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The Aquarium of the Pacific is the fourth most-attended aquarium in the country. The Los Angeles-located aquarium displays over 11,000 animals in more than 50 exhibits that represent the diversity of the Pacific Ocean. Recently, a new exhibit opened its doors to the public. ‘Get Lostin Amphibia’ gives the public the opportunity to learn more about the slimy critters that inhabit our swamps, wetlands, trees, caves, and just about any other place with water. Today’s segment of Creatures That Crawl interviews Anne Boonchuy, a herpetologist and curator at the Aquarium.
By Cal Locke
Creatures that Crawl, August 18th, 2029
Thank you for taking the time to conduct this interview, Anne.
Thank you so much for having me! I’m really pumped to boost the new exhibit. We’ve all been working so hard on–
We’ll get there in due time, haha. First, why don’t you introduce yourself?
Oh, yeah, absolutely! So, I’m Anne Boonchuy. I graduated from the University of Southern California, where I studied zoology for my Bachelor’s. I then went on to become a herpetologist employed by the Aquarium of the Pacific. Herpetologists work with amphibians and reptiles, though I specialize in amphibians. Especially frogs!
Your eyes just lit up when you said that. Have you always had such a passion for frogs?
Well, not exactly. It took me some time to get around to them. When I was younger, they kinda grossed me out. But once I got to know them… I mean– once I got to know just how fascinating they were, I was sold.
So at what point did you know you wanted to study zoology?
I don’t think there really was a ‘lightbulb’ kind of moment. I was kinda lost during my first few years of high school – I had lost some people I really cared about, and then one of my best friends moved out of state. I almost had to redo my last year of middle school. I only passed because of ‘extenuating circumstances’. I never let it get me down, but I certainly didn’t have my whole future career planned out.
But one constant in my life was the Aquarium. When I was little and felt a bit down, I’d always go beg my mom to take me to see the jellyfish and the otters. We had one of those membership cards. So, after middle school, when I was feeling down a lot , I started going on my own. And some of the people who worked there noticed me staring into empty space and began talking to me, and I realized I had a lot of questions for them. They planted the seed in my mind. Then we had one of those career days with our school counselor, and I just… knew. I felt it in my bones.
What was it like to study this course?
Tough, for sure! But USC really was the right place for me. Hah, ten years ago I couldn’t have imagined those words leaving my lips. But it’s true! A lot of the students were just as excited as me, and I made a lot of great friends. In my second year I applied for an internship at the Aquarium, and they were really happy to have me. It was an amazing learning experience.
But that was not your only internship. You also joined the Conservation Ecology Centre for fieldwork, right?
I did! I was in Taman Negara for three months, a national rainforest park in Malaysia. We stayed in Kuala Tahan, the park headquarters, and would wake up at four o’clock every morning to go herping. Er– ‘herping’ is a term we use, it means searching and researching amphibians and reptiles.
Most of our work was gathering data, studying the behavior patterns of various animals, and general preservation of the rainforest’s habitat. Some of our surveys we did at night!
It was so special. Every morning I would wake up to the song-like screams of white-handed gibbons and the sound of water dripping down big leaves. My hair got super frizzy because of the humidity, and the mosquitos absolutely had it out for me, but never did I wish to be anywhere else. That huge forest, with more life than any city in California combined, was like home.
I did miss my friends and family, of course. Called them almost every other day! My parents were super supportive, if a little worried I was gonna kiss a poison dart frog because I couldn’t stop myself.
And, did you?
No! I’m not that stupid. Also, there are no poison dart frogs in Malaysia. …I did get bit by a snake though, once. Malaysian pit viper. Nasty guy. But that’s part of the job!
What was that like?
Oh, very very painful. And intense! I started bleeding from every hole in my face and totally freaked out. When I passed out it was more from fear than actual pain. I had to be rushed back to Kuala Tahan. The medic there was not exactly happy with me. I got bit in my calf, right… here…
Reporter’s note: Anne takes a moment to put her foot on the table and shows off two faint puncture marks just above her ankle.
