So! This is my first account here, and I wanted to do a little intro before I get stuck in. I am currently 20 years old, from England, pursuing a career in marine mammal training. This september I will begin university, to study a BSc in Psychology, and I am currently interning at Dolphin Quest, Bermuda.
Before now, my experience consists of (coming up to two years!) weekly volunteering at a nearby zoo, with the training team, with a variety of land mammal and bird species, and California sea lions. Before then, I worked as an assistant to a professional dog trainer for several months.
I have always wanted to work with animals, and they have always been my greatest passion. However, killer whales have always been incredibly special to me, and so I researched into the different ways of working with them - and thus fell in love with animal training, and how it can break the communication barrier. However, I strongly believe in using positive reinforcement, and no aversives or positive punishments at all. I believe in a world where one day this will be true for every animal, for the good of our own common pets to the most exotic species.
Outside of my career, my other passion is the water - free diving, and springboard diving. My other interests and hobbies include psychology, virology, photography, fiction.
For previous blog entries about my zoo volunteering & DQ interning please visit my Tumblr, here: http://lindseyap.tumblr.com/
And to check out my photos please visit my Flickr, here: http://www.flickr.com/people/lindsey-p/
- Lindsey
