Author: Allison Dodson

Following graduation from Cornell University’s College of Veterinary Medicine, Dr. Jessica Siegal-Willott completed two internships – one in small animal medicine at Oradell Animal Hospital, and one in zoo, wildlife, and exotic animal medicine at Kansas State University. She then completed the University of Florida’s Zoological Medicine Residency. Dr. Jess became boarded by the American College of Zoological Medicine in 2007. Jess is currently employed as the supervisory veterinarian at Smithsonian Institution’s National Zoological Park in Washington, DC.

Dr. Betsy Herrelko is the Assistant Curator, Animal Wellness and Research at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo. As a behavioral scientist, Betsy’s interests focus on the pursuit of advancing animal welfare science with an emphasis on animal management and how animals think. She started her tenure at NZP as the David Bohnett Cognitive Research Fellow studying primate cognition (cognitive bias, a measure of emotional affect) in zoo-housed apes and husbandry and welfare topics with various species around the zoo. Prior to the National Zoo, Betsy was an Honorary Research Associate at the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS) and a PhD Student at the University of Stirling (Scotland), she studied the lives of the chimpanzees at RZSS’ Edinburgh Zoo. Her research explored four topics while assessing the development of a cognitive research program and large-scale introductions in zoo-housed chimpanzees: welfare, cognition, public engagement with science, and animal management. The project’s use of touchscreen technology and on-exhibit research was the first of its kind for the UK and was the focus of the BBC Natural World documentary, The Chimpcam Project (2010). Her work on introductions has been highlighted in the BBC documentary Origins of Us (2011) and she has contributed to the Discovery Channel’s World’s Scariest Animal Attacks (2012) film as a primate expert presenting a behavioral point of view. During her undergraduate years she volunteered within the education department at the Bronx Zoo (New York), earned her Master’s degree in animal behavior and conservation from Hunter College, CUNY (New York), and worked at the Gorilla Foundation (California) in animal management, research, and facility operations.

Nikki Maticic started as a keeper at the National Zoo’s Quarantine Department in 2015, before transferring to the Lion/Tiger, Andean Bear, and Kids’ Farm Unit in early 2016. She has a bachelor’s degree in Biology from the University of Mary Washington. She studied abroad in South Africa and the Galapagos while in undergrad. Between summers in college, she worked as an animal keeper and outreach program keeper at a small animal park, and worked for several months in wildlife rehabilitation at the Wildlife Center of Virginia after graduating. She works each day alongside other keepers in her unit to take care of the animals by preparing food, cleaning enclosures, providing enrichment and training, and much more!

Leigh Pitsko is the Assistant Curator for Great Cats, Andean bears, and the Kids’ Farm. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Wildlife Science and her Master’s degree in Geography at Virginia Tech. She started her zoo career at the Brevard Zoo and has been at the National Zoo for ten years.

Dr. Lindsey Shields is a board-certified preventive medicine veterinarian with more than 7 years’ experience in veterinary public health, international outbreak response, and emerging infectious diseases.  Currently serving as the Director of Training for the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute Global Health Program, Dr. Shields manages a wide range of capacity building programs both domestically and internationally and supports the Global Health Program’s work in emerging infectious disease research.  Dr. Shields is especially passionate about understanding the dynamics between human and wildlife conflict, and how that can lead to disease spillover and emergence.