive collection of gorillas and orangutans in North America. She was elevated in 2016 to Senior Director of Collections and Conservation, and eventually rose to the role of Vice President of Collections and Conservation, where she managed all aspects of the zoo's animal collection and led its conservation initiatives. Jennifer was a member of Brazil’s Associação Mico-Leão Dourado, a member of the IUCN's Conservation Breeding Specialist Group, and an elected member of the International Committee for Conservation and Management of the Lion Tamarins which officially advises the Brazilian government.  Jennifer had been an active member of Board of Directors of Save the Golden Lion Tamarin since 2010.