Zoo fellowship honours IrwinStefanie Balogh IN NEW YORK
January 31, 2007 11:00pm

THE hunt is on for the next generation of Steve Irwin-style conservationists with the launch of a joint US and Australian fellowship in the Crocodile Hunter's name.
The John G. Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, with the help of some leading Australian businesses, has launched the Steve Irwin Fellowship as a way of honouring his legacy.
"What he did, his legacy is just too important to stop now," the aquarium's spokesman Roger Germann said.
The annual fellowship will give a Chicago-based high school student the chance to work at Sydney's Taronga Zoo and Irwin's Australia Zoo on the Sunshine Coast for two weeks.

The fellowship will build on the mentor program already in place at the Shedd Aquarium.

"Steve was just like what we are. He was out there in conservation, education. He's trying to do good for the environment," Mr Germann said. "Steve was an amazing, amazing ambassador for the zoo and aquarium world."

It is a joint initiative of the Sydney-based banking firm Macquarie Group's philanthropic arm the Macquarie Foundation, Qantas Airways, the Shedd Aquarium and the Australian Consulate-General in Chicago.