Mothering Wildlife
Telling the stories of moms who work in zoo, wildlife, vet, and conservation organizations. Working with wildlife brings a unique set of challenges for working mothers. Join me every other week as I interview moms working primarily in the zoo field as we discuss their journey as moms, navigating the mental, emotional, and often physical challenges that come with caring for wildlife and caring for kids.
Mothering Wildlife
Latest Episodes
From Orcas to Orangutans with Carley Gonzalez from the Topeka Zoo
My guest this week is Carley Gonzalez, an Animal Curator, from the Topeka Zoo. While Carley currently spends all of her time working with and managing terrestrial animals, she started in the field as a marine mammal trainer working with orcas!<...
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Two IVF Journeys; a Dedicated Episode on the Topic with Kaitlyn Fulmer from the Memphis Zoo and LeShea Cochu from the Chattanooga Zoo
This week's episode is a little different. I wanted to bring together two moms within the zoo field who have IVF as part of their motherhood journey and let them have the opportunity to share their stories and talk to each other about their jou...
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A New Baby and a New Role with Ricki Roemer from the Caldwell Zoo
My guest this week is Ricki Roemer, a Supervisor in the Mammals 2 Department at the Caldwell Zoo. At the time of our interview Ricki was freshly postpartum, and believe it or not her baby joined us in the bouncer the whole interview! Her and I ...
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From Zookeeper, to Mom, to Making the Anonymous Animals Known with Alexis Fitch from Animals Anonymous Apparel
My guest this week is Alexis Fitch from Animals Anonymous Apparel! Alexis started her career as a zookeeper, however ultimately decided to leave the field with the birth of her first child and started an amazing apparel company dedicated to mak...
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Body Image During Pregnancy with Paige Tamayo from the Dallas Zoo
My guest this week is Paige Tamayo, a Lead Zoologist at the Dallas Zoo. Paige and I know each other and used to work together when I was at Dallas. She joined my team in the Middle Wilds right before I moved back to Florida. Having both gone to...
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Fan Mail
been listening to the podcast for awhile and just recently returned to the zoo field as a carnivore zoo keeper at the Alabama gulf coast zoo, after 2.5 years of being a stay at home mom. This year I have been navigating a military move, deployments and now returning to work full time, being short staffed- kids entering daycare and being far away from family. So many moving parts!
Rome, New York