January 17, 2024 | By Atlantis Team

Born and raised in the United Kingdom, Freisha has worked at various zoos and aquariums in the UK and done conservation work around the world, including being an orphan monkey mom! Freisha also had the amazing opportunity to work as a researcher at the BBC Natural History Unit on a David Attenborough series. With a key focus on zoo-based education, conservation and research, she is passionate about coordinating and developing the same at Atlantis. For Freisha, the objective is simple: It is the human race who have impacted the survival of many species, and it’s us, as humans, who can fix it.

“As the Manager of Conservation and Education, I work within Marine Animal Operations and focus on two of the core pillars of the Atlantis Atlas Project: Animal Conservation and Welfare, and Education and Awareness. My key responsibilities are to drive our conservation projects and partners through the 1USD Programme, develop our marine education programmes and activities, and expand our science projects externally and internally. Additionally, I look after our wonderful Atlantis Atlas Ambassadors and organize our Colleague event calendar, while overseeing our AZA accreditation and other memberships.

I have always been very adventurous, wanting to explore new places. I moved to Dubai for my role at Atlantis quite spontaneously after seeing the job advertised on LinkedIn and thinking this would be perfect for me, without any actual prior thoughts about moving to Dubai. A month later, we were packing up our home and getting ready to move here.

I have always worked with animals in some capacity, and started off by volunteering at my local animal rescue center when I was 15. I hold degrees in Zoo Biology and Animal Health and Welfare and have worked in various zoos and aquariums in the UK and done conservation work around the world. My previous roles range from aquarist, zookeeper and orphan monkey mom (yes!) to marine educator, college lecturer, and even as a researcher at the BBC Natural History Unit working on a David Attenborough series. My key focus is on zoo-based education, conservation and research, which are important, key features every zoo and aquarium should have.

Without sounding blunt, conservation is a people problem. It is the human race who have impacted the survival of many species, and it’s us, as humans, who can fix it. I have always had a desire to do work that is purpose-driven and make a difference. At times it can be very overwhelming because I want to make a huge impact saving species and environments, but how am I going to make this happen alone? But I realised it’s a collective effort, with education at the core.

One of my favourite quotes is: 'We do not need a handful of people being perfectly sustainable; we need millions of people doing it imperfectly'. Atlantis Dubai welcomes millions of guests a year, and we have an amazing opportunity to teach people about marine life and sustainability, and how even the small changes they make in their daily lives can contribute toward a collective impact to help save species and the environment for future generations.

I enjoy so many things about my current role, especially developing programmes, and then seeing our marine animal Colleagues teaching and engaging guests about marine life and conservation actions they can put into practice. It also fills me with pride to see our passionate Colleagues come together as Atlantis Atlas Ambassadors engaged in learning about sustainability and conservation. Of course, I am also very lucky to be able to spend time with our conservation partners in action on the dolphin survey boat and shark and ray tagging boat.”

Doing Work Driven By Purpose