I knew I was interested in wildlife education from a young age but discovered my love of birds and training when I connected with the University of Guelph Wild Bird Clinic in 2006. I was absolutely hooked – Socrates the Turkey Vulture was my first true love – and somewhere along the way, realized that setting student volunteers up to succeed in husbandry, training and science communication felt like my calling.
Our team rebranded to become Wild Ontario and have since constructed a new facility, greatly expanded our outreach program and created a unique volunteer training experience with alumni working at facilities all over the world. I still get to work with the birds and deliver outreach programs from time to time, but these days you’ll often find me overseeing operations and continuing to develop our people training program.
I have been inspired by and learning from the incredible folks at IAATE since I attended my first conference in 2012 and was deeply honoured to be recognized in 2026 with an IAATE Service Award for stewarding future generations of avian trainers!
My son, husband, our two dogs and I live in southern Ontario where we spend as much time playing and learning outside as we can. We love hiking, paddling, camping and nerding out over the wildlife that we share our province with (especially the birds!).