Professional Summary
Data Analyst and Husbandry Specialist with 20+ years’ experience in zoological sciences and the hospitality industry, and 2 years into a career shift of data analytics in the Financial Services sector. Highly adaptable professional known for reliability, ability to integrate into a team, and leading-by-example. Eager to learn and embraces an incurable curiosity for the world!
Data Analyst and Husbandry Specialist with 20+ years’ experience in zoological sciences and the hospitality industry, and 2 years into a career shift of data analytics in the Financial Services sector. Highly adaptable professional known for reliability, ability to integrate into a team, and leading-by-example. Eager to learn and embraces an incurable curiosity for the world!
Education & Certifications
- Google Data Analytics Professional Certificate - Coursera (2022)
- Animal Welfare Professional – CypherWorx & San Diego Zoo (2017)
- University of Miami, FL Bachelor of Arts (with Honors), Double Major- Biology & English, 2001, GPA 3.47
- Certified Open Water SCUBA Diver – PADI (1994); NAUI (2021), EANx (Nitrox, 2021)
Professional Experience
Advisor, Compliance Data Analytics | Raymond James Financial, St. Petersburg, FL | November 2022 - Present
- Responsible for the daily care and husbandry of analytical dashboards for use by Corporate Compliance Business Units (I check on them every morning to make sure they are running, happy, and healthy)
- Utilizes the ETL process to write scripts which incorporate various data sources into data models and built user-friendly dashboards from that data architecture.
- Automated reporting processes for team, department, and committee level monthly, quarterly, and yearly reporting as well as meeting ad hoc reporting needs
- Generated business intelligence insights that:
- Facilitate the management of identified regulatory changes and the necessary internal response to those incoming changes
- Help business unit leaders manage required internal oversight
- Reduce manual labor time and effort for user-performed reporting
- Wrote the official corporate governance documentation for my department on our dashboard development process
Senior I Animal Care Specialist | Busch Gardens Tampa Bay, Tampa, FL | Jan 2014 - May 2022 (8 yrs, 5 mo)
- Responsible for the daily care and husbandry of rhinos, hoofstock, and several bird species, in a dynamic environment with ever-changing needs, including a successful breeding program
- Generated business intelligence insights that:
- Reduced bird dietary costs by 30% based on seasonality of consumption
- Supported an increase in staffing by 15% (to return to pre-Covid numbers) for the purpose of reducing burnout, turnover, and increasing safety
- Indicated best animal location/placement which increased guest interaction and satisfaction
- Ran 4-year research study on 0.1 black rhino that narrowed possible causes for medical issues and allowed for more precise treatment (Presented at international workshop of rhino keepers.)
- Created ease-of-access schedule system for team of 20 that increased departmental transparency and equity in shift work (requiring coverage for a wide and variable range of hours of operation)
- Designed & implemented revenue generating tours for BGT Guests utilizing multiple Rhino areas
- Routinely handled proprietary information with care and discretion
- Trained leaders, peers, and subordinates to full proficiency in SOPs in Class-1 areas (area of higher safety risk) - providing more functionality and flexibility for team deployment
- Mentored others in professional career development program (who were then promoted)
- Frequently stepped into supervisory role for day-to-day activity, including troubleshooting and coordinating with other teams - to make sure area needs and daily goals were met
- Comfortable in both field work and an office environment (scanning, emails, schedule coordination, and supply, data, and file management)
- Responsible for the daily care and husbandry of rhinos, hoofstock, and several bird species, in a dynamic environment with ever-changing needs, including a successful breeding program
- Trained Rhinoceros using operant conditioning to assist in daily husbandry procedures, routine exams and blood draws
- Assisted the veterinarian in procedures and the administration of medication – personally performed blood draws, helped coordinate knockdowns and moves.
- Presented information on the animals in an interesting and stimulating way to summer camps and the general public during in-park talks.
- Trained new employees in the daily maintenance and procedures of the collection
- Wrote articles for the in-park periodical; member of the Busch Gardens Blog Team.
- Responsible for the daily care and husbandry of rhinos, hoofstock, and several bird species, in a dynamic environment with ever-changing needs, including a successful breeding program
- Presented information on the animals in an interesting and stimulating way to summer camps and the general public during in-park talks.
