Studying ecology and evolutionary biology at UT helped prepare John Humphrey (’26) for his dream career as a zookeeper.
By the time he was in second grade, John Humphrey (’26) knew he wanted to be a zookeeper. Months before he graduated from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, he landed his dream job as an animal care specialist working with chimpanzees.
As an Honors major in ecology and evolutionary biology, Humphrey’s undergraduate student experience in the College of Arts and Sciences allowed him to conduct research on primates and build a range of career skills.
Humphrey didn’t just watch TV shows like Animal Atlas and visit the zoo while he was growing up. He would take his parents and grandmom around the back yard of his home in Jefferson City, Tennessee, and point out where he would place exhibits in his own zoo. At the age of 8 he started attending a summer zoo camp in Knoxville, and he became a youth volunteer at the zoo five years later. Humphrey continued volunteering at Zoo Knoxville for nine years, until he graduated from UT.
Chimpanzee Connection
He fell in love with chimpanzees at the zoo’s great ape habitat.
“This one chimp named Lu started to recognize me, and he would hit on the glass to get my attention,” Humphrey said. After sitting at the exhibit and observing chimpanzees, the teen would go home and read books by Jane Goodall to learn more.
“I would see the chimps doing the same things she described, and that just blew my mind,” he said. For example, he watched them smashing coconuts to break them open, and the dominant chimps eating first. Humphrey could see how their hierarchy worked and sometimes flexed. “Every day is like a reality TV show with them, trying to see what the new drama is,” he said.
While volunteering at the zoo, he met interns from UT’s Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology (EEB) and heard about research they were conducting that related directly to the well-being of animals. UT was the only university he considered attending.
For the summer after his first year at UT, Humphrey found a paid seasonal position on the team caring for chimps at the Kansas City Zoo and Aquarium. He returned the next summer and advanced to work such as shifting and training the chimps. “That was a really incredible experience not a lot of 20-year-olds get to have,” he said. The Kansas City Zoo extended the offer for a full-time job in March of his senior year.
Undergraduate Research Experience
For his Honors thesis at UT, Humphrey investigated how enrichment aesthetics impact the ways people think about chimpanzee behavior and conservation.
For four months in spring 2025 he spent every weekend at the Chattanooga Zoo, with funding through the College of Arts and Sciences and UT’s Advanced Undergraduate Research Activity (AURA) program covering the costs.
Each day he would put a natural item or a human-made item into the chimps’ environment at the zoo and survey visitors. Only a handful of published papers address the impact of non-natural enrichment on visitor perceptions, although many zoo policies limit what types of items can be placed in habitats. “I’m glad to be able to add to the conversation about that,” Humphrey said.
He presented his research during a poster session at the 2025 Association of Zoos and Aquariums annual conference in Florida. “I was able to talk to people who make rules about what enrichment items are used at their zoo and have some productive conversations,” Humphrey said. A combination of UT funding also covered his costs to attend the professional conference.
Before defending his Honors thesis, Humphrey also had practice speaking and responding to questions about his research during the EEB Undergraduate Research Symposium; UT’s Discovery Day, a showcase for undergraduate research and creativity; and the Southeastern Conference for Animal Behavior, hosted by the college’s Collaborative for Animal Behavior. He earned a second-place award and received feedback from faculty judges at the college’s Arts and Sciences Undergraduate Research Symposium (ASUReS) as well.
He took another opportunity to research animal behavior through the Evolutionary Psychology and Ethology course with Professor Todd Freeberg. At Zoo Knoxville, Humphrey taught Lu how to unscrew a cap from a PVC tube and stick it through a metal mesh to drink juice from a container. One group of chimps watched Lu before having access to the puzzle feeder and another did not, a test of social learning.
He presented those results at the university’s Exhibition of Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievement (EURēCA).
Encouraging Students’ Interest
Early in his first year at UT, Humphrey attended a College of Arts and Sciences event where he met Professor Elizabeth Derryberry at the EEB table. Soon after he went to work in the Derryberry Lab, and although her research is centered on birds he found her happy to support his research on chimps.
“I didn’t really think that opportunity would arise to be able to meet professors who are just so willing to help you learn and grow,” he said.
Freeberg enthusiastically encouraged his other research project, and other EEB faculty and staff members also were approachable and supportive.
“If you have an interest, there are a lot of people out there on campus who want you to learn and grow,” Humphrey said. “They genuinely care that you are doing what makes you excited.”
Of course he took the Primate Behavior course through the Department of Anthropology, but he also found many other avenues for expanding his knowledge and customizing assignments to his interests. “Every opportunity I could take to make any project in any class about chimps, I did,” he said. That included interviewing a leading primatologist for an assignment in an evolution class.
Through EEB’s unofficial undergraduate student organization, the Naturalists Club, learning extended beyond the classroom. On one outing, for example, they used mist nets to catch bats at Forks of the River and took measurements for a survey.
Humphrey also honed his leadership and outdoor skills by planning and directing trips for the UT Outdoor Pursuits (UTOP) program, including backpacking, snorkeling in rivers, and biking around Cades Cove in the national park by moonlight. “Working for UTOP was an incredible experience, and I made a lot of friends that way,” he said. It was one of many ways that he saw how UT students with common interests find community on campus.
Communication and teamwork skills he learned at UT are crucial for his career as well. “A day in the life of a zookeeper is a team sport, communicating and working together to make sure that everything is safe for the chimps and for us,” Humphrey said. “Our lives are literally in each other’s hands. Being a strong communicator and being able to work efficiently and safely in high-stress situations is very important.”
Educating the Public
Humphrey took advantage of another opportunity near UT before his final year, working as a summer teacher naturalist for the Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont. While he was adept at conveying his scientific research to an academic audience, at the private, nonprofit environmental education center inside the national park Humphrey was able to practice talking to children.
“We were in the mountains doing activities outside every day with anywhere from 4- to 12-year-olds, and I learned a lot about how to communicate science to kids,” he said. “I want them to feel excited about protecting public lands and protecting wildlife and learning about what’s in their backyard and wanting to conserve.”
At Kansas City Zoo and Aquarium, Humphrey is part of Team Ruwenzori, which cares for chimpanzees, hippos, African painted dogs, baboons, and a few reptiles.
His responsibilities are centered on ensuring the safety and well-being of nine chimpanzees in an environment that includes a three-acre forest. That includes cleaning, delivering medications, ensuring the area is secure, training husbandry behaviors, creating enrichment activities, and monitoring their food intake, holding food for the chimps to take through mesh and hiding food for them to forage. At midday they have an opportunity to talk with visitors in the chimpanzee interpretive center.
“I love doing the Chimp Chat,” Humphrey said. “This is an opportunity to really feel like I’m making a difference in helping people understand chimps and how they can help protect them.”
by Amy Beth Miller