Ely, Minn. – On her brother's wedding day, Lori Schmidt and her father left the reception — they had to milk cows. But rather than begrudge the circumstance, she said it has served her well throughout her career in natural resources and as the wolf curator at the International Wolf Center in Ely, Minn.
"Growing up on a dairy farm, you have that added commitment twice a day to the animals. That's a significant part of my upbringing that led me to see conservation as a lifestyle — not just a job," Schmidt said.
The family farm was in Kewaskum, Wis. From that start, Schmidt, 57, said she didn't turn down any opportunities that might broaden her knowledge. In high school, her natural stewardship led her to working for the Youth Conservation Corps and seasonal employment with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. She later became a forest technician planting trees, and researched biodiversity and carbon dioxide for NASA.
Her desire for more hands-on immersion in natural resources at an educational level led her to Vermilion Community College in Ely. "I started looking around for … a college career where I didn't read about things, I actually did them," she said.
As life would have it, she currently teaches at the college a quarter-mile down the road from the wolf center.
Responding to further opportunities as they arose, Schmidt found herself entering the wolf center on the ground floor. While working on a project with wolf expert Dave Mech and famed nature photographer Jim Brandenburg in 1986, she was introduced to the center's concept of sharing knowledge. Schmidt was hired as curator when the center opened to the public in 1989.
Here are edited excerpts from a recent conversation with Schmidt.
On "situational awareness"
The health of the animals is the first priority. Staff safety is equally important. "Situational awareness" means the minute I come into work I look at every individual wolf: Are they walking differently? Are they holding their ear one way? Are they blinking often? Are they licking their lips a lot? How are they holding their tail? Yawning three times means more about stress than about being tired.