- Maintained publicly viewed animal exhibits and service areas in an aesthetically pleasing, efficient and functional manner
Bookkeeper/Financial Data Assistant | Bimini Biological Field Station - Dr. Samuel Gruber, Miami, FL | Mar 1998 - April 2016 (18 years)
- Performed financial data entry, cleaning, management, and report generation using Quicken for use by Founder/Director and CPA for federal tax purposes
- Organized and prepared physical receipts for document storage
Secondary School Teacher – Science | South Miami Middle School, Miami, FL | July 2006 - Dec 2006 (5mo)
- Managed and taught 150 students, age 11-13, in an interactive, engaging, and group-focused way
- Evaluated student performance utilizing rubric and curved grading systems in order to provide individualized feedback to students, parents, and county database
- Worked to both meet the needs of the students and provide broader insights to leadership on instructional program performance and ongoing student trends
Zoo Keeper | Zoo Miami (Miami Metrozoo) Miami, FL | May 2001 - July 2006 (6yrs)
- Responsible for the daily care and husbandry for a variety of mammals, birds, amphibians, and reptiles (Operant conditioning, moves, sedations, quarantine, trained employees, data collection, problem solving, presentations)
- Authored first, official standard operating procedures (SOP) for the entire Children’s Zoo collection
- Trained and supervised adult and teen docents (volunteers)
Education Staff | Miami Seaquarium Key Biscayne, FL | June 1999 - May2001 (2 yrs)
- Year-round educator encompassing summer camps, day camps, and sleepovers
- Summer Camp Instructor, which involved understanding and presenting curriculum material to ages 5 - 18, designing daily activities to work with and around show schedules, and working with other Camp instructors in a team-teaching environment
- Led tours and ran overnight programs which included taking reservations, preparing activities, and coordinating animal interactions with animal care and training staff
Volunteer
Organization Manager / Writer / Producer | Star Wars Force Chronicles LARP, Tampa, FL | May 2017 - March 2020 (3 years)
- Assisted in the creation, wrote copy (both creative and technical), and managed elaborate, campaign-style storylines for live community events (with interwoven online forums - Jcink) for up to 30 players.
- A strong storyteller who generated a cohesive narrative experience that incorporated game mechanics, players’ personal character stories, ability to adapt story to player choice, prop creation, game layout and design in a physical space, time management, and conflict resolution.
- Coordinated and responded to queries from both players and staff members through online ticketing system (Zoho)
Technical Skills
Adobe Photoshop Elements, Bookkeeping, Business Intelligence Development, Data Analysis, Data Visualization, Digital Photography, EARS, Google Workspace, Insights Generation, Intuit-Quicken, Microsoft Office Suite, Pattern Recognition, Pivot Tables, Poplink, Qlik Sense, Qlik View, Qlik nPrinting, Tableau, Tracks
Personal Skills
Analytical Thinking, Creative and Technical Writing, Customer Service / Support, Emotional Intelligence, Operant Conditioning, Presentation Skills, Robust Written and Verbal Communication, Strong Organizational Skills, Team Leadership, Time Management, Traveling - Planning, Execution, and Summary Reports
Languages
French (Elementary proficiency)
French (Elementary proficiency)
Affiliations & Accomplishments
- Member, Data Analytics-Tampa Bay Meetup Group 2022
- Member, International Rhino Keeper Association, 2007 to 2022;
- Hosted the 2009 Rhino Keeper Workshop in Tampa, FL
- Presented a self-directed, 4-year-long research project at 2015 Rhino Keeper Workshop in Chester, UK (on skin lesion development and correlation to environmental factors for 0.1 black rhinos)
- Founding Member, Busch Gardens Animal Welfare Committee, 2015 to 2020
- Helped establish mission statement, organizational structure, and procedures
- Member, American Association of Zoo Keepers, 2003-2006, 2007 to 2020;
- served in the roles of Secretary and Webmaster (redesigned website, created and maintained our own domain name.)
- Received an Award of Excellence for an art piece I submitted to the yearly Raymond James Associate Art show - 2023
- Created a personal brand, developed a product line, managed a vendor booth at SharkCon 2018, and expanded market to an Etsy store – “Mud Wallow Jive”
- Interviewed by WoW Insider blog and invited on Warcraft Hunters Union podcast for my fansite about the MMORPG - "World of Warcraft" that documented the in-game animals and compared them to their real-world counterparts, organized by taxonomic classification - wowbiology101.com
- Awarded fellowship by Busch Gardens to study lions in Kenya on the Earthwatch Expedition “Lions of Tsavo” – intensive 2-week experience in a working field camp collecting data for an ongoing research project
An excellent addition to any adventuring party. I've befriended dragons, basilisks, sirens, and unicorns; what do you have for me?
