Meet Our Staff

A word about our staff

The Wildlife Discovery Center has one of the most unique wildlife facilities due to the rarity of the Elawa Farm site, the rarity of the Middlefork Savanna, an incredibly impressive collection of reptiles and raptors that are in perfect health, and, perhaps most importantly, a staff that is PASSIONATE about wildlife and the environment. We strive for excellence in everything we do. We promote staff professional development by attending conferences and seminars. Our staff are driven and they go to great lengths in learning all they can about the animals that we work with. Some of the most well respected people in this profession have told us that we have some of the most talented staff they have ever seen. With that being said, lets introduce the staff at the Wildlife Discovery Center!

Rob Carmichael

Curator of the Wildlife Discovery Center

Rob Carmichael is the Curator/Founder of the Wildlife Discovery Center. This facility is the culmination of a lifelong dream to run his own wildlife museum and he truly feels like he has the greatest job on earth. This job is his life’s calling and life’s passion and each and every day is met with great anticipation. As Curator, his duties are not very “curator-like”. Sure, he does the curatorial things such as a variety of administrative functions but he also has his own animal run that he is in charge of not to mention overseeing the entire collection. Rob’s primary animal responsibilities include the "venomous reptile run" that includes over 75 species of venomous reptiles! His favorite rattlesnakes are the Eastern Massasauga and the Timber Rattlesnake (Illinois' two natives). He also is very fond of the Ridge nosed rattlesnake and the Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake - the largest pitviper in North America. The rattlesnakes that poses the greatest challenge is the Neotropical rattlesnake, Crotalus durissus culminatus. In terms of exotic venomous reptiles, Rob has many favorites but if he could only pick TWO they would have to be: Thai the King Cobra (Rob's all time favorite reptile) and the Jameson's Mamba (simply because he spent two years rehabbing one of the most severe animal abuse cases he has ever seen…the mamba survived and has really bonded to Rob but he still shows a high level of respect for this animal).

In addition to serving as Curator, Rob speaks at various national and international herpetological conferences and symposiums and is now doing a lot of writing. Recently, he had two articles published in the Int'l Herpetological Symposium Proceedings of Reptile Management, Husbandry and Captive Breeding (Eastern Indigo Snakes and the Great Lakes Bush Viper of Africa). Soon, he'll be published in several other highly respected books…more to come. This past summer Rob did a taping with Animal Planet's Backyard Habitat and the experience was a blast to him. Rob has also appeared on Chicago's CBS Morning Show and several other well known T.V. and radio shows. Rob is also an Adjunct Faculty member of the College of Lake County's Biological Sciences Division where he teaches Environmental Biology. Rob has a M.S. degree and hopes to complete his PhD in Herpetology in the not to distant future. For now, he is enjoying his family; a wife (who is a 8^th grade science teacher) and two wonderful daughters (dancers, competitive divers, gymnasts, marching band, just all around good jocks and budding herpetologists!) and two of the best dogs in the world: Sadie and Boris who are rottweilers (better than any home security device!). At home, Rob has quite an impressive collection of reptiles including the Black Headed Python, Eastern Indigo Snakes, Baron's Green Racers, and a few other surprises. .

Edward Gudas

Program Supervisor and Coordinator of The Ridge

Edward's primary responsibility is in running our Outdoor Recreation and Adventure Program. He leads kayaking, mountain climbing, camping, ice climbing, snow shoeing, cross country skiing, and many other outdoor adventure programs. During the summer, he runs our very popular Adventure Camp and co-directs the Wildlife Science Camp. Edward also coordinates The Ridge which is a Team Building course. His passion and knowledge of the outdoors is simply amazing.

In addition to his outdoor responsibilities, Edward has also developed into quite a naturalist. Edward teaches the technology and animal adaptations part of the Grass is Rattling Program. During the technology section Edward teaches the participants how to use a GPS to pinpoint animal sightings, hibernation dens, and burrows for future observations. He shows them how radio telemetry tracks the movement of Massasauga rattle snakes. There is a demonstration on why it is important to use pit tags to identify animals in the field. The last instrument is field scopes and the students must find a staged animal on the Middlefork Savannah. Then they learn how animals that are arboreal, subterraneous, terrestrial, and aquatic adapt to their environments. Students then get up close and personal with a Jungle Carpet Python, Gopher Tortoise, Rhinoceros Iguana, and a baby alligator (Edward's favorite animal). They get to touch the animals while Edward fields questions. It is an interactive session with no time to be bored.

Edward Gudas received his B.S. in Recreation Programming from Southern Illinois University of Carbondale and his M.S. in Recreation Administration from Aurora University.

He has always been an enthusiast of the great outdoors since he was three and his dad would take him on hikes in the local forest preserve. From finding bats in granite cracks while rock climbing to paddling in Canada for 21 days and seeing Black Bear, inquisitive Otters, and hearing Timber Wolves howling Edward has always enjoyed being adventurous. Edward is married to a woman (Laurie) who is a school teacher; what a great team!

