Spotlight: My Anonymous Neighbor

 My neighbor prefers to remain anonymous, which is a bummer since she is so supportive of me, the animals at the Museum and the community as a whole. Probably about once each week I open my front door and there is a bag of goodies waiting. Most recently, I’ve been finding 2-4 watermelons on my doorstep. Donna’s (whoops, now you know her name) first donation was a delivery of 10 watermelons loaded directly on the back of my truck! WatermelonsRead more

Spotlight: Jessica Culbertson

Happy 6-month anniversary Jessi! She’s  made it through probation and working her first closed holiday. Jessi is the first Keeper at the Museum who went to school to specifically be a zoo keeper. She also interned with us in spring 2011- read about her from way back then, back when she was a tattoo-less student intern (or at least much-less-tattooed). She’s quite, thoughtful, diligent, and quite tough. I think she carries three pocket knives on her belt (I haven’t quite figured that oneRead more

Spotlight: Aaron Dye

Happy Labor Day. It’s somewhat fitting that today is the day you learn about Aaron. He’s such a hard worker and has dedicated his career to working with animals, senior citizens, and students. One could say being a public school science teacher to junior high kids prepared him most for his work at the Museum with the Keepers and animals. 🙂 It’s been just over 1.5 years since Aaron started at the Museum. He came on board when Kristen decidedRead more

Spotlight: Sarah Van de Berg

This is Sarah. She’s been a keeper with us since July 2010. You’re going to learn more about her soon as she will start writing posts, although you can view her amazing writing skills by clicking here. Sarah is a Northerner and moved down here from Connecticut to work at the Museum. Her bachelor’s degree is from the University of Rhode Island in Wildlife Conservation Biology. She worked at science museums and sanctuaries in New England, taking care of manyRead more

Spotlight: Kimberly Lawson

 Happy 1.5 year anniversary to Kimberly being a keeper at the Museum! For regular blog readers, you’ve already got to know Kimberly quite well by reading her posts. She’s passionate about lemurs, animal training, and the natural world. She has a lot of cats at home. She works hard and loves being an animal keeper. Even through some rather difficult health issues in the recent past, she’s still pretty positive and cheery. What you might not know about Kimberly is thatRead more

Spotlight: Julie Grimes, Behavior Consultant

 Meet Dr. Julie Grimes. Julie has a PhD in Behavior and did her thesis work on the principles of animal training. She’s been a Behavior Management Consultant for many years working in the “zoo” world as well as with private individuals and their pets. She is also a faculty member in the Psychology department at Davidson County Community College. We’ve been working with Julie for almost three years. She helped us get our operant conditioning program up and running. At first,Read more