Staff & Directors | Birds & Animals | Facilities
LEADERS IN ANIMAL TRAINING AND PRESENTATION
 Steve Martin
President,
Natural Encounters, Inc.
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One of the best-known trainers in the world, Steve Martin has pioneered the art of training a variety of birds and animals through positive reinforcement. He is has been a master falconer for over 40 years and a parrot trainer for more than 45.
Steve's training experience includes hundreds of species of birds and mammals. He is a Trustee with the World Parrot Trust, a Core Team Member of The California Condor Recovery Team and has served as a behavior consultant for the Hawaiian Crow and Hawaiian Hawk conservation projects. He is also the founder of IAATE (International Association of Avian Trainers and Educators) and has served as its President four different times. Steve spends approximately three quarters of every year traveling to zoological facilities around the world serving as a behavior consultant. He has now worked at over 60 zoological facilities in 14 different countries.
Steve is known for his commitment to conservation and education. Each year his company donates close to $100,000 to conservation projects, each show he produces has a strong conservation education message, and Earth Day is an official holiday at his company.
 DonnaSue Evans
Vice President,
Natural Encounters Inc.
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DonnaSue has been with NEI for 8 years. After earning a degree in marketing at the State University of New York, she spent several years in retail management. She began presenting birds in Hawaii at the Honolulu Zoo in 1988 for a company based out of San Diego, California.
Her life took a detour to Washington State where she became involved as a volunteer with the Sardis Raptor Center. Gaining medical experience rehabilitating local bald eagle populations she moved to Florida to join the NEI team. DonnaSue is a member of The International Association of Avian Trainers and Educators, American Zoological Association, and Association of Avian Veterinarians.
 Kevin O’Brien
Operations Manager,
Natural Encounters Inc.
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Kevin joined Natural Encounters, Inc. in the spring of 2003 as Operations Assistant. After working for 16 years in retail management in Maine, Kevin returned to school and earned a computer science degree at Andover College in Portland, Maine. From there, he worked for 5 years in the banking/credit card industry as a department head in the technical support department and later was instrumental in establishing the electronic data systems department. In 2000, he and his wife Trish decided to leave the cold New England climate and settle in central Florida, where they live today. Kevin and Trish are currently owned by one cat (Nissa).
 Rob Bules
Director of Animal Collections,
Natural Encounters Inc.
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Rob came to Natural Encounters from Waterford, Pennsylvania in December of 1997. An avid outdoorsman, Rob has practiced the sport of falconry since 1994 and has shared this time with a number of different birds of prey. He has also worked with numerous psittacine species since 1983.
Rob is a member of such supporting organizations as NAFA (North American Falconers Association), FHF (Florida Hawking Fraternity), PFHT (Pennsylvania Falconry and Hawk Trust), IAATE (International Association of Avian Trainers and Educators), AZA (American Zoo and Aquarium Association), and ABMA (Animal Behavior Managers Alliance). Rob shares his home with a Blue and Gold Macaw, and two Golden Retrievers. In his spare time, he enjoys spending time outdoors and practicing falconry.
 Cari Clements
Director of Conservation and Education,
Natural Encounters Inc.
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Originally from San Diego, CA, Cari graduated from Purdue University with a degree in Biology and Psychology. After graduation, she returned to San Diego and worked as a field biologist on a number of endangered species projects. Her career training birds began when she moved to Portland, Oregon and spent 2 years working with the Oregon Zoo’s Birds of Prey Show.
Since joining the NEI team, Cari has produced and performed several free-flight bird shows across the country, instructed at NEI Training Workshops, and presented a paper at an IAATE conference. She is a member of IAATE (International Association of Avian Trainers and Educators), WPT (World Parrot Trust), and AZA (American Zoo and Aquarium Association).
In her spare time she enjoys spending time with friends, hiking, birding and shopping! Cari shares her home with Buddy, a Dutch Blue Peachfaced Lovebird.
 Wouter Stellaard
Senior Trainer,
Natural Encounters Inc.
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Wouter started working with animals when he was fourteen years old. His first experience in the animal field was working in a rehabilitation facility (vogelopvang centrum damland). In Bergen nh (The Netherlands), Wouter worked in a variety of tasks including raising baby birds & washing oil-spilled birds.
