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Keri Parker's professional adventures include working as a Permits Biologist for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's International Affairs Program in the Division of Management Authority (the office that issues permits under CITES and the Endangered Species Act), managing a seabird nesting island as an Island Supervisor for the National Audubon Society's Project Puffin, banding birds for the Powdermill Avian Research Center in southwestern Pennsylvania, and working as an environmental educator for World Wildlife Fund and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Asheville Field Office. Her training in conservation began at Warren Wilson College in the mountains of North Carolina, and she continued her education with the University of Maryland's Graduate Program in Sustainable Development and Conservation Biology, where she received her Masters of Science degree in 2005. Her graduate research involved completing a pilot assessment of conservation projects taking place in China's panda reserve system that are funded by U.S. zoos through the United States Policy on Giant Panda Import Permits. Her research continues to aid stakeholders as they track and assess the conservation needs of the giant panda and its habitat. Keri's goals change from day to day--one day she wants to pursue a Ph.D. in Conservation Science, the next she wants to become a world traveling writer/field biologist/photographer, and above all she loves being at home with her husband, dog, and cat, where she can play in the backyard and grow vegetables. With a little luck she'll figure out a way to do all three.