I was ten years old when, walking home, I found a hummingbird laying motionless on the ground.  I went to take a closer look and then I took it in my hands; the tiny bird opened its eyes! During the following week, my mother fed the hummingbird from an eye-dropper filled with fruit juice into which the bird put its tongue to drink.  We let the bird loose in the bathroom so that it could rediscover its ability to fly, it improved slowly but steadily.  My father took this picture then:

Throughout my life, these same hands have opened for hundreds of animals in need of help.   It's this strange passion for all creatures that has directed my career.

After earning my Bachelor's degree in Audio-Visual Communications in Venezuela, I wanted to see other parts of the world, so I went to Spain to continue my studies. There, I earned two Master's degrees, one in Museum Studies from Universidad Complutense; one in Environmental Education from Instituto de Investigaciones Ecologicas; an Associate's degree in Wildlife Management from Universidad de Cadiz; an internship at the Museo de America in Madrid; and met a lot of friends and filled seven albums with photos.

I returned to Venezuela, and after some years of rich experiences working at the Museo de Ciencias de Venezuela, and the Terrarium of Caracas, a flood from a new dam in Caruachi theatened the lives of thousands of animals living on the shores of the Caroni River. The giant South American power utility EDELCA set up an operation to rescue animals and I took a 13-hour bus ride across the country to work with them as a volunteer. We saved over 9000 animals of over 150 species in four months and I published our story as a cover story in the Sunday magazine of El Nacional, Venezuela's largest newspaper.

Fresh from this amazing experience, I decided to set out again, this time to the Bronx Zoo in New York City.  The vast resources available there fostered my growth as a communicator, creator, and especially as a project manager. Today, I work as the creative leader and project manager for the Liberty Science Center's exhibition "Skyscraper", which explores the technology and the ecological impact of these great structures. This is the largest exhibition on this topic in the world -- it opened in 2007 and is planned to stay up for over five years with over one million visitors a year. This was the most challenging job I've ever had, though since I did miss working with environmental subjects, I am currently creating a new science center in Puerto Rico that explores the science behind sustainable development.

As the Baba Dioum (a Senegalese conservationist) once said, "In the end, we will conserve only what we love. We will love only what we understand. We will understand only what we are taught."  This is being my mission: to teach others about the world, to help them understand its value and richness, to share the fascination I feel for nature and to guide people through the important goal of its conservation.

Resume

Work Experience
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Liberty Science Center - Jersey City, NJ
November 2003 - Present
Senior Project Manager and Exhibit Developer   

• Responsible for the management, production and content development and implementation of all exhibition materials including interactive machines, computer kiosks, web applications, video documentaries, graphic panels and experimental stations.
   
• Lead projects, budgets, team, schedules, external advisors and all contractors.
  
• Create, design, produce and evaluate the content of exhibition galleries.
  
• Lead and developed Skyscraper! Achievement and Impact: At 13,000 sf., this is the biggest exhibition about tall buildings ever made. I spent four years managing and developing this project, with a budget over five million dollars, leading a team of 12 professionals, 28 expert advisors and 17 vendors. I also took up the added responsibility for the direction and production of a series of audiovisual materials. Some of these were:
• The Models: Thirty foot recreations of New York, Chicago and Dubai skyscrapers. Each image is made of up to 300 small photographs. I made ten of these composites which form a massive city skyline within the gallery.
• The New York Times Schedule: A three year process to document the construction of The New York Times building, step by step. The video documentary features construction professionals explaining the science behind building a skyscraper. The videos are featured on an interactive kiosk that slides through a 20 feet-long gant chart. Our visits to the site also produced a series of 8,000 photographs.
• Visions of the Future: Series of video interviews with renowned architects that explain their ideas for skyscrapers of the future while sketching their visions. I worked with Ken Yeang, Patrick Schumacher, Daniel Libeskind, Adrian Smith, Helmut Hahn and others for this experience.
  
• Lead developer for the Centro Criollo de Ciencia y Tecnologia: Opening in 2009, this will be the first science center in Puerto Rico. Its permanent exhibition explains the importance of sustainable development and the steps to achieve a healthy future. This science center is part of a futuristic vision to bring modernity and new technology to a developing region of the island.
  

• Co-manager and developer of Science Vote 2008,  an exhibition about the scientific issues behind the 2008 presidential election. One of my favorite pieces is a flash-based interactive that allows visitors to vote for the issues and for the candidates. I am currently proposing to share the kiosk with other museums and connect visitor’s votes through the web. I see this initiative as a first step to creating a community-based user experience that can live outside the gallery.

Wildlife Conservation Society - Bronx, NY
May-October 2003
Volunteer Exhibit Developer
Lead developer for “Living Colors”, an exhibition about the role of colors in animal survival for the Prospect Park Zoo. Developer for the conceptual design phase of the “Madagascar” exhibition.

Terrarium Parque del Este – Venezuela
January - December 2003
Marketing and Exhibit Consultant
As a consultant I came on to focus the message and sharpen the image of the institution. I created a marketing campaign based on branding development, building identification, park signs, a website and e-mail blasts. I helped widen the reach of the institution by creating educational programs supported with online content.

Wildlife Rescue Operation, EDELCA – Venezuela                                              
December 2002- April 2003
Volunteer Rescuer and Journalist
Volunteered as both rescuer and journalist in an operation that saved more than nine thousand animals from a flood in the jungles of Venezuela. I also assisted National Geographic with some aerial video shoots in the area. My photographs and articles about the experience were published in El Nacional Newspaper and National Geographic Kids. I am currently writing a book about it.

