Dawn has a B.A. degree in Education from Anderson University. Her background includes teaching, providing technical assistance for service-learning in schools and community organizations, and nonprofit administration. She grew up in Michigan, attended college in Indiana, and lived in Texas for several years before moving to the Santa Fe area. In Austin, she worked at The University of Texas in the Dana Center’s Service-Learning department. In September 2001, she moved to Santa Fe where she joined the Center for Service-Learning, a nonprofit that provided technical assistance to mentors and teachers in the Southwest Region of the U.S. Working for eight years as director of an artists’ nonprofit organization provided Dawn with nonprofit administration experience in budgeting, grant writing, and volunteer management. She came to New Mexico Wildlife Center in June of 2015. Her love of animals comes from a childhood surrounded by pets and wildlife of all kinds. She was taught early on to respect animals and learn from them. As you can see from her picture, Dawn is really fond of wolves!

Anna joins the New Mexico Wildlife Center team after many years of working in wildlife conservation as an educator and trainer. She obtained her M.S. in Outdoor and Environmental Education from Alaska Pacific University after teaching in a variety of environmental education programs throughout the United States. Anna has also taught in public and private schools and has specialized in creating curriculum and education programs rooted in place-based education. Along with her education experience, she has managed and worked with a wide range of ambassador animal species via choice-based and operant conditioning training. In her career she has worked at six wildlife facilities from AZA zoos to wildlife rehabilitation centers and has also participated in wildlife rehabilitation and research. In 2022, she received her professional bird training certification (CPBT-KA), making her one of approximately 120 trainers in the world with this certification. She is driven by a passion for welfare and is constantly striving to ensure the best quality of life possible for each ambassador. When she isn’t brainstorming training plans or watching webinars, Anna is out in nature or exploring local museums.

Amanda has worked with wildlife for about a decade, starting off as a volunteer at the Cascades Raptor Center in 2014. She worked her way around the globe, finding new and exciting opportunities to work with the unique species of New Zealand, Australia, and Malaysia. From there Amanda went into the zoological world working at facilities all over the United States including the Columbus Zoo & Aquarium, Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, and the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. While Amanda enjoys working with all species, she is at heart a bird nerd and excited to begin her adventure at New Mexico Wildlife Center.

Lizz has always been interested in working with animals. She earned Bachelor’s degrees in Biology and Psychology from Indiana University with a certificate in Animal Behavior.  Lizz took a detour and trained to become an Advanced EMT and worked on both critical care transport teams and rural 911 EMS systems. Wanting to get back to her first interest, Lizz found the local wildlife rehabilitation center in Bloomington, IN, WildCare Inc., and began volunteering in 2019. She quickly took on more responsibility and began developing her skills working with native wildlife. Lizz became the rehabilitation team leader for raccoons and foxes, as well as assisting with bats. Lizz also began working with the education ambassador animals and worked her way into becoming the primary trainer for a pearl morph red fox, silver-haired bat, groundhog, and Harris’s Hawk (shown in her photo). Lizz was able to switch careers and begin working full time as a wildlife rehabilitator when she joined the NMWC team in January of 2024. When not caring for native wildlife, Lizz enjoys getting out in her kayak, hiking, reading past her bedtime, and playing hide and seek with her two cats.