A New Perspective!

by Frankie Lill
May 12, 2023

Greetings to the OWCN Network. My name is Frankie Lill, to some of you I am a familiar face, and to most I am the newest member of the OWCN Management Team! I will be working with Danene as a Wildlife Planning Specialist. Although I am new to Davis and the OWCN MGMT Team, I have served as an OWCN volunteer for the last several years. Since then, I have been activated once for an oil spill, Pipeline 00547, and I have participated in recent UMEs out of LA, including a few grebe incidents, the Pelicans and the Elegant Tern response which was quite literally in the Aquarium’s Harbor.

Up until just recently I was an Aviculturist turned Volunteer Coordinator at the Aquarium of the Pacific. You may have seen my introduction blog last week, and now I get to dig a little deeper and share more with you. When I graduated from Western Illinois University with my bachelor's degree in Zoology, I came to Long Beach with dreams of being a shark researcher. I volunteered in three roles for a year while working in accounting elsewhere; building husbandry skills with Terrestrial Ambassador Animals, tropical fish and invertebrates and even volunteered as a citizen scientist for the Olive Ridley Sea Turtle population in Long Beach. I was swooped up by the bird department and, well, the birds stole my heart. In time, I was working with everything that was not a fish, that was my role. Small mammals, terrestrial and aquatic birds, marine mammals, and amphibians. I haven't given up on my dream of sharks, and thankfully along the way opportunities continue to present themselves in other ways. I hold onto that dearly.

Aviculturist is a fancy word for keeper or animal care specialist, but it is so much more. Public speaking, Public Relations (PR) & Marketing, guest meet and greets, SCUBA diving, building, plumbing, power tools, managing volunteers, working with a team of different skillsets, interdepartmental committees, volunteering with other organizations like OWCN, research, building community and celebrating all. All of that on top of our core jobs – the daily care and welfare of the animals. What a treat it was to start my career with SO MANY opportunities to learn and grow.

In fact, the most common question I get is “why did you leave?” It's simple. I was ready to put all of those skills to use in a different way for an organization I fell in love with along the way. Leaving the aquarium was difficult and I will not take my time there for granite. I am really winning anyway – I still get to connect with the Aquarium for all things OWCN.

My role now is less daily animal care and much more behind the scenes planning and preparedness. I will aid Danene and everyone to ensure our network has all the tools they need to respond in the event of a spill. Some say I am the new Scott, well most say it, and I’ll just say I’m up for the challenge to fill his shoes. And I even get to bug him if I need to since his new role & office is just around the corner from my desk 😊

I cannot wait to meet you all, to see you all in the next training and to watch this organization continue to thrive as an industry leader in oil spill response.

Until then I will be learning all the things and continue to settle in Davis with my perfect kitty cat Pabu.