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

With Chris out of commission after being a pressure washing hero at work and mayyyyybe overdoing it a bit, Ari takes the helm and is joined by Dan Carvalho, Lydia Dresel, Jordan Garella, Steven Sibley, and Luis Cortes from the Reptile Department of the St Augustine Alligator Farm! The team talks about their amazing dynamics and inside jokes, and the hard work they pull off every day for their animals and guests. From talking about ...

You KNOW we love talking about training animals that people don't always think of when they think about animal training, so we are thrilled to welcome Melissa Paynter to the show! Mel shares the path that took her from the Moorpark Program to her current role as Assistant Curator of Ocean Journey at Georgia Aquarium, why fish training right now is "a dumpster fire, in the best way," how her desire to make sure the aqu...

Chris and Ari are thrilled to be joined on the show by NEI Alumnus Dan Blair! Dan catches us up on his current zoo role as Curator of Birds, and shares his thoughts on the two kinds of respect, what's surprised him most about transitioning from the role of animal trainer to curator, the unique challenge of being brought in as a new cog in an existing machine, the importance of being given a chance to lead in order to learn how ...

Are SEVEN people too many to have on a podcast?? Not when it's the Bird and Mammal Team from the St. Augustine Alligator Farm! Chris and Ari are joined by Hannah Caster, Jessie Stull, Jordan Hoover, Ramon Castillo, and Shelby McBride to talk about what makes up a cohesive team, the unsung role of the swing keeper, and figuring out the best ways to give feedback to others before succeeding beautifully at an impromptu game of Dra...

Chris and Ari are joined by fellow training enthusiast Anaka Nazareth, Behavioral Husbandry Coordinator at the National Aquarium! Anaka shares the path that took her from America to Austria (a few times) before settling back on the East Coast and eventually into her current role in Baltimore, where she oversees the training of a lot of our favorite (and less celebrated) animals - sharks, fish, and reptiles - as well as her involvem...

Chris is joined by NEI's new (but also not really new) Director of Staff Development, Training, and Shows - Ari Bailey - to welcomes Dr Taylor Gilley back to the show! Taylor shares the path that took her from the education world to her current role as Director of Staff Learning and Development at Houston Zoo, and guides us through a great conversation covering the zoo's LIFT (Leadership, Innovation, Focus, and Teamwork) pr...

In another in our series of podcasts about other podcasts, Ari and Chris share their thoughts on a recent episode of the Radical Candor podcast with Kim Scott, featuring their guest Stephanie Chung. Chris recently started reading her book "Ally Leadership: How to Lead People Who Are Not Like You," which gets a great overview in the podcast, and gives us a chance to talk about the importance of curiosity, professionalism, ...

Ari and Chris are back together and excited to be joined by Joey Golden, Curator of Animal Behavior Programs at Maryland Zoo! Chris and Joey both attended the recent ABMA and ISZAW conferences, and we wanted to bring him on to chat about the great presentations he gave about his zoo's progress towards "24/7 welfare" for all their animals. We chat about the importance of leaning on innovators, how Hal Markowitz has influenced his th...

While Chris is away at the International Symposium for Zoo Animal Welfare in Chicago, Ari is hosting solo—but she’s not alone! She’s joined by former (but also still current) NEI teammate Scott Trauger, who shares what life has been like since he made the big leap to follow his passion outside the animal field. From spreadsheets to showtunes, hear how Scott’s skills in animal care have set him up for success in school, biking, choi...

Ari catches us up on her time at Croc School before our hosts tackle an email asking for ideas about how to create opportunities in the professional animal care field for yourself when 1) you've moved somewhere where the immediately employment opportunities might be limited - or non-existent - or 2) you've taken a temporary break from the field and are trying to figure out how to get back in.

Will Chris and Ari provide inspiring id...

Ari Bailey is busy doing cool reptile stuff at Croc School at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm, so Chris takes the opportunity to share the audio from his presentation, "What Does It Mean to 'Prioritize Training'?" from last week's ABMA Annual Conference! He shares some antecedent and consequence conditions that he's seen great teams utilize to make animal training a more fun and more rewarding part of the...

Chris is LIVE from Zoo Day at the 2025 ABMA Annual Conference in Galveston, Texas! Whilst wandering the grounds of our host facility, Moody Gardens, we chat with Chase Alsup from the Colorado State University Zoo, Aquarium, and Animal Shelter Management Graduate Program, Rae Simmons and Aubrey Wilson from the Moorpark College Animal Care and Training Program, Kelli Carroll and Mikayla Coble from Lake Superior Zoo, and Sierra Smith,...

Chris is in the editing (and possibly scrapping-and-starting-over) phase of his upcoming ABMA workshop "Your Feedback Loop: Evolving the Way We Give Feedback to Peers," so he decided to reach out to one of the smartest feedbackers around - Ari Bailey - and see how their notes compared when she was given the assignment to jot down what she considered to be the most important things she thinks about when she thinks about fe...

It's consulting time! Chris is back at the Little Rock Zoo working with a team of eight trainers from around the zoo to get everyone working with people and animals they don't normally get a chance to, with the hopes that it might help them be better "training trainers" for new staff in the future! This has meant a lot of conversations about how you should decide what to do next during training sessions, and so we're rolling back o...

Chris and Ari share two microphones with their newest coworkers, Hayley Dougherty and Taylor LaTulipe! Hayley and Taylor share their immediate feelings after their first interviews, get quizzed to see how much they know about the show sections they started learning less than 2 days ago, reflect on how they felt coming out of their first interviews, and get to ask the hosts about their own progression through the company. Thank you ...

Ari sits down with Kimm Hunt, President of the International Animal Training Certification Board (IATCB), to dive into the IATCB certification exam—how it’s developed, maintained, and what it means for animal trainers. They also explore Kimm’s work with shelter dogs, tackling tough topics like behavioral euthanasia and the importance of understanding behavioral science to help all learners thrive.

If you have a shout-out you’d like ...

Chris is off at the AZA mid-year meeting, so Ari is joined by NEI Senior Trainer Josh Flagg for this episode! They dive into the challenges and joys of being the new person on a zoo team. From making new staff feel safe and welcome to knowing when (and when not) to let your "weird flag" fly, Josh and Ari explore ways to set teams up for success. They also share tips for uncovering a team’s culture even before you start. Check out t...

Chris once again ambushes Ari with a surprise topic for discussion, thanks to a great email we received: now that the definition of "enrichment for animals" has evolved, what might "modern, goal-based enrichment" look like for the humans we work alongside in the professional animal care field?

We chat about the staff-driven professional development offerings that happen during "Growvember", the focused...

Ari and Chris steal a bit of time out of a busy day to chat with NEI's Steve Martin to follow up on last week's episode and talk about the practical, observable, and trainable behaviors that we see great trainers do. Focusing both on skills people can build in themselves and help build in others, the trio talks about meeting people where they're at, the importance of having a solid plan (that can change at any time base...