Amy Schlitz
Senior Animal Behaviorist
Amy Schilz is a Senior Animal Behaviorist at the Giraffe Center for Conservation & Care.
Bob Chastain
Leadership
Bob Chastain is the President & CEO of Cheyenne Mountain Zoo.
"Four goals drove me and continue to drive me. 1) develop a culture where after a person leaves they would say it was the best place they ever worked. It is worded that way because I realized people don’t always know what they have until it is gone. 2) While at Cheyenne Mountain, they would use their discretionary energy for the mission. 3) In my mind, every animal deserved the best home possible. Because of that we did not stop building new homes for over 20 years straight. We wanted every exhibit and animal to be set up for success. This would have been impossible without a basic understanding of principles like antecedent arrangement, the negative side effects of punishment, reinforcement vs reward, and the now famous bridge and curse. This list grew and grew in complexity and understanding for over 15 years. You too can understand all of these principles with a skilled guide to help you see how animal behavior and people behavior are just behavior.
Steve Martin
Enrichment
Steve Martin is the President & CEO of Natural Encounters Inc.
Megan Sanders
Behavioral Skill Training
Megan Sanders has a Masters Degree in Applied Behavior Science.
Bianca Papadopolous
Animal Training
Bianca has always had a passion for animals, and it was her dream from a young age to become an animal trainer. Bianca started her career in 2005 working with elephants and seals at Melbourne Zoo, Australia. Since then, Bianca has worked with a wide range of different species across all taxa at several facilities in Australia and has spent time volunteering at various marine parks and zoos in the US. In 2011, Bianca returned to Melbourne Zoo working with primates including gorillas, orangutans and gibbons. In 2017 Bianca was appointed as the inaugural Animal Training Coordinator at the zoo, where she manages the animal training programs for all species and helps coach and upskill the keepers in this space. The programs are designed to allow the animals the opportunity to be active participants in their own health care and improve their welfare. In 2015, she was successful in acquiring an international fellowship through the International Specialised Skills Institute to investigate world leading animal training applications and programs in a zoo setting. Through the fellowship she was able to attend animal training workshops, courses and conferences worldwide. During the fellowship, it directed her down the path of the science of behaviour change. Bianca works hard on continuing her learning journey and disseminating her learnings to help build skills to not only her direct colleagues but also to the broader zoo community in the Australasian region.
Carl Cheney, Ph.D
Mentor-In-Residence
Carl D. Cheney, Ph.D is Professor, Emeritus, of Psychology at Utah State University, USA. He taught behavior analysis and physiological psychology, and published widely in the experimental analysis of behavior-conducting basic analyses of predator-prey interactions, diet selection in domestic livestock, as well as reinforcement-schedule alterations and transitions in humans. His current research is focused on encouraging the wider use of behavior analysis in all appropriate situations.