Dr. Barbara Durrant heads the Reproductive Physiology Division at the Center for Reproduction of Endangered Species. She develops and practices techniques that help endangered species of cats reproduce. At what age did you choose your career? I knew from the age of five that my career would involve animals. In graduate school I focused on my current career. Was there a specific event or person associated with that decision? My parents raised me with a respect for the natural world. My graduate professor, Dr. Lester Ulberg, helped prepare me to take on the challenges of working with endangered species. What has been the greatest experience of your career? There have been so many: seeing cheetah cubs for the first time with ultrasound, hatching endangered chicks from artificial insemination, leading safaris to Africa... What specialized skills do you need for the job? Expertise in the use of many kinds of laboratory equipment and cell-culture techniques, animal handling, animal behavior, ecology, writing, public speaking, and experimental design. What is the most frustrating part of you job? That animals are going extinct faster than science can prevent. Any advice for young people who are considering a career in zoology? The extinction of plant and animal species is the most important issue of our time. There is a desperate need for trained zoologists to coordinate worldwide efforts to reverse this trend. If you could be any cat, which would you be? A cheetah. I would love to be able to run seventy miles per hour!