The Animal Educators

Our animal educators have a variety of backgrounds and experience.  They each bring something unique with their love of animals!

Alex Rose

Role: Founder and Owner, Director of Accounting & Human Resources, Animal Educator
Native to: North Eastern United States
Favorite Activities: Dancing, Rock Climbing, and anything dinosaur-related.
History: Alex graduated with a Masters in Social Work in 2017.  She has worked in a pet store, a natural history museum, and a variety of social work related jobs that include working with adults with developmental disabilities and crisis response.  She hopes to be able to provide animal assisted therapy in the near future.

Pets on Wheels Volunteer: Alex is part of a pet therapy team with our qualified ferrets and parrots.  She visits hospice patients, day programs for adults with disabilities, and charity events.

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Bethanie

Role: Event Coordinator & Animal Educator since 2016
Native to: East Coast of the United States
Favorite Activities: Learning new things, teaching her pets tricks, playing video games
History: Bethanie moved to the east coast when she was 12 years old.  She has always had a passion for animals.  She has a background in positive reinforcement training and she strives to better the lives of animals around her.  She shares her home with three rescue bunnies and a cat.  At Ferrets and Friends, Bethanie assists with training new educators and handles most customer concerns and scheduling.

Dre

Role: Animal Educator since 2016
Native to: East Coast of the United States
Favorite Activities: Snowboarding, concerts, and exploring nature. His favorite animals to work with are the reptiles!
History: Dre worked with animals for over 5 years in a pet store setting before coming to Ferrets and Friends. He plans to go to school for art and photography.  He spends most of his time making music, training his dogs, and working with his own collection of reptiles.  At Ferrets and Friends, Dre is the most frequently requested educator due to his charisma and engaging presentation style.

Ali

Role: Animal Educator since 2017
Native to: New England
Favorite Activities: Reading, cross stitching and crafting, traveling to see friends and family
History: Ali has always loved animals and currently works as a veterinary technician, where she gets to work with many different animal species. She currently has three cats and a rescue turtle.  The Ferrets and Friends staff all agree that Ali has the most energy and is great with kids.

Rebecca

Role: Animal Educator since 2018
Native to: South Eastern United States
Favorite Activities: Horseback riding, hiking, and volunteering
History: Rebecca grew up on a farm with various animals, went to school for equine industries management, and has experience in managing Dressage stables. Now she teaches and trains horseback riding and is the Vice President of a bunny sanctuary.  She spends most of her time working with her two horses and three ponies.

Sam

Role: Animal Educator since 2019
Native to: 
Favorite Activities: 
History: Sam works as a veterinary technician and massage therapist.  She is well known for her sense of humor.

Donte

Role: Animal Educator since 2019
Native to: 
Favorite Activities: 
History: Donte is currently attending school to study biology.  His goal is to become a herpetologist.

Director of Operations

Peach

​Role: CEO (Cat Executive Officer)
Native to: The Ferrets and Friends Zoo
Favorite Activities: Cat-egorizing office supplies, consulting expert ferrets, advocating for shorter sleep cycles
History: Peach had some concerns when she started managing the human team, but she feels she has found a balance between keeping her humans challenged and motivated.