Jose Serrano, Webmaster

Official Title:  Associate Manager, Online Services

“I’m glad I landed where I am today. The great thing about conser- vation is that it can be done in so many ways – whether out in the jungle tracking tigers or in the office designing and maintaining a website that will raise awareness and money to help and support projects out in the wild.”

Jose was always interested in animals, but he was also very much involved with computers.  In high school, he would have never thought that he could be involved in conservation through technology.  When he moved to New York in the mid-1990s, he immediately became a volunteer at the Bronx Zoo – and he’s been with us ever since!  Jose worked in a variety of departments doing many different jobs before he joined the WCS web team in 2004. 

Every day, Jose works to maintain the WCS facility websites.  This includes the websites of the Bronx, Prospect Park, Queens, and Central Park Zoos as well as the New York Aquarium.  He updates the news and events, making sure that everything is current.  He also troubleshoots any web related issues and handles just about anything else that comes up related to the sites.

Jose also spends some of his time training WCS employees in the web system, which allows departments to manage and update their own content on our website.  This is the part he enjoys most about his job.  He loves to see people’s reactions when they add content to the website and realize that their work is out there for the whole world to see.  They take a lot of pride in what they’ve done.  In addition to helping employees understand the website, this job has given Jose the chance to meet and understand the contribution each department makes to WCS and wildlife.
 
The WCS websites are important to conservation because they help spread our mission to people all over the world. And this is what Jose feels every day he goes to work.  The WCS field staff has become more involved with the websites – understanding that through them they can talk to thousands of people at once. The websites help bring visitors to the parks, awareness to conservation, and participation in local and international projects.