Academic Background
PhD, Integrative Biology, UC Berkeley
BS, Biology, Brown University
I have been fascinated by animal behavior for as long as I can remember. As a child I read Jack London and watched Gorillas in the Mist, and my plan was to live in the wilderness with the animals. However, as I got older I realized that I enjoy human company, too! In graduate school I studied mammalian social behavior and species with unusual characteristics, such as spotted hyenas and woodrats. However, I found myself enjoying teaching and animal husbandry as much as I enjoyed the intellectual challenge of research. After graduate school, I began working at the San Francisco Zoo because it was a place where I could both teach people and work with animals. I worked in the Children’s Zoo and in the carnivore section, and I also helped plan enrichment and training across the zoo. Unity’s unique Captive Wildlife Care and Education program has brought me back to academia, where I enjoy caring for students and sharing my enthusiasm with them.
When not working, I enjoy training my dog, playing board games, shoveling snow, listening to electronic music, and starting various artistic projects. Occasionally, I even finish those projects.
