ANIMAL WELFARE RESEARCH TEAM

Lance J. Miller, Ph.D., Vice President of Conservation Science and Animal Welfare Research, received his graduate training in Experimental Psychology from the University of Southern Mississippi.  Previously, he held positions as a Research Manager at Disney’s Animal Kingdom and Scientist for the San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research. He is currently the Chair of the Alliance of Marine Mammal Parks and Aquariums Animal Welfare Committee, an Advisor to the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) Research and Technology and Animal Welfare Committees, and Advisor to the AZA Behavioral Scientific Advisory Group, and a Steering Committee Member for the AZA Ambassador Animal Scientific Advisory Group.

Jessica Whitham, Ph.D., Animal Welfare Biologist, received her graduate training from the University of Chicago’s Department of Comparative Human Development. Jessica has spent over 20 years designing, implementing, and analyzing behavioral studies for a variety of taxa. She also has experience monitoring the physiological stress responses of birds, mammals, and reptiles using enzyme immunoassay analyses. Jessica’s early research centered on primate communication and cognition. She now focuses on identifying novel welfare assessment tools and indicators.
 

Maggie Ramont, MSc, Behavioral Research Assistant, received her B.A. in Biology from St. Olaf College in Minnesota. While studying, she interned at the Minnesota Zoo as a zookeeper in two departments. After graduating, she moved abroad to complete her MSc in Zoo Conservation Biology at the University of Plymouth in the UK, where she discovered her passion for animal behavior and welfare research. Her thesis focused on the use of conspecific calls as potential enrichment for red howler monkeys. After returning to Chicago, Maggie interned at both Brookfield Zoo Chicago and Lincoln Park Zoo, continuing to learn and refine her skills as an animal welfare researcher. At Brookfield Zoo Chicago, she assisted in coding behavioral data for the recently published Cetacean Welfare Study; at Lincoln Park Zoo, she conducted two studies on the effects of visitors on the behavior and welfare of two program animal species at the Farm-in-the-Zoo.