T.J. Tippit, Visitor Services Manager and Volunteer Coordinator
T.J. does an excellent job of leading the Museum’s volunteer, gift shop, and front-line teams - a position that aligns perfectly with his career goal of ensuring guests have a great time while they learn about the natural world!
Read on to get to know T.J. better.
HOW LONG HAVE YOU WORKED FOR THE MUSEUM?
A little over a year now.
WHAT’S YOUR WORKDAY LIKE?
It’s always different. My morning generally starts with answering emails, processing volunteer applications, and doing a walkthrough of the Museum.
I try to make sure everything looks neat and welcoming to our guests in the front lobby. I restock our magazines and rack cards and I refill our hand sanitizer stations.
And, that’s probably where the consistency ends - after that (depending on the day), I could be filling out purchase orders, attending meetings, interviewing volunteers, helping set up for virtual or small events, or any number of other tasks.
I play two major roles here at the Museum, so even if I’m having a quiet day with one, I’m usually busy with the other.
ANY FUNNY WORK STORIES?
Definitely. Everyone at the Museum is friendly and we all get along pretty well, so there’s plenty of banter and the occasional practical joke between us.
A few months back, one of my coworkers called my office phone pretending to be a guest with questions about the Museum. I definitely get some unusual phone calls, so I treat everything seriously, no matter how silly the questions may seem.
I probably spoke with him for 20 minutes before I realized something was up. It was only after he asked about the “two-headed kangaroo” that I knew I was being pranked!
TELL US A BIT ABOUT YOUR BACKGROUND
I grew up in Baton Rouge, LA and moved to Jackson, MS to attend Millsaps College, where I got a B.A. in Psychology and Political Science. After college, I moved around a bit - first to Philadelphia, PA, then to Minneapolis, MN, and finally back here to Jackson - all the while working various service and management jobs.
In my free time, I’m a huge movie buff. My parents owned a Ma & Pa video rental place when I was a kid, so I grew up watching everything under the sun. There are still plenty of classics I haven’t seen, though. It was only last weekend that I saw “The Shining!”.
WHY DID YOU CHOOSE THIS CAREER?
T.J. (second row, second from left) with Museum staff at the 2019 Snow Much Fun event.
For me, it’s really important to feel like my job has an impact on someone else’s experience.
Service has been the common denominator for all my jobs: whether it was supervising the staff at a sushi restaurant or checking people into a famous hotel, it’s always been important to me to feel like I was helping someone to have a good time.
Here at the Museum, we promote an important cause - the preservation of our beautiful Mississippi wildlife - but we also make sure guests have a great time while they learn about the natural world. That’s all I’ve ever wanted out of a career.
HOW DOES YOUR JOB CONTRIBUTE TO CONSERVATION?
Museum Founder, Fannye Cook
I like to think that we’re inspiring the next generation of conservation biologists: once upon a time, every wildlife researcher was a wide-eyed child at a science museum gawking at the natural beauty of the world.
Ms. Fannye Cook, the Museum’s founder, created this place with the mission of preserving Mississippi’s biodiversity. A lot of folks don’t know this, but some 60% of our facility is dedicated to research about Mississippi’s wildlife.
The exhibits area of the Museum is just one piece of a larger operation dedicated to wildlife conservation in our state. When you visit MDWFP’s Mississippi Museum of Natural Science, you’re directly contributing to the cause of wildlife conservation research in the state of Mississippi.
ANY ADVICE FOR A STUDENT INTERESTED IN A BIOLOGY OR MUSEUM CAREER?
Yes, click here to e-mail me!
When I started here at the Museum, I found a number of my old Millsaps classmates in our volunteer records - specifically, the ones who went on to become marine biologists or conservation researchers.
No matter what you study in school, there’s no substitute for real-world experience - and you can start accruing that experience RIGHT NOW by volunteering at the Museum!
We offer opportunities to work with paleontologists, marine biologists, conservation biologists, wildlife educators, and more. When entering the job market, you’ll be glad you set yourself apart from the pack with your volunteer experience.
