Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - The Board of Directors of the Zoological Society of Buffalo announced Monday afternoon that the zoo's interim CEO, Lisa Smith, will now act as the zoo's permanent CEO.
Smith, the former chief zoological officer, was named interim CEO in September 2022 when Norah Fletchall stepped down after over five years of service to the nation's third-oldest zoo. After seeing Smith grow after almost a year into the role and a review of 105 applicants nationwide, the board decided Smith was the best fit for the job, especially so, given her 27 years as a zoo professional, working in zoos all over the country.
"I've lived and worked at a lot of Zoos across the country, in California, Ohio, Georgia, South Dakota, but we've made New York our home," says Smith. "Buffalo Zoo's beautiful historic campus, incredible high standards for animal care, innovative research for rhino conservation and breeding program and the zoo's long history of preserving animals in the wild are all reasons that I wanted to come and work at the Buffalo Zoo."
Smith looks to the future of the zoo.
"My vision for the zoo is to continue to be a center for excellence [and to] make sure conservation stays at that center. Innovation, collaboration and community involvement are all important to that mission. I want people that come to our gates to feel welcome, to expand our conservation and sustainability efforts to grow our learning and education experiences and programs and create enriching, immersive, interactive exhibits for both the animals and for the people that come here, and to put animal well-being first and foremost at the heart of everything that we do. That's why we're here. It's our Buffalo Zoo. We make a difference together."
In addition, Smith highlights some plans and projects that will be in the works for the zoo grounds.
"We have a lot of infrastructure projects that are underway, about 33 different ones between the city, the county and the state. Monies that have already been promised to us," explains Smith.
"Things that you'll notice and you'll see right away, we're changing the pervious pavement at the front of the zoo, that'll happen in the fall, it'll be a pervious brick product that will still allow water to pass through. It'll be nice for our visitors to walk on. We're going to be changing the skylights over some of our animal habitats, we're going to be working on life support systems, we're going to be putting shade sails up. Those are some infrastructure things that are going to be happening, and then looking forward, our next big project is going to be a gorilla exhibit."