National Science Museum – Venezuela                                                           
September 1997 – March 2003
Director, Department of Interactive Design
Responsible for a department that created interactive exhibits, educational CD-ROMs and the museum’s website. The website received attention from Unisys, which led to an invitation to be part of the Science Learning Network –a grant program that helps museums publish content via the web.
Also, Project Manager and Exhibit Developer                                                
January 2001 – March 2003
Produced several exhibitions in this role, leading teams though the development, design, production and implementation of projects while managing budgets, schedules and expert advisors. I also participated in the fundraising campaign and teamed with the Marketing and Press departments.

Target DDB Needham - Venezuela                                                      
 December 1994 - October 1996
Copy writer
Copy writer for various campaigns for Neutrogena, Mobil, Daewoo Motors, American Airlines, the Pope’s Visit to Venezuela in 1995, El Universal newspaper and the Mayor’s Office of Caracas. My work was based in printed media, radio and TV ads.

Educational Background (with descriptions of important projects)
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Master in Museology and Exhibition Design - Summa cum laude (9.5/10)  1999-2001
“Universidad Complutense de Madrid”, Spain ( www.ucm.es )
1. “ZooMuseology, Applications of Museology to Zoos”: A Master thesis about the development and design criteria used to create contemporary zoos. I studied the complex criteria for successful zoo design. Ethical animal treatment, educational outreach, storytelling, safety, maintenance, biological research and management were the core areas of the study. One additional area of content was the use of the incipient online world to communicate with other institutions to take advantage of international resources.  
2. Museo de America’s website: Lead a team of interns to develop one of the first museum websites in Madrid. We completed an 80-pages website for this institution during our academic internship of seven months. The website stayed online for five years to be replaced later by an official website from the Spanish Ministry of Education.

Master in Environmental Education - Summa cum laude (9.5/10) 1999-2001
”Instituto de Investigaciones Ecológicas, Spain ( www.forestal.org/indice.html )
“The Zoo as a Medium for Environmental Education”: Master thesis that explained the potential for zoos to educate and improve people’s understanding of environmental issues.

Graduate Certificate: Management of Wildlife and Natural Lands - Cum laude (8.0/10)  2000 - 2001
”Universidad de Cádiz/Centro de Estudios Superiores - Spain (www.iusc.es)  

B.A. Communications (Minor in Audiovisuals) – (15.5/20 points) 1991 - 1997
”Universidad Católica Andrés Bello, Venezuela (www.ucab.edu.ve)  
1. “How to Communicate through Web Design”: Bachelor degree thesis that studied the most effective ways to design and structure websites. I analyzed technology trends, emerging design and UI standards and user behaviors. The increasing importance of the new medium made this work one of the most requested texts at the university’s library.

2. “Zoona”: The first website dedicated to the legal aspects of animal conservation in Venezuela. The site served as an educational resource for Venezuelans and the international community.

Publications & Lectures
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Since exhibitions and websites are considered publications, and I’ve done a considerable amount of those, I am going to include only a selection of the best ones in this list:

• “Skyscraper & Visitors perception of the WTC” Lecture at the Visitors Studies Association (to be given in 2008).
• “Exhibitions vs. Television, Magazines and Toys: What can we learn?” (American Association of Museums 2008): Chair and presenter for the lecture with the invitees David Cohen from Sesame Street, Stuart Montaldo from Cogno Toys and Saul Griffith from HowToons.
• “Science Elections ‘08” (LSC): Exhibition about the scientific and technological issues discussed in the 2008 presidential elections (2008).
• “Rainforest Rescue; how thousands of animals were saved by caring humans”, photographs and text for the National Geographic Kids, September 2007 (Cover article).
• “Skyscraper! Achievement and Impact” (LSC): the biggest –and tallest- exhibition about tall buildings in the world (2007).
• “The Schedule” (LSC): Documentary about the construction of the New York Times Building designed by Renzo piano (2007).
• “Keys for Understanding Environmental Education”, Revista Zoológica Latinoamericana, Buenos Aires Zoo, 2003.
• Living Colors (WCS): Exhibition about the importance of colors in animal life (2003).
• “Rescue in Caruachi”, Todo en Domingo Magazine, El Nacional Newspaper, March 2003 (cover article)
• “Petroleum spills”, Primicia Magazine, January 2003. (Cover article).
• Quelonios, Armoured Animals” (NSM): Exhibition about turtle conservation (2002).
• “Coco, La Guaira’s turtle” Video-Documentary, 20 min. Featuring the rescue, medical surgery, and release of a giant leatherback turtle. Venezuela. April 2002.
• “ZooMuseology, Management and design criteria from museums to zoos” (UCM) Master thesis (Spain-2000).
• “The Zoo as a Medium for Environmental Education” (IIE): Master thesis (Spain-2001).
• “Your Face, Your Bag” (UCM): Photography exhibition (Spain-2000).
• “Museo de America” Website (Spain-2000).
• “Museo de Ciencias” Website part of the Science Learning Network (1998).
• “Zoo” Video-documentary, 20 min. featuring the functions of modern zoos – (UCAB). Venezuela, (1997)
• “Zoona”, website dedicated to law protections of wild animals in Venezuela, (1997).
• “The Fruits of Los Naranjos”, SIVENSA Magazine, (1997).
• « Adopt an alligator », SIVENSA Magazine, (1997)

Awards
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• Second Prize “National Contest of ideas for the Las Delicias Zoo Park”, National Institute of Parks, Venezuela. (2001)
• Gran Mariscal de Ayacucho Foundation, scholarship for graduate studies (1997-2000).
• Ministry of Culture, Scholarship at the National Ballet Academy (1989 – 1992) 

Languages
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Helene Alonso - helenealonso.com

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