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

Chris and Ari are joined by fellow NEI-ers Clarie Santiago (Ranch Supervisor), DonnaSue Evans (Chief Human Resources Officer), and Amy Fennell (Supervisor of Training) for a Q & A panel as part of Santa Fe College's field trip to the Ranch for students of their Zoo Animal Technology Program. We tackle questions about degree requirements, the best places to get specific experience, how our schedule...

It's an NEI reunion as Ari and Chris are joined once more on the show by Tim Van Loan! Tim talks about his new role as Curator of Animal Well-being and Behavior at The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens, and we chat about what each of us have been doing during our week at the Ranch as NEI hosts the AZA's Animal Training Applications (ATA) and Managing Animal Enrichment and Training Programs (MAETP) pro...

Chris is joined this week by his thoughts on the long drive home from the Ranch to chat about the ABMA Midyear Board Meeting, the Great Mews Project of 2023, his awe-inspiring co-workers, and 3 recommended episodes of the podcast "WorkLife with Adam Grant" (which I totally know is the name of that show). Have a question for us? A topic you think we should talk about? A suggestion for a way we shou...

Fresh off the plane from the other side of the Atlantic, it's the return of NEI President and CEO Steve Martin! Chris and Steve sit down to chat about Steve's visit to IAATE's 2023 UK Symposium (can't wait to give our hawks some biscuits!), some cool new training going on with a young harpy eagle at the Ranch, and our excitement about hosting the upcoming AZA Animal Training Applications in Zoo an...

Ari and Chris chat about our field's favorite term that's not actually a word - Choice and Control! They discuss what they are, how they're related, and what they mean for animal care before digging into what they mean when applied to the humans that work on our teams. So many great things to dig into here - learned helplessness, the illusion of choice, the problem with "over-democratizing decisio...

Chris is at the 2023 AZA Annual Conferece in Columbus, OH, and continues his collection of "PDC Podcast People" by chatting with Misha Body and Dr Taylor Gilley! They've both had fascinating paths through the animal care field and are both committed to helping to grow the zoo and aquarium leaders of today and tomorrow - I have a feeling it won't be the last time we have either of them on the show!...

With our backstage painting project complete, Ari and Chris discuss the excellent book Atomic Habits by James Clear!  Have a question, topic, or suggested guest for the show? Let us know at podcast@naturalencounters.com ! --------------------------------- The TEC Talk Podcast is proud to be sponsored by Audible.com! To support the show and get a free 30-day trial of everything Audible has to offer...

With much of Florida dealing with a very unwelcome out-of-state guest named Idalia, Chris and Ari take some time to talk about NEI's prepartions for being licensed and inspected by the USDA for the first time. We talk about the history of the organization (happy 150th birthday, USDA!), the new relationship the organization has with bird facilities like ours, and the ins and outs of all the USDA-re...

With Ari in Minnesota hanging out with a certain cool bird show crew, Chris is pleased to welcome back Greg Peccie, Director of Animal Health and Welfare at Riverbanks Zoo! Building on our conversation from when Greg was last on the show (Episode 95, for those keeping score), we dive into the challenge of hiring, retaining, and developing people at a time when our industry is undergoing a lot of c...

Chris and Ari are melting in Central Florida, but luckily they're joined by some very cool people in a much cooler climate - Dan Blair, Meg Meyer, Kayla Rowand, Brianna Thorson, and Laurel Mochinski (along with special guest start Cori Dawson) from Minnesota Zoo's World of Birds Show (Presented by Wings Financial)! We get to discuss the team's experience booting up a brand new show from scratch, L...

With Ari taking some much-deserved vacation, Chris is joined by NEI's own Shayna Gruman! For the week of Shay's one-year work anniversary we talk about her history in the field, how the job has lived up to the expectations she had before meeting and working alongside us while still in the Moorpark Exotic Animal Training and Management program, what she's learned at our facilties in Florida and at...

We finally finished our homework! Ari and Chris sit down for the fourth and final episode of their TEC Talk Book Club to discussion of Crucial Conversations :  Chapter 10: Putting it All Together: Tools for Preparing and Learning Chapter 11: Yeah, But...: Advice for Tough Cases Chapter 12: Change Your Life: How to Turn Ideas into Habits If you've joined us on our maiden voyage of the TEC Talk Book...

