Grants from local Rotary Clubs to transform Santa Fe College Teaching Zoo

Press release from the Rotary Clubs of Gainesville Foundation

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The Rotary Clubs of Gainesville Foundation Inc., at its September 10, 2025, Board of Directors meeting, listened with growing excitement to the plans presented by Director of the Santa Fe College Teaching Zoo, Mr. Jonathan Miot, for jump-starting improvements at the zoo. Jonathan outlined the opportunity for the local Rotary clubs to partner with the zoo in a meaningful way to create a new space for learning, engaging, and enriching visitors, both young and old.

This project was introduced to the Board of Directors by two senior members of the Rotary Club of Gainesville as a potential collaboration with the Santa Fe College Teaching Zoo. The idea was initially identified during a site plan review in 2024 at a regular Rotary lunch meeting. After 18 months of discussions and planning between both organizations, the project was officially presented to the Board for consideration of funding through the 2026 Wild Game Feast grant.

Guy Jopling, Feast Master 2026, said, “We are excited to be awarding the Santa Fe College Teaching Zoo a grant to provide more than $300,000, through our Foundation and our 2026 Wild Game Feast, to build an Elevated Treehouse System and Learning Center within the zoo. This introduces a new perspective to the visitor experience – viewing the exhibits from an elevation, providing unique outdoor educational spaces, and creating an immersive multi-level play structure with plenty of self-guided play. This is merely phase one of the reimagining of the zoo; we cannot wait to see this built, and what comes next for the zoo.”

The Santa Fe College Teaching Zoo is the only zoo on a college campus accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. Covering 10 acres, the zoo is home to over 70 different species of animals and is maintained by around 100 students enrolled in the college’s Zoo Animal Technology program. Jonathan Miot, Director of the Santa Fe College Teaching Zoo, said upon hearing the news of the funding and partnership, “This will move our special space much closer towards our goal of becoming a zoological leader in creating active, immersive, and global learning opportunities for all. We are thrilled the Rotary Clubs of Gainesville see our vision and will be part of our journey.”