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Lincoln Children’s Zoo, Lincoln, NE

Lincoln Children’s Zoo is a natural oasis in the heart of downtown Lincoln, Nebraska. The institution has seen great changes in the city and its demographics during its 40-year existence and has responded with a range of programs that make the natural world accessible to even the most underserved groups.

John P. Chapo has been involved in zoo work for 34 years, beginning as a teen volunteer at age 15 in his hometown zoo in South Bend, Indiana. He later moved into concessions and gifts, became a zookeeper while attending Indiana University, and later still became a lead zookeeper, educator, and assistant director. He became one of the country’s youngest zoo directors in 1984 at the age of 27. Chapo became Director of the Lincoln Children’s Zoo in 1986 and has enjoyed over 20 years of serving as the President and CEO. He has an Associates degree in business administration from Indiana University, a Bachelor of science in Public and Environmental affairs also from Indiana University and he attended the Jersey Wildlife Preservation Trust summer school and received a certificate. Chapo has served on numerous professional and community organizations boards, tasks forces, and committees, several in a leadership capacity. He is married and has three sons.

Stephanie Mosby’s (Moes-bee) family sometimes wonders where she gets it from, but Stephanie has always had a love of animals. She joined the Zoo Crew at the Lincoln Children’s Zoo when she was 13 and progressed through Zoo Crew’s five levels of privilege and responsibility rapidly. She enjoyed spending time with the animals and with people who shared her interest in them. Stephanie attended the Lincoln Public School’s Science Focus High School at the zoo in her senior year. Upon graduating she went to work at the zoo as an exotic animal keeper. She worked as a keeper and a zoo educator while completing two years of college and is currently splitting her time between a veterinary clinic and the zoo’s education team. Stephanie, who has always considered herself quiet and shy, credits her experience at the Lincoln Children’s Zoo with giving her much greater confidence. She plans on finishing college in the next few years and graduating with a dual degree in Fisheries and Wildlife and Psychology.