February 7, 2021

• Dr. Sara Kingsbury: Dr. Kingsbury is a mixed animal veterinarian in York, PA. While the majority of her days are spent with dog and cat companion animals, she has also done significant work with horses, sheep, goats, and other farm animals. Everyday is different in this field, and you never know what type of surprise surgery or medicine case awaits you!
• Aliana Raulerson: Aliana is an Animal Interpreter at the Memphis Zoo. Her job involves caring for a wide variety of ambassador animals, designing entertaining and educational programs for zoo guests, and doing special projects like appearing in videos for PBS! A former Brandywine Zoo apprentice, she has interned/worked at three different AZA-accredited zoos and has a background in Marine Biology and Animal Behavior.
• Elizabeth Ostrowski: Coming from a background in Ecology and Natural Resources with a certificate in Environmental Geomatics, Elizabeth is the GIS and Data Specialist for the Delaware Center for Horticulture. Her projects have taken her around the world working with all sorts of different critters, from bats to lizards to bobcats and more. While her professional life tends to focus on the mapping side of conservation, Elizabeth has a passion for wildlife and prioritizes centering GIS to broaden the understanding of population ecology and species behavior spatially.

 March 7, 2021

• Nicole D’Avignon: Nicole is the Co-Director of BeWild, Inc., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit reptile rescue and educational organization in North Carolina. BeWild has taken in more than 175 animals since its inception and works to find caring, experienced homes for the rescued animals. The rescue works closely with specialized exotics veterinarians, as many of the animals must be treated for severe medical issues.
• Katie Fowler: Katie is a PhD student studying how human-lion conflict affects the stress and reproduction of lions in Tanzania. She spent 10 years working in several zoos in various roles, such as intern, volunteer, keeper, and endocrinology lab manager. Katie’s research is now focused on management of threatened species in the wild.
• Daisy Fiore: Daisy is the Assistant Curator of Education at the Brandywine Zoo. She has worked in animal care or zoo education for the last 9 years as a volunteer, nutrition assistant, researcher, keeper, and educator. She is also a PhD student studying how diseases passed from wildlife to cattle affect Maasai livelihoods in Kenya.

April 11, 2021

• Ruth Desiderio: Ruth is the Outreach and Volunteer Coordinator for the Penn Vet Working Dog Center, where, at any given time 25-30 dogs are on site pursuing careers in search and rescue, law enforcement, and medical and environmental research. Ruth recruits and manages the many volunteers and interns who support the training of these amazing dogs, who will graduate and go on to save lives
• Quinn Whitesall: Quinn is the Habitat Restoration Coordinator for the American Littoral Society. She works hard to protect and rebuild beaches in the Delaware Bay for horseshoe crabs and migratory shorebirds, builds and conducts biological sampling of intertidal oyster reefs, and connects volunteers to the wonders of the Bayshore. When not out in the field, Quinn supports her team by managing data, compiling reports, and permitting future projects.
• Connor Muse, DVM: Dr. Muse received an undergraduate degree from Towson University and earned a DVM degree from Michigan State University. His special interests include neurology, shelter medicine, and wildlife medicine (birds of prey.)

November 1, 2020

• Meghan Hoopes: Meghan is Brandywine Zoo’s Education Programs Coordinator. She runs the Zoo’s camps, scout programs, and more, making connections between kids and the amazing animals around them to inspire future environmental stewards and conservationists!
• Lynn Klein: Lynn works as the General Curator for the Brandywine Zoo. Animal care, staff supervision and maintaining the grounds are just a few of the things on her daily “to do’ list. Life at the zoo is never dull but often surprising, even after 34 years of zoo work.
• Lindsay Waugh: Lindsay has been in the zoo keeping field since 2013, her first job out of college was at the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore’s commissary, where she gained a love for diet preparation and animal nutrition. She continues that passion here at the Brandywine Zoo by being our commissary coordinator.

December 6, 2020

• Dr. Mason Fidino: Dr. Fidino is one part ecologist, one part statistician, and one part computer programmer. In his role as a quantitative ecologist at the Lincoln Park Zoo he develops new statistical techniques to better understand where species live and why.
• Austin Green: Austin is a Ph.D candidate from the University of Utah. He studies how human influence affects mammal distribution and behavior and runs Wasatch Wildlife Watch, a community science project that leverages the power of the Salt Lake Community and remote sensing camera traps. Austin is passionate about teaching and interacting with people, and he firmly believes that the best way to protect the wild lands we all love is to approach it with the entire local community’s backing.
• Samantha King, DVM: Dr. King is a mobile zoo/exotic animal veterinarian taking care of a variety of species at over 10 different facilities, including here at the Brandywine Zoo. She provides routine wellness care/preventative medicine protocols as well as sick/emergency care services. She has a special interest in zoo animal immobilization and continually strives to create safer anesthetic combinations for the species under her care.

January 3, 2021

• Seth Magle: Seth is the Director of the Urban Wildlife Institute at the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago, and the Executive Director of the Urban Wildlife Information Network.  Seth first became interested in conservation and ecology as a college student while observing black-tailed prairie dogs living in sidewalk median strips; these days Seth’s interests go far beyond prairie dogs to encompass all wildlife species impacted by urbanization and human development to help create a world in which urban ecosystems represent an important component of the worldwide conservation of biodiversity.
• Ted Stankowich, Ph.D: Dr. Stankowich is an Associate Professor and the Director of the Mammal Lab at California State University Long Beach where studies the evolution of antipredator defenses, sexual weapons (e.g., tusks, horns, and antlers), and warning coloration in mammals. He also conducts field work on the behavior of mammals in urban environments, focusing on predator-prey interactions between skunks and coyotes.
• Ashley Gramza: Ashley is a Conservation Social Scientist for the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission who studies how people think and feel about wildlife and how humans and wildlife interact.