On Saturday, June 7, Millbrook School will hold a ceremony to rededicate the Trevor Zoo, which is currently home to more than 170 exotic and indigenous animals and nine endangered species, renaming it the Trevor-Lovejoy Zoo. The name change honors late Millbrook School alumnus Dr. Thomas E. Lovejoy III ’59, who studied under the zoo’s original namesake, Frank Trevor, and went on to become one of the world’s foremost conservation biologists.

 

The Trevor-Lovejoy Zoo is an integral part of Millbrook's academic and community service programs. As the only AZA-accredited zoo in the U.S. on a high school campus, the zoo offers students the unique opportunity to study animal science and participate in critical environmental conservation work. Students work alongside staff and visiting scientists to care for some of the most endangered species in the world, such as seven of the roughly 300 American Red Wolves remaining on the planet. Renaming the zoo to honor one of Millbrook’s most impactful teacher-student relationships is a nod to the organization’s legacy of preparing young people for lives of meaning and consequence through stewardship of the natural world.

 

 Dr. Lovejoy, who passed away in December 2021 at the age of 80, was not interested in biology when he came to Millbrook. In fact, he viewed Millbrook’s biology requirement as a perfunctory inconvenience that he planned to get out of the way in his first year. However, when he entered the classroom and zoo to study biology with Trevor, the experience ignited a lifelong passion for environmental science. 

 

After completing a bachelor’s degree in biology and a PhD on the ecology of Amazon forest birds at Yale, he worked with an array of leading environmental organizations, including the World Wildlife Fund, the United Nations Foundation, the Smithsonian Institute, and the National Geographic Society. Instrumental in spearheading efforts to preserve the Amazon rainforest, Dr. Lovejoy coined the term “biodiversity” and earned the moniker “planet doctor.” He taught the next generation of conservation biologists as a professor at George Mason University and also influenced environmental policy, working with every U.S. presidential administration during his professional life.

 

Lovejoy, who also worked at the zoo to fulfill his community service requirement, carried Millbrook’s commitment to sustainability as a core value with him throughout his career. “…Understanding that learning about sustainability comes through doing it as a community and as an institution puts Millbrook in a very special position,” Dr. Lovejoy said during a 2007 talk at Millbrook School. “Nature, in the end, is part of our community and the community we serve.”

 

Trevor joined Millbrook School in 1936 as its first biology teacher, bringing with him an assortment of wildlife. Students contributed more animals to the collection, including a pair of armadillos from James L. Buckley, who would go on to become a federal appeals court judge and US senator. Initially, Trevor housed his “zoo” in his classroom and faculty residence. When that arrangement became untenable, he moved the animals to the east end of campus, where the Trevor-Lovejoy Zoo now flourishes.

 

Trevor was known for his charismatic teaching style. According to Lovejoy and other Millbrook alumni, he used the zoo and the school’s 800-acre campus—an ecologically diverse outdoor classroom with forests, hills, and wetlands—to bring biology to life.

 

The Trevor-Lovejoy Zoo is one of only 238 zoos and aquariums in the world accredited by the Association of Zoos & Aquariums (AZA). Covering six acres, the zoo is home to exotic and indigenous animals, including mammals, reptiles, and birds. Open 365 days a year, every day provides opportunity to fulfill our mission of inspiring all to live responsibly by educating students and visitors about conservation, wildlife, and the natural world.

 

Nearly 100 Millbrook School students help care for the animals daily, assisting with feeding, cleaning, and veterinary procedures, through Millbrook’s unique community service program that is woven into the academic day. In addition, students complete hands-on science research projects focused on animals and conservation biology in classes that take full advantage of Millbrook’s Trevor-Lovejoy Zoo: Animal Behavior, Primate Evolution, and Independent Science Research. 

 

The zoo is also a public entity, welcoming 40,000 visitors annually. Local community members love bringing their children to see the animals, and the zoo also hosts group tours and birthday parties, offering seasonal keeper talks and interactive experiences with some of the animals.

 

Founded in 1931, Millbrook School is a coed college preparatory boarding school in the Mid-Hudson Valley. Located just 90 miles from New York City, the school offers its students access to a wealth of cultural, academic, and athletic resources. Enrollment is capped at around 330 students, resulting in a 4:1 student-to-teacher ratio that empowers world-class faculty to focus on living out the school’s mission statement:

 

“In a community where every student is known and needed, Millbrook prepares its students for college and lives of meaning and consequence by instilling the values of respect, integrity, service, stewardship, and curiosity.”