Our People

Dominique grew up in South Louisiana with a passion for the diverse and vibrant ecosystem that surrounds her and this love for nature led her to begin her professional journey in 2006 when she joined the Louisiana Swamp Exhibit at the Audubon Zoo and has spent over 16 years working there with North American river otters along with other native species. Due to seasonal flooding and human encroachment many orphaned otter pups from the southern regions of Louisiana have been brought to Audubon Zoo over the years and as a result, she has been hand-rearing pups since 2008, which was the year she attended the Otter Keeper Workshop. In 2019, she was appointed as a North American river otter representative for the Otter Education Advisory Group, in 2021 Dominique was appointed as the Vice Program Leader for the North American River Otter SSP and in 2023 was appointed as the North American River Otter & Neotropical Otter Rehabilitation Scientific Advisor for the North American Otter Chronicles.

David serves as the Species Survival Plan (SSP) Coordinator for the North American river otter, as NARO Studbook Keeper, and as Small Carnivore TAG Chair. He has maintained the North American River Otter Studbook for the last twenty-five years. He is also a member of the IUCN Otter Specialist Group and its OZ Task Force.  He has been an instructor and/or an organizer for each of the previous Otter Keeper Workshops. He is the General Curator at the Seneca Park Zoo in Rochester, NY, where, among many other animals, they have three North American river otters.  David is also an Adjunct Instructor at the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), where he has taught General Biology Lab and Zoo Internship courses.  At RIT, he also works on North American river otter genetics.   David is a co-founder and Executive Director of River Otter Monitoring Project.  He has consulted on NARO behavior and construction projects for otter habitats in zoos and aquariums. 

Sarah Duncan

Keeper

Tulsa Zoo

Sarah Duncan started her career wanting to be a dolphin trainer, only to discover a love of otters while interning at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium in Florida. In 2004 she began working at the Newport Aquarium with Asian Small-clawed otters (Aonyx cinerea). During her years there, she worked with nearly 30 ASC otters, including the 19 offspring of one breeding pair. Sarah is the SSP coordinator and the  AZA studbook keeper for this species. She served as the International Studbook keeper for the species from 2007 to 2022. Currently Sarah is a keeper at the Tulsa Zoo in Oklahoma. She has advised facilities worldwide on the behavior and husbandry of Asian Small-clawed otters.   She was an attendee in 2006 and has served as an instructor at each workshop since 2008.

Barbara Henry

Curator of Nutrition

Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden (CZBG)

Barbara has been in Cincinnati since the mid- 2005 and prior to that at the Brookfield Zoo for 10 ½ years.  She has been one of the Small Carnivore TAG's nutrition advisors since 1999.  Barbara oversees developing, implementing and supervising all aspects of nutrition, nutrition records, food safety/handling, and quality control.  Barbara works in teams on browse and growing of the hay.  Barbara served on the AZA Nutrition Advisory Group (NAG) for more than 20 years and was Chair of the NAG twice, between 2004-2006 and 2008-2014.  Barbara helped in the formation of the Zoo and Wildlife Nutrition Foundation that began in 2009 and is currently on the board of directors as the president.  In addition to her working as an advisor for otters, Barbara is part of the nutrition team for the SCTAG,  Red Panda SSP, Okapi SSP, Gibbon SSP, Bonobo SSP, Colobus SSP, and Piciformes TAG, Rhino SSP, and Ungulate Resource Group (URG) Nutrition Committee.

Tammy Schmidt

Assistant Director

Niabi Zoo

Tammy has been privileged to be part of multiple zoological teams throughout the United States. She has worked with North American river otter, Giant otters, and Asian small-clawed otters. Tammy has served as an instructor/presenter for the Otter Keeper Workshop for the last five workshops and contributes as an administrator to the OKWS Facebook Page. She has also been a contributor to the Summary of Husbandry Guidelines for Giant Otters in Zoos, Aquariums, and Wildlife Sanctuaries for the IUCN/SSC Otter Specialist Group, OZ Task Force. In 2017, Tammy was invited to participate in the 1st International Giant Otter Workshop in Cali, Colombia. Tammy has also had the honor of being accepted to participate as a member of the IUCN Species Survival Commission/IUCN SSC Otter Specialist Group and serves as the team leader.  Although Tammy loves all otters, giant otters are her favorite! Tammy has visited Colombia and Paraguay in search of the Giants....still searching!                                      

Jaime Racalla began her career as a Keeper at John Ball Zoo in 2010 before transitioning into the role of Animal Care Supervisor in 2017, where she helps lead the team caring for many of the zoo's carnivores and larger hoofstock species. Having worked exclusively with North American River Otters (NAROs) throughout her career at John Ball Zoo, they hold a special place in her heart.

