Her father, Alan, served as the director of the Bishop Museum's Division of Vertebrate Zoology,[2] leaving a legacy that included discoveries of native bird species and a book on Hawaii's natural history.
Additionally, her father would occasionally store animal specimens in the family freezer, which were clearly labeled as unsuitable for consumption.
[2] Marjorie joined expeditions with her father in the Sierras, which lead to a conservation ethic that later became evident in her advocacy for Hawaii's native flora and fauna.
[1] She then spent 14 years as a resource analyst with the environmental nonprofit Earthjustice, previously known as the Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund.
[1] As executive director of the Conservation Council for Hawaii for the next 15 years, Ziegler developed the Poster Partner program to bring environmental issues to the youth of Hawai'i[4] and on efforts to protect the palila[5] and endangered honeycreeper on Mauna Kea.