Bio:
Sometimes, when I’m covered with fish scales, exhausted from shoveling snow and surrounded by hundreds of penguins, I have to stop and ask myself just how in the world I was lucky enough to end up here. It certainly has been a winding road - I grew up in Missouri, but have lived in many states since college, including Pennsylvania, Florida and now Texas. What inspired all those moves was my desire to advance my career working with birds. I started in college at a pet store, and from there have been a bird trainer at Busch Gardens Tampa, a biologist at the Florida Aquarium, a trainer at the National Aviary in Pittsburgh, and now, a senior aviculturist here at SeaWorld of Texas. Over the years I have had to opportunity to work with an amazing array of birds – everything from bald eagles, king vultures, pileated woodpeckers, blue-throated macaws, golden-breasted starlings and countless others.
Here at SeaWorld I currently care for over 250 penguins, puffins and murres. It is certainly a lot of hard work, but these amazing sea birds never fail to make me laugh, and hugging a king penguin is one of the best ways to brighten up a bad day. Having worked primarily with flighted birds in the past, I never lose appreciation for the fact that I can just walk into the Penguin habitat and easily touch or pick up any of the birds. While it may be chilly where I work, and smells a little “fishy,” I wouldn’t trade taking care of penguins for anything!
Philosophy:
An avid reader, I appreciate good writing, and hope that my blog posts reflect that! I am delighted to be a member of the blog team, and my goal as a blogger is to give people a glimpse into the “bird world” here at SeaWorld. Our birds, and the amazing team of people that care for them, easily provide me with an abundance of subject matter. All I have to do is hose off my green rubber overalls, take off my gloves, and start typing!