Jaime currently serves as the Education Advisor for the Otter Education Advisory Group, an AZA committee dedicated to supporting facilities in their efforts to promote otter education and conservation. The group assists by identifying and addressing educational needs, developing World Otter Day resources, and publishing the In Otter News newsletter.

She attended her first OKWS in 2018 and has remained actively involved ever since, both as an attendee and presenter. While otters may top Jaime's list of favorite animals, just about any mustelid isn't far behind!

Helen is a researcher in the Reproductive Sciences Lab at the Toronto Zoo, where she conducts research in many species, but is especially involved with research in mustelids like otters and wolverines. Prior to moving back to Canada, Helen was at CREW, Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden, where she started her research in 2002 into the reproductive characteristics of otters, which has included four species of otters over the years - NAROs, ASCOs, SNOts, and Giant otters. Several of these studies have been presented in international conferences and published in scientific journals (Zoo Biology, Theriogenology). Because of this research, Helen became a member of the IUCN Otter Specialist Group, the Reproductive advisor to Otter SSP, and a perennial instructor at the OKWS. 

Megan grew up in the suburbs of Chicago, IL, with a passion for marine life, inspired by visiting facilities like the Shedd Aquarium and the Brookfield Zoo. She began her journey in 2009 with the pursuit of working with cetaceans but fell in love with pinnipeds and sea otters when she started volunteering at the Oregon Coast Aquarium in 2012. After spending a few years traveling around the country working at the St. Louis Zoo, the Audubon Aquarium, and the Kansas City Zoo with a variety of species including pinnipeds, sea otters, penguins, and African elephants, she returned to the Oregon Coast Aquarium permanently in 2017. Megan is currently the assistant curator of marine mammals, caring for California sea lions, Pacific harbor seals, and Southern sea otters.

Joshua serves as the Director of Outreach and Partnerships for the River Otter Monitoring Project (ROMP), where he helps build collaborations with institutions, organizations, and community partners to advance research, data sharing, and conservation of the North American river otter. In this role he supports ROMP as key liaison for growing the geographic network of conservationists and securing collaborations and engaging citizen scientists in the protection of this keystone species.

In addition to his work with ROMP, Joshua serves as the Director of Operations, Engagement and Chief Ranger at the Audubon Louisiana Nature Center, part of the Audubon Nature Institute. In this capacity,

he oversees operations, visitor engagement, and educational programming, ensuring the Nature Center continues to serve as a vital hub for conservation, learning, and community connection.

Joshua’s background includes work as a wildlife rehabilitator, with a focus on caring for native

Southeastern species including North American river otters. This experience informs both his

conservation efforts and his passion for inspiring others to protect Louisiana’s diverse ecosystems.

He also contributes to international otter conservation as a member of the IUCN Otter Specialist Group, linking local conservation efforts to global initiatives. Through his dual roles, Joshua is dedicated to bridging science, education, and community engagement to foster stewardship of wildlife and natural

habitats. 

Teresa serves as the Spotted-necked otter Studboook Keeper. She is also a member of the IUCN Otter Specialist Group and its OZ Task Force. She attended the workshop in 2010 and has served as an instructor at the last four workshops. Teresa is the Supervisor of the Lied Jungle at Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo which houses a wide variety of mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and fish. Among those animals are two species of otters, Asian small-clawed and African spotted-necked.  

Tallie started her career at National Zoo in 2008 as part of the elephant team where she worked primarily with hippos. She moved to the Asia Trail unit in 2010 which is when she started working with ASCOs. She attended her first OKWS in 2012 and enjoyed it so much she never left. In 2018 she stepped in as the registrar for the workshop. She currently serves as the SSP Vice-Coordinator for Asian Small-clawed otters.