— MY BACKGROUND

My journey into wildlife and reptile keeping started young. I was told it seemed as though it was my destiny to work with animal. Before I can remember, I was obsessed with the wild world. One of my fondest pets as a child was the leopard gecko that was part of the family when I was born.

My official journey started in 2010 when I began working at Repxotica and was lucky enough to mentor under an amazing reptile breeder and get hands on with hundreds of different species and even breed some that are very rarely bred.

I was also lucky enough to experience the proper way to keep reptiles when so many see it from an industrious point of view. Our way was to keep a handful of breeding pairs with exceptional welfare.

Since then, I’ve kept this mentality and have been focusing heavily on enrichment. With extensive research I’ve decided to decrease the size of my collection to focus more on enrichment, habitat design, and experiment with training.

For now, I’m working on building habitats while teaching guests about wildlife, conservation and sustainability at Disney’s Animal Kingdom.

— SKILLS

Ability to deliver informative information regarding animals and conservation.
Positive reinforcement training.
Wildlife care.
Wildlife behavior.
Wildlife restraint techniques.
Transferring and handling wildlife.
Record keeping

— OTHER NOTABLE EXPERIENCE

Reptile presenter for children’s parties and day camps.
Photographic lighting teaching assistant at Stony Brook University.
Wedding photographer with Silverfox Photography and Jo-Art Photographers.

— WORK EXPERIENCE

Animal Education
Disney’s Animals, Science & Environment // June 2021 – Present

Interpret exotic animals and exciting adventure stories to guests to drive the importance of conservation and the role of zoos.

Work closely with animal keepers and security to ensure guest and animal safety along with animal welfare.

Continuing research on natural history, behavior and training methods of many animals.

Continuing research on environmental sustainability and ways guests can make positive impacts from home.

Production Manager
Jo-Art Photographers // October 2017 – June 2021

Photographed various types of high volume photography.

Worked under pressure photographing students ranging from preschools to college seniors.

Designed price lists and a magnitude of products

Communicated with clients and suppliers.

Manager
Repxotica // October 2012 – October 2017

Responsible for maintaining high care standards on many exotic species including reptiles, amphibians, invertebrates, aquatics and small mammals.

Trained various reptiles and small mammals with positive reinforcement training.

Researched geographical climates and reflected habitats to match animals’ natural environments for both exceptional care and viewer immersion.

Crafted schedules for staff to ensure employee happiness and efficiencey in daily maintenance.

Electrical Helper

Pinti Electric // June 2014 – December 2014

— EDUCATION

Stony Brook University
Stony Brook, NY // August 2018 – May 2021 // B.A. MTD Studies

Suffolk County Community College
Brentwood, NY // September 2015 – May 2017 // A.A.S. Liberal Arts

Breeding Projects

100% multiple successful hatches/litters | 75% multiple fertile clutches unhatched | 50% animals still growing | 25% searching for mate | 10% planning phase

Group Projects

Individual Projects

Ongoing Projects

“People must feel that the natural world is important and valuable and beautiful and wonderful and an amazement and a pleasure.”

– David Attenborough