Meet the Wildlife Care Center Staff

What does this job mean to you?

Ashley: Wildlife rehabilitation is my way of giving back to the natural world. As an animal lover, this job can be both a dream and heartbreaking all at the same time. Imagine you can work with your favorite creatures, but they are coming to you broken, hurt, and sometimes irreparable. They’re out of their element. Stressed. Scared. But! You have the chance to make it all better. To tend to them, try to save them, to put them out of their misery when needed, to educate more folks on how they can live harmoniously with our wild neighbors, and to work with incredible people that have the same goal and passion. While it can be incredibly hard at times, there is still nothing I would rather be doing. I say it all the time, but the people I work with (staff and volunteers) give me faith in humanity.

Connie: I have wanted to work with wildlife since volunteering at a wildlife rehabilitation facility while in college, and I feel extremely fortunate to work with a team of dedicated volunteers and staff! I like to say that this job reignited my passion for veterinary medicine, since I had been feeling fatigued and burnt out for a number of years.

McKenzie: Beyond “hands-on” animal care, I get to work with a great crew of volunteers who perform the important work that keeps the hospital running. Being involved in their training and growth is so rewarding, especially the more technical aspects of animal care such as proper handling, natural history, and anatomy. I could keep talking forever about why I love my job, but the last piece I’ll touch on is spreading public awareness. Nearly every animal in care represents an interaction with humans gone terribly wrong; outdoor cat attacks, window strikes, and car collisions are the three most common reasons for intake at our wildlife hospital. I see wildlife rehabilitation as a way of mitigating some of the harmful impacts of human presence in the landscape. Hopefully, through my conversations with the good samaritans who find these animals, I can shed some light on the issue that caused them to need our help in the first place. If I do my job right, I can send people on their way with some actions they can take to stop the next animal from becoming hurt in the first place.

Graham: I went to school for ecology, but discovered I had a quiet life-long fascination with birds. When I was really young I loved dinosaurs and wanted to be a paleontologist. Then I learned how boring it is to study rocks. The question became: study extinct theropods, or work with extent theropods? I knew I wanted to gain hands-on experience after my undergraduate degree and started volunteering at the WCC. Now my job is a part of conservation and preservation; instead of digging up extinct animals, I work to keep any more from dying off.

McKenzie: I first came to Bird Alliance of Oregon as a volunteer in 2013, and it was a few years before I landed a job in 2016. Prior to that, I received my undergraduate degree in environmental science, and had been volunteering and working in animal care for 10+ years. My favorite part of my job is the variety! As rehabbers, we make treatment plans tailored not only to each animal’s medical needs but also their needs as a species – and we see a vast array of species at Bird Alliance of Oregon. A beaver with a broken leg is going to need a wildly different course of treatment than a Cooper’s Hawk with a broken leg, and that Cooper’s Hawk is going to have different needs than a Barn Owl with the same injury, and so on and so on. The wide array of species we get to work with is a fun challenge that I never get tired of. 

Steph: My mother volunteered as a home rehabilitator when I was young, and I got my start helping her warm up formula and clean cages. Once I turned 18 and could help hands on with the animals, I volunteered myself while I went to college for Wildlife Biology. After college I did some internships and continued volunteering while I looked for a job in wildlife. I didn’t actually believe I could get paid enough to make wildlife rehabilitation my career, but I also couldn’t help applying for positions I saw. I ended up getting my first wildlife rehab job, which paid just enough to survive on, and I moved across the country for it. I thought I could always change tracks or go back to school for my masters if I hit a dead end, but that dead end hasn’t actually appeared yet!

Nikki: I was animal obsessed from the start, spending my childhood gamboling through midwestern creeks in search of lizards, crayfish and snakes alike. I have wanted to be a zookeeper since my first trip to the St. Louis Zoo. I went on to study biology at the Florida State University and did my first internship during college at the Tallahassee Museum, a small native zoo, which sealed the deal for me. There I was able to work directly with everything from otters to red wolves, indigo snakes to alligators, and turkeys to great horned owls. This is also where I discovered the value in wildlife education and how a great educator can truly reach others!

What is your favorite animal to work with?

Connie: I used to think raptors were the coolest, but now I like birds with strange diets and/or specific needs! Like Cedar Waxwings, kingfishers, and herons. I am a terrible birder so seeing a bird smaller than the palm of my hand in the flesh is always exciting!

Graham: Birds. Some of them are pesky, give you attitude, and no bird wants you anywhere near them. Still, I don’t think I have handled a single bird that didn’t fill me with awe. I’ve looked over hundreds of wings since being here, and every time I’m amazed at the way these beautiful animals live. While I know all animals are equally important members of our various ecosystems, (and we desperately need more conservation efforts of insects, amphibians and marine life) I do not think anything comes close to the exceptional beauty of birds.

Paola: Large raptors are my favorite, I find them fascinating! They are incredibly strong, fast and graceful. Healthy raptor populations can even help with excessive rodent populations! It is so hard seeing the damage done to them, but it is impressive to witness their resilience too.