Experience

Jackson Zoo
• United States
• Museums, Historical Sites, and Zoos
• 1 - 100 Employee
• Zookeeper

  • May 2023 - Present


ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND COMMUNITY SPOUSE CLUB

• United States
• Spectator Sports

• Treasurer

  • Jul 2020 - May 2023

  Member of Executive Board & Governing Board for APGCSC

• Historian

  • Aug 2019 - May 2023

  Member of Governing Board for APGCSCDocumenting & taking pictures of various APGCSC eventsProviding photographs for use in APGCSC publicationsUse of Google Drive & photo editing softwareUse of Shutterfly for organizing photos and compiling them into a photobook.



Shadow Cats TNR

• Volunteer

  • Feb 2019 - Nov 2019

  Caring for cats and kittens that are up for adoption in Harford County. Volunteering twice a month to clean enclosures for the animals housed at Pet Valu in Abingdon. Monitoring health and diet consumption. Providing companionship and enrichment opportunities. Caring for cats and kittens that are up for adoption in Harford County. Volunteering twice a month to clean enclosures for the animals housed at Pet Valu in Abingdon. Monitoring health and diet consumption. Providing companionship and enrichment opportunities.



SeaWorld San Diego

• United States
• Entertainment Providers
• 400 - 500 Employee

• Seasonal Aviculturist

  • May 2017 - Oct 2017

  Cared for a collection of Caribbean flamingos at Aquatica, SeaWorld San Diego's Waterpark and for a collection of mixed species freshwater turtles Responsible for basic husbandry, including restocking large sacks of flamingo pellet and boxes of frozen krill Responsible for basic housekeeping duties, including minor landscaping in the off-exhibit areas Medical duties (including removal of a bee stinger from a flamingo's foot) Data entry - entering daily notes into spreadsheet Worked primarily with no supervision (check ins with supervisors at main SeaWorld park via email/text/phone) as was only zoological staff member on grounds daily Performed educational interactions for the park guests with the flamingos Show less

• Seasonal Aviculturist

  • May 2016 - Oct 2016

  Cared for a collection of Caribbean flamingos at Aquatica, SeaWorld San Diego's Waterpark and for a collection of mixed species freshwater turtles Responsible for basic husbandry, including restocking large sacks of flamingo pellet and boxes of frozen krill Responsible for basic housekeeping duties, including minor landscaping in the off-exhibit areas Medical duties (including removal of a broken blood feather) Data entry - entering daily notes into spreadsheet Worked primarily with no supervision (check ins with supervisors at main SeaWorld park via email/text/phone) as was only zoological staff member on grounds daily Performed educational interactions for the park guests with the flamingos Received letter of appreciation from a guest and was recognized at an employee event for creating a great guest experience. Show less



Fort Bliss Officer & Civilian Spouse Association (OCSA)

• Historian

  • Aug 2014 - May 2016

  Member of Governing Board for OCSA Documenting & taking pictures of various OCSA events Providing photographs for use in OCSA publications Use of DropBox & photo editing software Member of Governing Board for OCSA Documenting & taking pictures of various OCSA events Providing photographs for use in OCSA publications Use of DropBox & photo editing software



El Paso Zoo

• United States
• Museums, Historical Sites, and Zoos
• 1 - 100 Employee

• Temporary Zoo Keeper

  • Feb 2016 - Apr 2016

  Temporary keeper position due to reliability as a volunteer and short staffing in area. Worked with the Area 3 (Asia) staff with the Asia aviary, nocturnal, Amur leopard, Malayan tiger, & sun ear sections.Responsible for basic husbandryResponsible for basic housekeeping duties