When he was eighteen years old he and a friend started an animal ambulance (Dierenambulance Noordkennemerland) in Alkmaar (The Netherlands), his hometown. They provided transportation for animals in need. From that time on, the foundation grew to include over 50 volunteers and 5 ambulances. In 1998 he graduated with a degree in animal care from the MAS in Barneveld (The Netherlands). In July of 1998 Wouter got accepted into the Exotic Animal Training and Management program at Moorpark College in California. During two great years of unforgettable experiences he did internships at Vancouver Aquarium and with NEI at the State Fair of Texas. After graduating in 2000 he spent his half-year of allowed work experience with Natural Encounters, Inc.
During this period he applied for his work visa, which he got in September of 2001 when he started working for NEI. Wouter is a fanatic field hockey player. He loves spending time with friends and family, playing sports, and just plain being Dutch. NEI would like to give Wouter a special thank you for all the incredible photos he takes of our birds with his digital camera. Credit goes to Wouter for many of the photos you see on our website.
 Cassie Malina
Director of Staff Development,
Natural Encounters Inc.
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Originally from New City, New York, Cassie attended
Pennsylvania State University and earned a degree in Wildlife
and Fisheries Science. There, she participated in field
research on amphibians, neotropical migrant songbirds,
catbirds, and fox squirrels. Cassie also worked as a zookeeper,
rehabilitator, and park ranger at New York's Bear Mountain
Zoo for two years. She joined the NEI team in April 1998.
Since joining the NEI team, she has produced and performed several free-flight
bird shows across the country, instructed at NEI Training Workshops, presented
papers at IAATE and AAZK conferences, and become Vice President of IAATE.
Cassie is an active member of IAATE (International Association of Avian Trainers
and Educators), WPT (World Parrot Trust), and ABMA (Animal Behavior Managers
Alliance). Cassie shares her home with a Black and Tan Coonhound (Oliver), and two cats (Jasmine
and Hendrix). In her free time, she enjoys hiking, camping, wildlife photography
and art, as well as... you guessed it... birdwatching!
 Eric Esden
Supervisor,
Natural Encounters Inc.
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Eric joined the NEI team in May 2004, after earning a Bachelor of Science in Zoology degree from the University of Vermont. Because of the lack of exotic animal opportunities in Vermont, much of Eric’s experiences revolve around domesticated animals.
During his college education, Eric held positions as an animal control officer as well as a canine trainer, teaching classes in various levels of obedience as well as agility. In addition to this, Eric found interest in small animal medicine working as a Veterinary assistant for a small animal clinic. Eric is a member of IAATE (International Association of Avian Trainers and Educators), enjoys wildlife photography, and training his new boxer mix puppy, Bailey.
 Priscilla Carbajal
Trainer,
Natural Encounters Inc.
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Priscilla became a part of the Natural Encounters team after an internship at the 2004 State Fair of Texas in Dallas. The Dallas internship brought her east and she moved from California to Florida in January of 2005 to become a trainer with NEI. In California, She made her hobby her profession and managed the Westlake Pet Motel for 3 years.
Priscilla is a graduate of the Exotic Animal Training and Management Program at Moorpark College, where she earned certificates in Animal Training, Wildlife Education, and Exotic Animal Handling. While at Moorpark she also completed her degree in Biology, and earned a certificate in Companion Animal Pet Studies, for which she served as a professional board member. Training internships included Steve Martins Working Wildlife and Animal Actors of Hollywood, and Wild Things and Saving Wildlife International.
After graduation Priscilla was hired with Wildlife Experience, an educational outreach company as an animal handler and educator. Priscilla has published papers as a presenter at ABMA, and in Shape of Enrichment Magazine. She is a member of IAATE (International Association of Avian Trainers and Educators), ABMA (Animal Behavior Management Alliance), NAPPS (National Association of Professional Pet Sitters), and APWE (Association of Professional Wildlife Educators).
Since joining the NEI team Priscilla has helped coordinate the show for the State Fair of Texas in 2005 & 2006. Priscilla enjoys running, good music, shopping for shoes, and hanging out with her family of friends.
 Daniel Cooksley
Trainer,
Natural Encounters Inc.