Yeah, my leg swelled up, wasn’t pretty. It felt like someone was holding a match against my skin. My coworkers told me I was out of my mind, sobbing, pleading with the medic not to amputate it, though I don’t really remember that part, haha. I was a bit high on painkillers. All turned out well in the end!
Do you still work with venomous species?
You betcha! Not with snakes anymore – reptiles are nasty and do not mess around. The plan was always to stick with amphibians, and I’m happy to surround myself with those little guys. Doesn’t mean they’re not dangerous, though! The more colorful the frog, the more careful you gotta be when handling them.
What’s an average day at your job like?
Well, we start our days before the aquarium opens, making sure the humidifiers and filtration systems of our aquariums are running properly, and that the exhibits are clean. For the rest it kind of depends, you know. Usually we just feed the animals during fixed times each day, and keep kids from opening the terrariums so they can touch the frogs. Sometimes we give tours, usually for school field trips. I love doing that. There’s nothing like seeing the eyes of a kid widen in awe when I show them Terrance, our biggest goliath bullfrog. He’s almost twelve inches from snout to vent, and weighs seven pounds! They always want to lift him, but he’s a shy buff guy.
It sounds like you’ve got a very personal connection with the animals you care for.
Oh, absolutely. I gave every single one of them a name, and I’ve gotten good at recognizing them. Only ones that give me trouble are the pollywogs – they’re just too identical. Maybe when they’re older!
Speaking of your amphibians, two weeks ago, the Aquarium opened its brand new exhibit, ‘Get Lost in Amphibia’. Despite your young age, you were the one who arranged most of this exhibit. What was that like?
A big responsibility. When the news got in that we had received funding to host a new exhibit, me and my coworkers were brimming with excitement. It almost went to another shark expo, but we’ve had four of those in the past two decades. I thought it’d be pretty cool if we could show the kids just how awesome amphibians could be. So I had to do a lot of lobbying, which was kinda a new experience, but my older and more experienced colleagues had my back. When the board decided the money would go to our department, we were ecstatic. And then the real work began!
There are already multiple raving reviews praising the exhibit’s eccentric design. What inspired you to create a whole new, froglike world in that wing of the building?
Well, I… I didn’t do it all on my own. A friend helped me sketch out my wild ideas – her online handle is Marbles’ Drabbles, go check out her webcomic ‘The Last of the Loreleis’! Don’t know if there’s a lot of overlap between reptile magazine readers and fantasy enthusiasts, but her comic is the absolute bomb! Ehhh, what was I… Oh yeah! Without Marbles, I never would have been able to bring this vision to life.
As for what inspired me… Heh. I used to… I used to know some cooky people. They lived life exactly as they wanted it to be, and proved infuriatingly stubborn when I suggested they’d do something a little different. At first that made me just want to push harder, but eventually I cracked and began seeing the beauty of their ways. ‘Get Lost in Amphibia’ is a tribute to them. I tried to make it into something they would love.
I’m sure they do.
Yeah. Yeah, me too.
What do you hope people will get out of the exhibit?
A sense of wonder, and an appreciation for a natural beauty that sometimes gets forgotten. Frogs and toads and newts… sometimes we see a flash of them and don’t give them a second thought. But they’ve made this world their own, same as us, and they’ve adapted to it in incredible ways. If just one person leaves Amphibia with a wish to discover more of the hidden wonders we sometimes tend to ignore, I’ve done my job.
If you could give one piece of advice to the younger generation of herpetologists, what would it be?
If you love frogs… or amphibians, or reptilians – or really, whatever – and you want to keep them with you always… it’s not always gonna be easy. You’re gonna do things you never thought you’d do. Wade through mud, climb in trees as tall as buildings, swim in dark, murky water during midnight, stuff like that. But don’t let it hold you back. Jump into the unknown. Hop into it.
I promise you. What you’ll find on the other side is something you'll never, ever forget.