What excites you about your career here at CLR?

My job is fun! All day long I think about animals and unique ways to adapt their housing/designed habitats to their species-specific traits. Every day it is something new; I am never confronted with the same problem twice.

What do you like about exhibit design?

Whether through empathy, natural habitat appreciation, opportunities to introduce new educational material, or positive associations due to joyful visitor experience, I feel that as a designer I can affect larger (beneficial) conversations about coexistence with wildlife.

What do you enjoy doing on the weekend?

I have a wife, a little boy, and a dog. We like to travel to new places together. This past weekend we visited a waterfall in upstate NY.

Tell us something fun or funny about yourself that most people don’t know.

Sometimes I feel shy and can’t think of anything interesting to talk about (those who know me will find this funny!) I can also juggle 5 oranges.

What excites you about your career here at CLR?

I am excited to work with an array of different animals and to learn how to design around each of their needs and preferences. Each project gives me a new opportunity to discover something I never knew, and this is something I actively look forward to.

What do you like about exhibit design? 

I enjoy the sheer variety of needs different exhibits require. Every project has new challenges with unique answers. Exhibit design keeps you engaged and questioning what to do.

What do you enjoy doing on the weekend? 

I’m an avid cook and baker on this weekend. Often, I will be whipping up something to share with my friends. Otherwise, I am out hiking and bird watching.

Tell us something fun or funny about yourself that most people don’t know.  

I’m pretty good at playing the tuba.

What excites you about your career here at CLR?

I’ve always aspired to do meaningful work that is innovative and focused on new ways of thinking about the built and natural landscapes. In our work, the underlying theory has always given way to guiding principles of our decision making.

What do you like about exhibit design?

I enjoy the challenge of problem solving from the unique and varied perspectives of the end users – in our case – the animals inhabits, the keepers tasked with their care, and the public.

What do you enjoy doing on the weekend?

I like being outdoors, and Pennsylvania has no shortage of places to hike, camp, fish and kayak. Otherwise, I’m probably working on one of many ongoing DIY renovation projects at home.

Tell us something fun or funny about yourself that most people don’t know.

My other car is a 1965 Cadillac, which at times feels like more work than fun!

What excites you about your career here at CLR?

The challenge of pushing the envelope in a very unique field.

What do you like about exhibit design?

The unique challenges that come with wildlife design. From an elephant to an elephant shrew the requirements and challenges are always different. There is nothing cookie-cutter about the job.

What do you enjoy doing on the weekend?

Getting out to nature on a good hike, trail run, or camping trip that lets me separate from the desk and computer screen.

Tell us something fun or funny about yourself that most people don’t know.

I have lived in 5 different African countries. Traversing the continent, I have inhabited north, south, east, and west Africa (Morocco, Namibia, Malawi, Togo, and Zambia). Don’t ask me to pick my favorite, they all have great people, landscapes, and wildlife.

What excites you about your career here at CLR?

A good portion of anyone’s career are the people you work with. I get to work with the nicest, smartest, most creative people out there. We partner with amazing people striving to conserve our natural world.

What do you like about exhibit design?

Each design is unique and customized for each project and client. This is challenging and rewarding work. Our designs are experienced by millions of zoo guests across the country and I’d like to think that I was responsible for inspiring at least one child towards a career in conservation.

What do you enjoy doing on the weekend?

Spending time with my family, making my daughters laugh, hiking, camping, gardening, completing home repairs.

Tell us something fun or funny about yourself that most people don’t know.

I’m a classic car buff and jealous of our CLR West crew that get to see classics driving by every day in southern California.

What excites you about your career here at CLR?

The opportunity to learn and grow among a collaborative group of extremely talented and creative designers. It is a great environment with people whose combined experience has a lot to offer, I am always learning something new! I like that I get to be directly involved in every step of the many challenging and unique design projects we face, projects that can positively impact the conservation of animals and our landscapes.

What do you like about exhibit design?

I think it is exciting and important work! Our designs need to consider the well-being of a vast number of animals. We are always researching their behaviors and preferences, and what they need to lead healthy and happy lives. You get to make meaningful connections through design that can truly make a difference to the animal’s lives, as well as the people who care for them and the people who come to see them.

What do you enjoy doing on the weekend?

I try to get outside, whether that is taking a hike through the woods or hanging out with friends and family around a fire. I also like to hit the local record stores and try to see live music on a regular basis.

Tell us something fun or funny about yourself that most people don’t know.

When I was a toddler I built my first architectural model of my house entirely out of construction paper, it came out surprisingly accurate.