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Daniel grew up in California, spending his first twelve years in Los Angeles then moving to the northern mountains. At the age of fifteen, he relocated to Ocean City, Maryland, a move that sparked a fifteen-year career as a professional sport fisherman. He acquired his 50-ton Masters Captain’s License at the age of twenty-five and has piloted boats from the Florida Keys to Venezuela.
The next phase of Daniel’s life led him to pursue his passion for acting. He has performed in sixteen theatrical productions, four short films and two feature films. Daniel remains highly involved in Orlando’s community and professional theater productions.
In 2003, Daniel was offered the opportunity to work and perform with a variety of parrots as well as cassowaries, vultures, storks, hornbills and an Andean condor at Parrot Jungle Island in Miami, Florida. He then moved to Orlando to open the Blue Horizon’s dolphin show at Sea World as the Supervisor of the free-flight bird portion of the show. There, Daniel worked with several species of conures, macaws and, once again, an Andean condor.
As a Trainer for Natural Encounters, Daniel is able to combine his passion for the stage with his passion for birds and wildlife. “The spirit should never be restrained in order to achieve flight.”
 Chris Jenkins
Senior Trainer,
Natural Encounters Inc.
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Chris’ work with animals began with a summer job at SeaWorld in his home town of San Diego, California. With the encouragement of the trainers he met there, he attended the University of California, Davis, where he obtained a degree in Psychology to learn more about the ins and outs of animal behavior. After graduation, Chris volunteered as a keeper aide at the Sacramento Zoo until he decided to pursue a career with animals full time.
In May of 2002, Chris was accepted into the Exotic Animal Training and Management Program at Moorpark College outside Los Angeles. Upon graduation, he began working for The Animal Guys, a wildlife education company specializing in the use of wild and exotic animals as live visual aids for biology lessons, where he gave hundreds of presentations to students at inner city schools across the greater L.A. area.
Chris came to work for Natural Encounters Inc. in May of 2005. Chris is a member of ABMA (Animal Behavior Management Alliance) and IAATE (International Association of Avian Trainers and Educators). Despite working outdoors with animals for a living, Chris is an indoor kid at heart, counting movies, reading, and writing among his favorite hobbies.
 Brandon Porterfield
Trainer,
Natural Encounters Inc.
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Brandon, a native Floridian, joined the NEI team late in the summer of 2005. Brandon’s passion for birds and their care came at an early age when his mother got him a budgie parakeet. His passion was only enhanced by the wedding gift from his wife, a Quaker Parakeet named Tiki. That gift was the beginning of a new adventure.
Soon after receiving the Quaker, Brandon decided to start breeding birds as a hobby. As his new hobby grew, so did his knowledge, passion, and love for the birds. Brandon now runs his own breeding facility in his backyard with an astounding collection of over one hundred birds. Brandon’s passion for parrots drove him to accomplish his two major goals in life.
The first was to become a Certified Avian Specialist; the second was to work with the United States Fish & Wildlife through a breeding cooperative, to preserve an endangered species of lovebirds. He along with a few other breeders across the US were allowed to import these lovebirds from Europe to help with the species preservation & conservation.
Brandon now owns several pairs of this species. From that point on, Brandon made his main goal in life to raise awareness about avian conservation & preservation of all endangered species. He is excited to be apart of NEI to promote awareness of preservation & conservation of all avian species.
Amy Robinson 
Trainer,
Natural Encounters Inc.
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Amy's passion for birds and environmental education brought her to NEI after seven years at Zoo Atlanta where she was the Lead Trainer in the zoos wildlife theatre. While at Zoo Atlanta Amy was responsible for managing, training and presenting a diverse collection of birds. Programs included a year round free flight bird show, auditorium programs for school children, special events, television and media appearances. Amy also selected and trained staff, interns and volunteers. The Georgia House of Representatives recognized Amy in a Resolution for her outstanding contributions to the zoo keeping and environmental education field.
Her professional affiliations include AAZK, where she served as chapter Secretary and President. She is also an active member of IAATE where she serves on the Conference and Site Selection Committees.
Amy received her BA in Psychology from the University of Georgia. She moved to Florida with her two gorgeous akitas.
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