Since April 2019, after nearly one month of online selection, offline recruitment, professional training and comprehensive assessment, Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding has successfully completed the ninth session of science popularization volunteer recruitment and training. This time, a total of 45 volunteers joined the science popularization volunteer family of the Panda Base, injecting fresh blood into the conservation education cause of the base and strengthening the power of the team.

This volunteer recruitment was conducted both online and offline. In the online part, applicants who had filled in volunteer application forms online were selected and then interviewed by phone one by one; in the offline part, the science popularization instructors of the Base went to Chengdu University of Technology and held a campus recruitment meeting. On that day, more than 100 students of the university listened to the lecture on the spot and enthusiastically participated in the on-site interview afterwards.

A total of 48 selected trainees participated in the ninth volunteer induction training held in the Panda Base from May 11 to 12. The two-day training arrangement was very substantial, including the introduction to the Panda Base and science popularization work, introduction to volunteer projects, knowledge about giant pandas and red pandas, animal behavior and animal emotions, giant panda breeding management and enrichment, interpretation skills and teaching, and other courses. Knowledge of environmental protection and animal protection was systematically and comprehensively taught, and past volunteer representatives were invited to share their practical experiences with the trainees. On the second day of the training, the volunteers visited the base in groups under the guidance of the instructors, got familiar with the various science popularization venues and the interpretation points, conducted trial interpretation respectively, and listen to the comments and guidance of the instructors.

In this training, the volunteers were comprehensively evaluated by combining written test and oral test. Among them, the oral test included on-site interpretation, which tested the basic interpretation quality of new trainees and their mastery of knowledge, and situational strain test, which simulated emergency situations to test the trainees' strain capacity and service quality.

The statistics of the assessment results showed that the overall performance of the trainees in the ninth session was relatively good. After the selection, a total of 45 trainees passed the training and assessment and became new volunteers. In the following months, they will complete the internship and become regular volunteers, and officially join the science popularization volunteer family of Chengdu Panda Base.

The science popularization volunteer project of Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding has been carried out for more than four years since 2015, and dedicated to the conservation education and other related work with the giant panda as the carrier. Volunteers have long been active in the forefront of science popularization education in the base, mainly engaged in science popularization interpretation, supporting various activities and providing assistance to venues and the park, etc. They have become an indispensable part of the conservation education cause of Chengdu Panda Base. Up to now, Chengdu Panda Base has carried out nine sessions of science popularization volunteer trainings, with a total of 450 trainees, and currently has a team of 165 active members.

Herein, we sincerely welcome the new members of the ninth session to join us! We hope that you can better integrate into the volunteer family of the base in the future, continue to support all the work of the base, and make new contributions to show good image of the base. We believe that with everyone's help, the cause of panda protection will be even better! 

Recruitment meeting at Chengdu University of Technology

Instructors were interacting kindly with the interviewees

Group photo of the ninth session volunteers of the Panda Base