The TEC Talk Podcast: Presented by Natural Encounters, Inc.

Want to know more about what control can look like for the animals you work with? This is the episode for you! Ari and Chris are joined by Khaz Brooks and Ryan Talbot to talk about the work they did with (what they learned was) assent training at Wolf Park. They share how research into ABA and control gave them new language for giving their wolves a stronger voice in their training, how higher lev...

Chris is joined by many people using many microphones to talk about the 2024 AZA Annual Conference in Calgary, Canada! What did we learn? Who did we meet? What did we do? Listen and find out! Big thanks go out to Jen Charette (Zoo Community Manager, Tessere), Liz Evans (Manager of Behavioral Husbandry and Animal Programs), Jon Rossi (host/producer, The Rossifari Podcast), Justin Garner (Curator of...

After wayyyyy too much time of talking about making it happen, Chris and Ari finally sit down to chat with the legendary Ken Ramirez! Ken shares his inspiring and unique journey through the animal training field—from his early passion for guide dogs, to his long career in marine mammal training, all the way up to his current role leading up Karen Pryor Clicker Training. He also discusses how teach...

In our continuing quest to collect the entire AZA Professional Development Committee on the show, we're excited to be joined by Jennifer Charette , Zoo Community Impact Manager at Tessere! Jen shares her unique path from birthday party host to zoo industry professional, the importance of committee service and understanding your "resource engine", how defining her "horizon job" got her to where she...

With Ari away having some extended Labor Day Weekend fun with family, Chris is joined by NEI's Sam Griffin! We chat about the path through the animal care field that brought Sam to NEI (take note, aspiring future animal care professionals), the importance of - and the advantages of working for - smaller zoological institutions, and how the support of her early NEI mentors kept her from spreading h...

Ari is busy getting ready to visit our team in Rhode Island, so this week Chris is joined by returning co-host Adam Geltz to welcome back to the show two of our favorite people in the animal care world, Shelby Jecius and Kyle Alexander from Bearizona Wildlife Park! The four of us chat about their recent experience of moving from being supervisors into mid-level management, the important influence...

The TEC Talk Podcast is super excited to invite Rick Hester to the show! Rick joins us to talk about the journey that brought him to his current role as Curator of Behavioral Husbandry at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, the important ways his understanding of training and behavior were moved ahead by formative experiences with both NEI and Dr Susan Friedman, his exciting recent work exploring the concept o...

Chris is back from New Zealand and surprises Ari to share (and get her feedback on) the quotes he included in his recent ABMA presentation, "Communication and Teamwork Through the Eyes of a Trainer." Spoiler alert: she thinks they're pretty great, and has lots of great further information to share! If you have a shout-out you’d like us to share, a question or a topic you’d like us to discuss, or a...

Despite being separated by 8,061 miles and a 16-hour time difference, Chris and Ari are back behind their microphones to chat about the aftermath of Hurricane Debbie and Chris' adventures consulting at Hamilton Zoo in New Zealand. Sweet as! If you have a shout-out you’d like us to share, a question or a topic you’d like us to discuss, or a suggestion for a guest we should have on the show, let us...

Chris is flying to the future (sort of) as he heads to New Zealand to do some consulting in the land of Hobbits, so Ari hosts this episode without him, but she is not alone! Natural Encounters Senior Trainer, Nathan Hensley, joins her to talk about the many, many things he does with and for NEI. A lover of Science, he found his way into the field after tagging along with his Grandfather, who was a...

Earlier this month, NEI had the priviledge of hosting the students and staff of Santa Fe College's Zoo Technology Program for an all-day field trip to our home base facility (aka "The Ranch) in Winter Haven, FL, and leave it to us to find a way to turn it into a podcast. This week's episode is the Q&A panel that Chris hosted, featuring Steve Martin, Clarie Santiago, Brad Moore, DonnaSue Evans, and...

With Ari away at the IAATE Midyear Meeting, Chris is joined by fellow ABMA Board Member and animal behavior podcaster, Shane Gorbett, to attempt to answer this question: how do we define a "modern zookeeper"? If you have a shout-out you’d like us to share, a question or a topic you’d like us to discuss, or a suggestion for a guest we should have on the show, let us know at  podcast@naturalencounte...

Well, this one is certainly a blast from the past! On this episode, we are extremely excited to welcome journalist and author, Amy Sutherland! Chris first met Amy 21 years ago (!) when she came to spend time with him and his classmates at Moorpark College's (then-named) Exotic Animal Training and Management Program (aka "EATM") to do research for what would become a book about the program ( Kicked...

