Category: Speakers

Professional Bird Keeper; Apprentice, Phoenix Wildlife Center

Lindsay Jacks has dedicated her career to birds- she earned a B.S. in Animal Behavior at Towson University and has been a professional bird keeper for 9 years. She has worked at the Bird House of Smithsonian’s National Zoo, the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore, and currently is the Senior Aviculturist at the National Aquarium’s Australia Exhibit caring for birds and bats. Lindsay is also the Director of Lights Out Baltimore (LOB), a non-profit of the Baltimore Bird Club that strives to make Baltimore safe for migratory birds. LOB walks a 5 mile loop downtown during migration season every year to rescue injured birds and collect the dead ones that have fallen victim to light pollution and glass collisions. She has worked with Frogmouths to critically endangered Blue-billed Curassows to Grey headed Flying Foxes (her favorite). Lindsay is an apprentice at Phoenix Wildlife Center to become a Maryland licensed wildlife rehabilitator. She enjoys caring for the injured birds she finds on her LOB walks and releasing them back to the wild.

 

Immersion Programs Specialist, The National Aquarium

Shawn is an Immersion Programs Specialist at the National Aquarium. As a Specialist, Shawn is responsible for leading, supervising, and creating tours and programs Guests can participate in while visiting the Aquarium. Tour topics range from learning about Sharks to working hands-on with the Aquarium’s Dolphins. Shawn graduated from Towson University with his Masters of Arts in Education. Prior to working at the Aquarium, Shawn got his start in informal environmental education while living in Orlando, Florida. There, he delivered tours on marine mammals and conservation at SeaWorld. He also dreamed up new premium animal experiences at Walt Disney World, with a focus on African megafauna. Most recently, Shawn had a chance to travel to South Africa to participate in a once in a lifetime opportunity to get hands-on with the conservation efforts of a world-renowned game reserve.

 

Curator, Primates

A native of DC, Dr. Meredith Bastian is the Curator of Primates at the National Zoo, where she supervises the Primate Unit, oversees the unit’s primate research, and manages animal collections including several Old World primate species, including a variety of apes, monkeys, and lemurs at the Great Ape House, Think Tank, Gibbon Ridge, and Lemur Island. She serves on the Ape Taxon Advisory Group, Orangutan and Gibbon/Siamang Species Survival Plan management teams, and is on the scientific advisory boards of the Orangutan Land Trust and PONGO Foundation of the Netherlands. Before working at the National Zoo, Meredith was the Curator of Primates and Small Mammals at the Philadelphia Zoo. Before this, Meredith spent over seven years conducting field research on the behavior, diet, ecology, genetics, and reproduction of wild orangutans in Central and Western Indonesian Borneo. Before establishing and directing her own wild orangutan field site and managing two others, Meredith studied wild white-handed gibbons in Khao Yai National Park, Thailand, Coquerel’s sifaka at the Duke Lemur Center, and rhesus macaques at the National Institutes of Health Animal Center. Meredith has a B.A. in Anthropology and Psychology from Bryn Mawr College and a Ph.D in Biological Anthropology & Anatomy from Duke University.

 

Keeper, Reptile Discovery Center

Lauren Augustine is a herpetology keeper at the Smithsonian National Zoological Park in the Reptile Discovery Center and a Masters student at George Mason University. Her passion for reptiles and amphibians led her to University of North Carolina Asheville where she received her undergraduate degree in ecology and environmental biology. In 2006 she accepted a position with the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore working with Panamanian golden frogs, Atelopus zeteki, on Project Golden Frog and in 2008 she accepted a job in the herpetology department at the Bronx Zoo. At this time Lauren began pursuing her Masters degree and in 2011 she accepted a position with the Smithsonian National Zoological Park and began her Masters degree at George Mason University.

Her research interests include reptile cognition, reptile and amphibian nutrition, and population management. Some of her research projects include analyzing mitochondrial DNA of three closely related Asian box turtle species to inferred relatedness, examining eastern hellbender, Cryptobranchus alleganiensis, larvae nutritional parameters and studying the effects of macro and micro nutrients on the prevalence of spindly leg syndrome in golden mantilla, Mantella aurantiaca. She is currently working on her Masters research studying oocyte bound sperm in Cuban crocodile, Crocodylus rhombifer, eggs. This technique has never been use with crocodilians before and will contribute valuable insight into crocodilian captive management.

 

Assistant Curator, Animal Wellness and Research

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.

Before moving to the UK, Betsy started her zoo career in the USA. 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.

 

Assistant Curator, Great Cats

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.

Animal Keeper, Amazonia

Denny has been employed as an animal keeper at the Smithsonian National Zoo for over eight years and currently works with fish and amphibians in the Amazonia exhibit.  He has specialized in the field of exotic animal husbandry for a total of 20 years and his experiences range from training chickens to caring for the critically endangered Sumatran rhinoceros.  Denny has managed the Greater Kudu Species Survival Plan (SSP) and studbook program for six years and is an active member of both the Association of Zoos and Aquariums and American Association of Zookeepers.