Animal Behavior Conversations: The Podcast of The ABMA

This episode Dr. Susan Friedman, Behavior Works, provides some great learning and insights into a multitude of current topics surrounding the science of behavior change.  Dr. Friedman starts with discussing the Hierarchy of Behavior Change Procedures; what it is, how we can view it to provide optimal welfare to animals, and also the importance of antecedent arrangement and the environment to behavior change.  She also breaks down w...

This episode, through daily live recordings, features a recap of the 2025 ABMA Annual Conference (April 27 - May 2 2025) hosted by Moody Gardens in Galveston, Texas, United States. Each day of the conference, one of the presenters for the day discusses their presentation and other learning that impacted them. 

Day 1: Marie Filipek, Zoo Tampa at Lowry Park

Day 2: Heidi Moomaw, Charles River Labs

Day 3: Benjamin Fainsod, Jerusalem Zoo

Da...

This episode was a live panel recording at the 2025 ABMA annual conference in Galveston Texas hosted by Moody Gardens.  The expert panel consisted of Tim Sullivan - Brookfield Zoo, Elly Neumann - Jerusalem Zoo, Nicki Boyd- San Diego Zoo, Anaka Nazareth - National Aquarium, and Chris Jenkins - Natural Encounters Inc.  The panel’s theme was “The Importance of Behavior in Modern Animal Care” with questions submitted in real time from ...

This episode Steve Martin, President and CEO of Natural Encounters, Inc., discusses training on a continuum by moving away from coercion and towards genuine choice. Steve starts the episode by giving a review of the concepts of choice and… control with some practical examples.  The discussion then turns to breaking down behavioral degrees of freedom, genuine choice, and coercion with many more great practical examples. The episode ...

This episode Mel Paynter and Alyse Stitt, Georgia Aquarium, discuss motivation in the context of animal behavior and training.  In part 1 of this two episode discussion Mel and Alyse discuss what motivation is, what it looks like in practice, and give some o-fish-ally great examples from the many aquatic species that they work with in the Ocean Voyager habitat at the Georgia Aquarium.  They both dive deeper into breaking down and d...

This episode Shane Gorbett, Philadelphia Zoo and host of the podcast, discusses and breaks down fading. Shane first discusses examples of what fading looks like in practice and how we can apply the artful application of the science of behavior change in order to know when and how to fade.  Shane also discusses the challenges of fading too quickly, too slowly, or not at all.  Stay tuned in for Shane’s "Training Tale" about...

This episode Tricia Dees, the second vice president of the ABMA, continues on with the discussion from Episode 59 and goes deeper into primary/unconditioned and secondary/conditioned reinforcers.  Tricia gives some common examples of primary/unconditioned and secondary/conditioned reinforcers but also talks about how individual preference plays a role in determining what is actually a reinforcer for each individual.  The discussion...

Welcome back for the first episode of 2025!  This episode Shawna Spencer, Coral World Ocean Park, dives deeper into breaking down reinforcers and punishers.  This episode is full of examples and practical applications.  Shawna starts with a brief introduction to primary and secondary reinforcers before listing examples of common reinforcers and punishers.  The episode finishes with a discussion about how reinforcers can change over...

This episode Jose Bello, Disney’s Animals, Science and Environment, discusses superstitious behavior. Jose starts with breaking down what it means for a behavior to be superstitious and examples of what that looks like in a practical application.  Next, Jose educates about the “potential danger” in labeling behaviors as superstitious and how taking the blame away from the animal and placing it on us as the trainers, can give us a b...

In a special ABMA Behavior Month 2024 episode, Jonelle Mason, California National Primate Research Center - UC Davis, discusses training and behavior in a research setting. Jonelle educates about the similarities and differences between training, cooperative care, and enrichment programs in a zoo compared to a research setting. Additionally, Jonelle talks about some of the unique challenges that arise and the future of behavior man...

This episode Sam Meinke, Palm Beach Zoo, and podcast host, Shane Gorbett, discusses what it means to be a modern zookeeper. The definition of what a zookeeper is and does has drastically changed and is constantly evolving as we continue to progress animal care forward. Some other modern zookeepers were kind enough to share what being a modern zookeeper means to them so Sam and Shane dissect those answers as we redefine what it mea...

This episode Rick Hester, Cheyenne Mountain Zoo and BehaviorWorks, discusses a free operant approach to behavior management. Rick starts with explaining the practical application of free operant behavior and, in order to get the full scope, also discusses discrete trial training and the relationship between the two. Breaking down some of the science, Rick educates about Lindsley's (1996) Four Free Operant Freedoms and the consi...

This episode continues on "The Behaviors of..." series which dives into the human side of the animal care field. In this episode Scott Trauger, Natural Encounters, Inc., dives deeper into a discussion centered around his presentation at the 2024 ABMA Annual Conference titled "Expanding Our Feedback Loop: Evolving the Way that We Give Feedback to Our Peers". Scott discusses the different types of feedback and con...

This episode we are joined by Tegan Noel, San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, to discuss some practical applications and examples of providing choice and... control. This episode is a continuation of Episode 50 where Ken Ramirez broke down the science of choice and... control. The episode starts with Tegan commenting how the focus of those two topics have changed and shaped behavior in recent years. Additionally, she educates about wh...

This episode we are joined once again by Chris Jenkins of Natural Encounters, Inc. in order to dive deeper into Antecedents, specially looking at Distant Antecedents and navigating the role they play in behavior.  This episode is a continuation of Episode 6 where Chris broke down the fundamentals of Antecedents. The episode starts with defining the difference between immediate and distant antecedents and then shifts to the slippery...

This episode continues on "The Behaviors of..." series which dives into the human side of the animal care field. In this episode Justin Garner, Committee Chair for The ABMA, helps to give advice on how to successfully implement change. The discussion begins with ideas and advice on communicating ideas to others and how to then put those ideas into action. Justin and Shane also talk through ideas to overcome some of the co...

This episode Sandy Jabas, The First VP of The ABMA, discusses what it means for a behavior to be under stimulus control. Sandy educates about how to tell if a behavior is under stimulus control and also the importance of stimulus control in our training. Sandy also teases the 2025 ABMA Annual Conference in Galveston, Texas hosted by Moody Gardens! Stay tuned in for three "Training Tales" about a funny mishap when shifting...

This episode, through daily live recordings, features a recap of the 2024 ABMA annual conference (April 15-19 2024) hosted by the Nashville Zoo. Each day of the conference, one of the presenters for the day discusses their presentation and other learning that impacted them. 

Day 1: Benjamin Fainsod, Jerusalem Zoo & The Animal Behavior Community (carnivores@jerusalemzoo.org)

Day 2: Dr. Cathy Mingee, North Carolina Zoo (cathy.min...