You know what they say: you send Chris and Ari an email, you end up on the podcast. We're super happy to welcome Jeremiah Shon from John Ball Zoo to the show! Jeremiah is a recent NEI workshop attendee who reached out to share some cool training stuff that he and his team have been doing with their birds recently, so we brought him on the show to talk about how they put together their "group train...

Our hosts dig into all forms of media - print, social, and electronic - to discuss the challenge of "cultures of silence" in the zoo field (which, we beg your pardon, involves us repeating a little salty language), and chat about some good advice about how positivity and leadership behaviors can help, courtesy of great recent articles in IAATE's publication The Flyer by NEI's own Amy Fennell and A...

With Chris stuck in traffic between work locations, Ari is joined by NEI's own Brittni Rice on the eve of her first anniversary with the company! Brittni shares her history in the field, the differences between working as a show trainer and a zoo keeper, the experience of being both a learner and a teacher, why she doesn't want to go back to marine mammal training anytime soon, and the joys of bei...

Ari and Chris are back in the office together and are joined (with the recording gods on our side this time) by Jessi Krebs and Grep Lepera! Jessi and Greg share their paths in the zoo field (we're talking 95 combined years of reptile awesomeness, ya'll), their history with the Crocodilian Biology and Management Course at St. Augustine Alligator Farm, the messaging challenges that zoos continue to...

It's the return of the two-host podcast! Ari takes some time from her vacation to sit down with Chris to talk about the effects of compliments, recognition, paying attention, and the joy that comes from kindness. Awww! Get in here, everyone - group hug! If you have a suggestion for a question, topic, or guest you'd like to hear on a future episode of the show, let us know at podcast@naturalencount...

We had so much virtual fun with one out-of-state NEI bird show last week that we decided to send Chris out to visit the other one in person! We are so happy to welcome Morgan Lopes, Josh Sanko, Hunter Peck, and Anthony Rossi to the podcast to talk about the ins and outs of our bird show at Roger Williams Park Zoo in Rhode Island, Flights of Fantasy!  If you have a suggestion for a question, topic,...

After an intro in which Chris demonstrates the evils of AI to an unsuspecting and horrified Ari, we're celebrating "Opening Weekend Eve" with Katelyn, Lucy, Meg, Laurel, Emily, Skyler, Emma, Ian, and Dan from the Minnesota Zoo Bird Show Crew! In this guest-packed episode we discuss the final prep going into the training of the birds, the joy of "plant school," the experience so far for the awesome...

And lo, the Internet Gods and Goddesses decreed "we shall ruin your recording, thereby preventing this week's uploading of training and behavior content!" But nay, your hosts shall not abide! While Chris and Ari scurry behind the scenes to figure out what the heck went wrong with this week's recording and do their best to fix and rebuild it, we bring you a throwback to our conversation from Januar...

The state motto of Arkansas is "Regnat populus" - Latin for "the people rule" - and you know what? The people here DO rule! Chris sits down with Hannah Baker, Sydney Byrd, LeeAnn Goette, and Kate Neal from Little Rock Zoo to talk about all the fun training going on during Chris' 10-day consulting stint, the ways we've all learned to help build (and avoid degrading) trust with animals, fun stuff co...

Ari and Chris welcome Jennie Janssen (National Aquarium, MIASZ) back to the show to share her take - and a great new initiative from MIAZS (Minorities in Aquarium and Zoos Sciences) - relating to the challenge our field is facing of creating the leaders of tomorrow.  References from the episode: MIAZS - Minorities in Aquarium and Zoo Sciences   AMLAZ - Advancing Minority Leadership in Aquariums an...

Ari has The Ick, so Chris is joined by NEI Supervisor Scott Trauger to share our notes - figuratively and literally - from the 2024 ABMA Annual Conference in Nashville, TN!  If you have a suggestion for a question, topic, or guest you'd like to hear on a future episode of the show, let us know at podcast@naturalencounters.com ! --------------------------------- The TEC Talk Podcast is proud to be...

With Chris in Nashville to listen to other people talk into a microphone at the Animal Behavior Management Alliance (ABMA) Annual Conference, Ari keeps the show going with the help of future animal care professional Lauren Vieira! Lauren emailed us to say that she was a listener who would love a sticker from the podcast if we ever made one - we did (thanks to our friends at Slapco ), so we asked h...