Ari and Chris are back in their office to finish off their incredibly-surface-level review of The Ten Laws of Shaping from Karen Pryor's Don't Shoot the Dog! In our wrap-up episode for this topic we realize that we don't know who first "shot the dog," we don't remember when we talked about "ending on a good note" (but we're pretty sure we did), and we don't know where our old copies of the book ar...

With Ari away at the IAATE midyear meeting, Chris takes advantage of some time at the Roger Williams Park Zoo in Providence, Rhode Island, to chat with a few amazing folks, Director of Education Shareen Knowlton and Manager of Ambassador Animals Jen Rudolph! We learn a bit about Shareen and Jen's paths through the field, the advatanges of starting in the field "late", the importance of eliminating...

With Chris somewhere in Europe again (we think) Ari sits down with Erik Montgomery, Director of Operations for the Natural Encounters Conservation Fund, to chat all things NECF! Erik and Ari tak about NECF's work donating 100% of the funds they collect to various in situ  conservaton programs that really need it, benefitting everything from lions and vultures to pangolins and gharials, what those...

Ari and Chris are excited to be joined by Jennie Janssen, Assistant Curator at National Aquarium and President and Co-Founder of Minorities in Aquarium and Zoo Science (MIAZS) ! Jennie shares her history in the aquarium industry, how a case of mistaken identity helped reinforce a lack of diversity in the field, and how her non-profit is providing a resource for people at all levels to help make th...

Chris and Ari return to Karen Pryor's Don't Shoot the Dog! to discuss another batch of guidelines from her "Ten Laws of Shaping"! Solid advice all around, with the added spice of some thoughts on where and when folks might want to consider veering away from them when it's in the best interest of the animal, the session, or the project.  For this second go around, we discuss Laws 4-7:  When introdu...

What's better than an animal training and behavior podcast? FOUR OF THEM ALL AT THE SAME TIME! Chris and Ari fulfill a longtime dream and bring together the hosts of the TEC Talk Podcast , the Zoo Logic Podcast , the Animal Training Academy Podcast Show , and Animal Behavior Conversations (The Podcast of the ABMA) into one giant supercast! We sit down with Dr Grey Stafford, Ryan Cartlidge, and Sha...

Chris is MIA (still in America, just lost his voice) but Ari soldiers on with the help of Sean Hoelle, Kassidy King, and Morgan Lopes, part of the staff of NEI's "Rhode Show" at Roger Williams Park Zoo in Providence, Rhode Island! The crew chat about how the show has been going, building new relationships at a new facility, and being TikTok famous after an epic flyoff. We also learn some things th...

Chris has the plague! But don't worry, he is resting at home and Ari is joined this week by NEI trainer Lizzi Fricker (which is definitely her last name, as we learn during this episode). They chat about how Lizzi started in the field, the culture shift that is occuring for zoo professionals industry-wide, how to communicate at high levels with your team when we aren't taught that important skill,...

Ari and Chris reconvene in their office to discuss Don't Shoot the Dog 's Ten Laws of Shaping! Having not read the book in years, we were interested to look at Karen Pryor's ten suggestions for successful shaping through the filter of our current training practices and understanding of the science of behavior change. Because we can talk forever about this stuff we only get through the first 3, so...

Ari hosts while Chris is stuck on a train somewhere in Europe, but it's far from a disaster because Julia Wagner, ZDR3's Executive Director, joins the show to talk about all things disaster response, from hurricane season to mental health support. Julia shares with us the inner workings of the ZDR3 network and how they response when a disaster strikes. This important episode will get you thinking...

Ari is back in Orlando so Chris had to flee Florida again - too much podcasting power to keep in one city! Ari recounts her time at AZA Croc School, while Chris shares his adventures bopping around Lake Geneva in Switzerland and the his experinces with the questionable taxidermy of the UK as he tags along on his wife's work trip.  Who, incidentally, is not a spy. Nope. Not at all.  Have a question...

With Ari busy teaching a training course at Croc School (who knew crocs even went to school, amazing!), our hosts meet up via the power of the Internet for another TEC Talk Book Club episode about Crucial Conversations! This time we cover Chapters 7 (STATE My Path), 8 (Explore Others' Paths), and 9 (Move to Action) - let's conversate!  Have a suggestion for a topic or a theme for a future episode?...

May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and Chris and Ari are very excited to be joined by Shannon McKinney and Hannah Fulmer from GRAZE (Growing Resiliency for Aquarium and Zoo Professionals)! After a bit of background about their histories in the animal care field and how it lead to the formation of GRAZE, Shannon and Hannah help us dig into a lot of great topics: the importance of taking responsi...