Pride In Our People: meaghen

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Our digital series, Pride In Our People, features the incredible staff at the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium through written first-person narratives and/or podcast interviews.
Today, we are featuring Meaghen, assistant cash manager
This is her story…

 I work in the cash office that is part of the finance department. My job is to count and verify most of the cash and checks that the Zoo receives from its daily operations and rentals. I am also in charge of hiring, training, and making the schedule for the admission gate staff, as well as organizing and analyzing the attendance numbers for our budgets. 

I started working at the Zoo right out of college as a seasonal worker in Visitor Services. Having just received a degree in zoology, I was very excited to get to work at a zoo that not only houses a large variety of animal species but also does important conservation and research with those animals. Even though the seasonal position had no direct contact with the animals, it was still great to get to see them every day and to make connections with the keepers. 

At the end of the season, I got offered a full-time job in Visitor Services and happily accepted. During my time with Visitor Services, I also got accepted to work as an intern in the mammal department. I got to work hands-on with the animals and the keepers. My internship gave me so many great experiences and memories. It will always hold a special place in my heart.

While the pandemic put a temporary end to the internship program at the Zoo, I still very much wanted to stay. I moved into the finance department where I am today. The other members of the finance department are always teaching me something new. They are amazing coworkers. While everyone here knows I am hoping to eventually get back to working directly with animals, the finance department is still a great place to be. All of the data analysis is a great experience and will help me with my ultimate career goal of researching wolves in the wild. 

The Zoo and my coworkers have helped me learn new skills. Like mostly everyone here, the animals will always be my favorite part of working at the Zoo, but I also love everyone that I work with. While I mostly work with the other members of the finance department, every department is very friendly and helpful. The people at the Zoo are not just my coworkers, but also some of my best friends.

Thank you for all you do, Meaghen!

Pride In Our People

 Our new series, Pride In Our People, features the incredible staff here at the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium.