Hi! I’m Nick, and like many of us, I had a circuitous route that led me to humane education. I’ve always had a passion for animals and learning which led me to pursue a career teaching high school biology. After finishing school, I found that the classroom was not for me and decided to dive head first into working with animals. I began working at Rogers Wildlife Rehabilitation Center caring for wild and domestic birds, a job that would introduce me to two new passions: the non profit sector and wildlife education. Originally just performing animal care, my role quickly expanded to include giving tours to school groups and scouts, stewarding donors, and sharing our mission and work via social media.

After a few years at Rogers Wildlife, my husband and I decided to move from Fort Worth, Texas to Rochester, New York where I found a job at Lollypop Farm. I was back in an animal care position, but it wasn’t long before Humane Education Director Kim Ferris introduced me to the wonderful world of humane education and eventually offered me the role of Humane Education Coordinator. The role was the perfect combination of my two passions: learning and animals. The ability to create new programs and enhance existing ones, all centered around those two passions, was exactly the creative and project-based work that my (at that point undiagnosed) ADHD brain thrived on. Not only that, but I was also able to create meaningful, impactful experiences for kids that promoted kindness towards animals and a love of science. All along the way, APHE was there to provide resources, support, and best of all, a community of people who shared my passions. Through APHE, I found incredible continuing education opportunities like the Humane Education course with Maddie’s Fund, the CHES course, an internship with Wayside Waifs and their No More Bullying! Program, and of course, the National APHE conference. 

If you're new to APHE, or maybe you haven’t quite dug into all it has to offer, I highly encourage you to get involved and connect with your fellow educators. As a group of people that are literally all about kindness, connection, and learning, there’s nothing we love more than helping one another to grow as educators and create amazing programs and experiences that promote empathy and kindness towards animals.

These days, I am in a new role at Lollypop Farm working in donor relations. I absolutely love my role, but I definitely miss all of the joys of humane education, so I still take every possible opportunity to get involved with our humane education programs, talk to kids about animals, and share the importance of humane education with every donor I work with. I also serve on the APHE advisory board as my way to stay connected and to give back to the field of humane education, because although humane education is no longer a part of my professional title, it is still very much where my heart is.