Blue Ridge Country Nov/Dec 2024 - 58

'We can't do the work alone.'
DIVING IN
Tennessee Aquarium's Natali Rodgers
inspires the next wave of conservationists
to be part of needed change.
BY NANCY HENDERSON | COURTESY OF NATALI RODGERS
W
hen Natali Rodgers
visited Chattanooga's
Tennessee
Aquarium in sixth
grade, she was so
captivated by the animals on exhibit that
her classmates had to keep nudging her
along so they wouldn't be late for the next
stop on their field trip.
" I was about to get us all
in trouble, just being able
to see all of those large fish
but not the kind I was used
to seeing on TV, where you
didn't see a lot of emphasis
on freshwater fish, " she
recalls. " I just remember
standing still and having to
be pushed along.
" That is really the first time I truly unNatali
Rodgers (above
with leadership team
and far right): " I always
had a love of water.
I would pretend
as a kid that I was
doing underwater
explorations like
Jacques Cousteau. "
derstood I could do this as a career, " adds
Rodgers, 41, who became the aquarium's
director of learning and evaluation in
2021. " I still didn't know what that actually
entailed, but I saw people working in
this space. "
These days, the personable biologist
and educator spends much of her time
overseeing the facility's floor educators
(formerly called docents); creating awareness
about conservation issues, especially
those affecting fresh waterways in the
Southeast; and engaging the community
at libraries, schools and community
centers. She is also in charge of summer
camps, preschool programs and other
early-childhood educational initiatives,
with a focus on making them accessible
to those without the means to visit the
58 BLUERIDGECOUNTRY.COM
aquarium. The goal is always
the same: to share the importance
of taking care of the
natural environment.
" Whether people want to
admit it or not, we are in a
conservation crisis, " Rodgers
says. " Part of that is just a lack of awareness
and understanding of what's going
on with our planet. "
A Memphis native and lifelong scifanatic,
Rodgers would rather
ence
watch a good special on PBS than play
outside with her friends. She loved nature,
though, from digging in the dirt to
rescuing stray cats and peering at butterflies
through a magnifying glass. As
she got older and became hooked on the
Discovery Channel's " Shark Week, " she
felt an increasingly strong connection to
the ocean she'd never seen. That would
come later, when she finally visited the
beaches of Georgia, South Carolina and
Florida. By the time she joined a tour at
the UGA Extension Center in Savannah
and learned all about sand dollars-how
to dig for them, how to hold them, how to
gently return them to the water-she was
sold on an aquatic career.
" I always had a love of water, " Rodgers
says. " I remember going to the local
community centers and learning how
to swim and just exploring underwater.
Sometimes I would pretend as a kid that
I was doing explorations like Jacques
Cousteau. "
By middle school, she'd made up her
mind to work with marine life, maybe as
a dolphin researcher or a trainer at Sea
World, engaging visitors about Shamu
and the other orcas. But in 2006, when
she was about to graduate from Savannah
State University with her degree in marine
science and biology, a favorite professor
took her aside: " I think you should
consider going into education. You have a
knack for it. "
Shrugging off the advice, Rodgers
headed to Zoo Atlanta where, ironically,
she facilitated educational programs as
an overnight instructor and later became
a seasonal keeper. Even in the latter role,
she often talked to visitors about the animals
and the facility's conservation efforts.
https://tnaqua.org/ http://www.BLUERIDGECOUNTRY.COM
Blue Ridge Country Nov/Dec 2024

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