Lisa Marie Stevens
{{short description|Curator}}
{{Like resume|date=February 2022}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name = Lisa Marie Stevens
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| citizenship = American
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| known_for = Giant panda and primate programs
| work_institutions = Smithsonian Institution's National Zoo
| alma_mater = Michigan State University
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Lisa Marie Stevens is an American retired zoologist who served as the senior curator for mammals, and managed both the giant panda program and the primate program, at the Smithsonian Institution's National Zoo. She worked at the National Zoo from 1978 to her retirement in 2011.{{Cite news|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/zforum/99/metro/pandalady6499.htm|title=Q&A With 'Panda Lady' Lisa Stevens|last=|first=|date=June 4, 1999|newspaper=Washington Post|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=October 12, 2019}} She managed the National Zoo's panda breeding program as early as 1987, but rose to national prominence following the birth of panda cub Tai Shan in 2005.{{Cite web|url=https://pragmaticobotsunite2018.com/monday-open-thread-more-african-american-scientists/|title=Monday Open Thread: More African-American Scientists|last=|first=|date=October 5, 2015|website=Pragmatic Obots Unite|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=October 12, 2019}}
Internationally known as "the Panda Lady,"{{Cite web|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2005-12-21-0512210202-story.html|title='Panda lady' a well-traveled expert|last=Harris |first=Ron |website=Chicago Tribune |date=December 21, 2005 |language=en-US|access-date=2019-10-12}} her responsibilities as a curator at the National Zoo included overseeing the budget, exhibit design, construction, and supervising personnel. She was also responsible for the zoo's primates, including gorillas, orangutans, gibbons, and macaques.{{Cite web|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/liveonline/02/metro/metro_stevens061902.htm?noredirect=on|title= Panda Update With Lisa Stevens National Zoo Panda Curator |date= June 19, 2002 |website=Washingtonpost.com: Live Online|access-date=2019-09-17}} She is included in the American Association for the Advancement of Science's Spotlight on African American Scientists.{{Cite web|url=https://www.scienceupdate.com/spotlights/african-american-scientists/|title=Spotlight: African American Scientists |website=Science Update |publisher= American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)|access-date=2019-10-12}}
Early life and education
Stevens' father was in the United States Army, so she moved around during her childhood. She lived in Okinawa, Japan, and Bangkok, Thailand where she came in contact with various animals. Stevens said, "I was that kid who, at age 3 and 4, was picking up caterpillars and holding snakes."{{cite magazine
|date= November 16, 1995
|title= Zoo Me: Lisa Stevens Finds Happiness with a Think Tank and a Giant Panda
|last=Hayes, Dianne Williams
|url= https://www.questia.com/magazine/1P3-490371141/zoo-me-lisa-stevens-finds-happiness-with-a-think
|magazine= Black Issues in Higher Education
|volume= 12
|number= 19
|page= 18
|url-access=subscription
}} When she was ten years old, Stevens began taking horseback riding lessons. Of horseback riding, Stevens said, "I think that was my earliest interest in veterinarian medicine, just by watching the vet work on the horses at the polo club there in Bangkok."{{cite magazine
|date= March 2006
|title= Sisters In Charge
|last=Barbara Manzi
|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=j9MDAAAAMBAJ&q=Lisa+Stevens+Smithsonian&pg=PA93
|magazine= EBONY
|volume= 61
|number= 5
|issn= 0012-9011
|publisher= Johnson Publishing Company
}}
Stevens attended high school in Washington DC and earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Zoology/Pre-Veterinary Medicine in 1977 from Michigan State University.{{Cite web|url=https://alumni.msu.edu/stay-informed/magazine/article.cfm?id=635|title=Spartan Profiles: Lisa Stevens|website=MSU Alumni|language=en|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2019-10-12|last=Robert Bao|date=Fall 2001}} She also completed the Association of Zoos and Aquariums' Professional Management Development for Zoo and Aquarium Personnel in 1986.{{Cite news|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2005-12-21-0512210202-story.html|title='Panda lady' a well-traveled expert|last=Harris|first=Ron|date=December 21, 2005|work=Chicago Tribune|access-date=March 13, 2019}}{{Cite web|last=|date=2020-09-01|title=Lisa Stevens: The Inspiring Career of the "Panda Lady"|url=https://siarchives.si.edu/blog/lisa-stevens-inspiring-career-%E2%80%9Cpanda-lady%E2%80%9D|access-date=2021-03-25|website=Smithsonian Institution Archives|language=en}}
Career
After graduating from university, Stevens moved to Washington, D.C., in 1978 and began working as an animal keeper at the National Zoo.{{Cite web|url=https://www.washingtonian.com/1995/05/01/gorillas-just-want-to-have-fun/|title=Gorillas Just Want to Have Fun |last=Eisler|first=Kim|date=May 1, 1995|website=Washingtonian|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=March 13, 2019}} In 1981, she was promoted to management. She began managing the primate program in 1981 and the giant panda program in 1987. Part of her responsibilities included "daily operations, personnel, budget, long-range planning, record keeping, research, education, exhibit design, and construction."
In 2005, Lisa Stevens was the Assistant Curator overseeing the giant panda program when Tai Shan was born; Tai Shan was the first surviving panda born at the National Zoo and the third panda cub born in the US.{{Cite news|url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/learning-from-tai-shan-117770450/|title=Learning from Tai Shan|work=Smithsonian Magazine|author-first=Laura|author-last= Tangley|date=June 2006|language=en|access-date=2019-10-12}} She was the primary spokeswoman for interviews about Tai Shan's birth and her colloquial descriptions of his early adventures made her a popular interviewee.{{Cite web|url=https://www.scienceupdate.com/2005/12/panda-raising/| title=Panda Raising |date=December 28, 2005 |website=Science Update|publisher= American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)|access-date=2019-10-12}} She was profiled in the Chicago Tribune and featured in the Animal Planet documentaries A Panda is Born (2005){{cite news |last1=Blumenstock |first1=Kathy |title=Scouting the Panda Cub |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/tv/2005/12/04/scouting-the-panda-cub/71d002fd-6aca-45c3-9102-d3eed3a4ea9e/ |access-date=22 October 2019 |newspaper=The Washington Post}}{{cite journal |title=A Panda Is Born |journal=Video Librarian |date=2008 |volume=23 |issue=5}} and Baby Panda's First Year (2006), which were packaged together in a 2008 re-release.{{cite book |title=A panda is born ; and Baby panda's first year |date=2008 |publisher=Animal Planet |isbn=9781594450532}}
Stevens participates in the Association of Zoos and Aquariums' Species Survival Plan for several species. She also co-founded and is on the Board of Directors of Beads for Education, Inc.,{{Cite web|url=http://www.beadsforeducation.org/board-of-directors|title=Beads for Education Board of Directors|last=|first=|date=|website=Beads for Education, Inc.|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=March 13, 2019}} which funds the education of more than 300 girls in Kenya.{{Cite web|url=http://www.beadsforeducation.org/beads-overview|title=About BEADS|website=BEADS for Education, Inc.|language=en-US|access-date=2019-10-12}}
References
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{{National Zoological Park (United States)}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Stevens, Lisa Marie}}
Category:Smithsonian Institution people
Category:National Zoological Park (United States)
Category:Michigan State University alumni
Category:Year of birth missing (living people)
Category:21st-century African-American scientists
Category:American women scientists
Category:21st-century African-American academics