• Volunteer

  • Jan 2012 - Feb 2016

  Performed research to update the Institutional Collection Plan and other documents in preparation for an upcoming AZA inspection at the direction of the General Curator (including some research on ZIMS)Filed and organized the documents in the main office; concentrating in the General Curator’s & Registrar’s officesOrganized and tallied material requests throughout the fiscal year to help monitor yearly budget spending at the direction of the General CuratorWorked closely with the staff in caring for the Area 1 collection at the El Paso Zoo (Asian elephants, Przewalski’s horses, hooded cranes, Malaysian tapir, various waterfowl)Worked closely with the Area 3 staff in caring for their collection animals (Asia aviary, select nocturnal animals, Amur leopards, sun bear, Malayan tigers, orangutans)Scanned and archived old zoo pictures & videos for the education curatorCompleted with various tasks for the volunteer coordinator including totaling volunteer hours each month and tallying number of volunteer hours per department each monthWorked with staff from various areas by doing animal observations, notating behavior during male/female introductions, new exhibit animal introductions, etcTranscribed the recordings of various emergency drills to meet AZA requirements for the staff safety officerNamed Volunteer of the Year in 2015Served as Secretary for the El Paso Del Norte American Association of ZooKeepers chapter (2015-2016), assisted in planning & fundraising for the chapter's Bowling for Rhinos event (Winos for Rhinos) in 2015 Show less



Riverbanks Zoo and Garden

• Volunteer - Bird department

  • Jun 2011 - Oct 2011

  Assisted in caring for the bird collection at the Riverbanks Zoo (including 3 species of penguin) Basic husbandry (exhibit cleaning, diet preparation, etc) of penguins, Major Mitchell's cockatoos, & kookaburras Assisted in caring for the bird collection at the Riverbanks Zoo (including 3 species of penguin) Basic husbandry (exhibit cleaning, diet preparation, etc) of penguins, Major Mitchell's cockatoos, & kookaburras



Sylvan Heights Waterfowl Park

• United States
• Non-profit Organizations
• 1 - 100 Employee

• Avian Husbandry Intern

  • Jun 2011 - Jun 2011

  2 week internship specializing in waterfowl husbandry (6/6/11-6/17/2011) Learned basic rearing techniques for young & juvenile waterfowl (feeding, cleaning, waterproofing, etc) Learned how to vent sex & pinion young waterfowl Learned about incubation, candling, & hatching techniques Learned basic capture & restraint techniques for ducks, geese, & swans Learned nest box preparation (construction, placement & materials preferred for different species) Assisted in caring for part of the breeding center collection (feeding, observing, etc) Learned basic species identification on adults & some hatchlings Show less



BREC Baton Rouge Zoo

• United States
• Recreational Facilities

• Zookeeper - Birds

  • Jan 2004 - Dec 2008

  Fed, watered, and maintained all aspects of the bird exhibits (parrots, birds of prey, cranes, ratites, etc) Participated in observing, catching, relocating, and vaccinating the birds Fed, watered, and maintained the education animals (snakes, frogs, tarantulas, millipedes, cockroaches, chinchillas, alligators, turtles, ferrets, owls, skinks, salamanders, lizards) Participated in the hand-raising of five baby king vultures Fed, watered, and maintained two species of tamarin (Cotton Top and Golden Lion), two species of hoof stock (Blue Duiker and Indian Muntjac) and two species of giant tortoise (Galapagos and Aldabra) that were housed in bird exhibits Assisted in veterinary procedures concerning animals cared for by the bird department General upkeep and maintenance of exhibits (i.e. weeding, raking, sprinklers, and painting) Participated in the capture of wild predators (i.e. river otter, raccoons, opossum) on zoo grounds Participated in the Green Team, the Dream Night at the Zoo planning committee, the Clicker Training committee Collaborated with the Veterinary Technician in updating the bird department animal inventory records for accreditation and input all those records into digital format Fed, watered, and maintained animals being temporarily housed after Hurricane Katrina (river otters, Asian small-clawed otters, opossum, flying squirrels, rats, and a skunk) Assisted in moving animals to secure enclosures in preparation for incoming hurricanes Started an operant conditioning regiment with the Golden Lion Tamarins Worked regularly with zoo camp and jr. zookeeper programs Helped found the current Baton Rouge Zoo chapter of the American Association of ZooKeepers. Served as Secretary/Treasurer for the chapter Regularly assisted with unloading the weekly feed truck (50 lb feed bags) and the biannual meat & fish trucks (~3,000 lbs each) at the commissary Show less