Lindy VanVlissingen

Naturalist/Group Coodinator

Lindy has many responsibilities including teaching many nature classes, coordinating wildlife educational programs for various groups, and is in charge of her own "animal run" with approximately 30 animals (reptiles and raptors) under her care. Lindy loves to research and spends a lot of time on the internet and the library. She also has quite an impressive library about many nature and wildlife topics at home! Lindy has grown to be quite an expert about the tall grass savanna and is our local expert on questions pertaining to the Middlefork Savanna. She spends a lot of time in the field and has really honed her "field instincts"; plus, she knows all of the good "hiding spots" for finding rare wildlife. She is grateful for the help of Rob and the "reptile guys" in understanding the needs of the reptiles that are under her care. Lindy is married and has three children. She has a B.A. degree and spent a year in France!

Bryan Suson

Head Animal Keeper

Bryan is a 2005 graduate of Lake Forest College, receiving his B.S. in Environmental Sciences and a Minor in Communications. He has been an integral part of our staff and has filled in whenever needed. As the Head Animal Keeper, he manages his own animal run but also supervises the rest of the collection. He has been trained under our venomous certification program, which enables him to work with our entire collection. His run is mainly composed of venomous reptiles, but also includes monitors and geckos. Bryan has had a great deal of experience traveling throughout the world in pursuit of finding and photographing some of the most amazing wildlife in existence. This has included Australia, Costa Rica, Panama, Ecuador, and various sites within the United States. Spending 3 months in Ecuador, he was able to participate in various different projects ranging from Eleutherodactylus frog population studies, to dung beetle diversity along elevational gradients in the E. Andes. Through these travels, he has not only gained personal experience with different wildlife, but a knowledge that can be incorporated into our everyday programs here at the Wildlife Discovery Center. Bryan is a strong leader with many talents. An entire room at his house is occupied a beautiful group of Green tree pythons, one of his favorite reptiles.

Gavin Brink

Animal Keeper/Wildlife Instructor

After completing two internships, he came aboard as a staff member in August of this year. Gavin has a BS degree from Illinois State University where he founded and acted as president of the Illinois State Herpetological Society during his time there.

Gavin has a deep passion for Latin American snakes. At The Wildlife Discovery Center, he takes care of a number of the exotic animals in our collection, which includes many of his favorite snakes from Latin America. Gavin jumped on the opportunity to raise up our recently acquired mussuranas, powerful rear-fanged snakes which feed almost exclusively on snakes in the wild, including some of the worlds most venomous and feared animals. After a lot of hard work with "scenting methods," he was able to get both baby mussuranas, which had never eaten a meal in their life, eating from our supply of frozen rodents.

At home, Gavin has a variety of snakes from South America, including a green anaconda, the world's largest species of snake. His passion for snakes does not stop at home or at The Wildlife Discovery Center. While he has not been lucky enough to find a way to live in Ecuador like staff member Bryan Susan, he has been able to make it south of the U.S.A border on numerous occasions, including the La Selva Biological Station in Costa Rica, where he helped with research on the fer-de-lance (an extremely venomous snake often preyed upon by the mussurana).

Gavin is a former moto-cross racer and competitive big air snowboarder, but sold both of his motorcycles last summer to purchase a mini van (his "vanaconda") to haul around snakes. Don't let Gavin's joke of putting a soccer ball sticker in the back window fool you…that van is filled with reptiles!

Now, Gavin has recently taken a position as Wildlife Coordinator with the Midwest Museum of Natural History in Sycamore, IL. He still continues to help at the WDC and even teaches a couple of classes

Mike Knoerr

Literally grown up at the WDC.

When he was in 4^th grade, he began taking clas ses and was in our very first classes when the WDC first begun. He always had an insatiable curiousity about the natural world and he learned at an early age that turtles was really his passion. Over the years he developed his field instincts and to this day, is one of the most gifte field herping people you will ever meet. If you need someone to find a herp, Mike's the guy! He has joined Rob Carmichael on many herping adventures such as Beaver Island, Michigan and the Shawnee National Forest. Once he reached 16, Rob hired him on at the WDC where he served as an animal keeper and wildlife instructor. We are very proud to say that Mike is now studying biology at the University of Illinois. During his short time at U of I, Mike has made quite a name for himself as he has had opportunties to study hellbenders, eastern massasaugas, blandings turtles and spotted turtles. If that isn't enough, Mike is getting ready to study abroad in New Zealand next semester! When Mike is back home he always finds time tos top by and give us a hand.

Nick Mancuso

Began taking classes at the WDC when he was just a young boy.

Over the years, his passion for reptiles grew into a home collection that rivals some of the top professional breeders in the country. He was perhaps one of the youngest people in the U.S. to first captively produce green tree pythons which was quite an achievement. Nick is a very storong leader and is very confident of his abilities. A black belt in karate, his quick instincts has proven invaluable in the field. We are very proud to say that Nick is attending the University of California-Santa Barbara where he is pursuing biology. During his free time, he enjoys catching all kinds of snakes, lizards and turtles (not to mention just about anything that crawls, slithers or even flies!). Not only is Nick one bright guy, but he is quite a driver….race car driver that is! He completed his driver training and is now qualifying in races all over the nation. You might just see him in Nascar or Indy in the near future! Nick has served as an Animal Keeper for us and helps out whenever he's back in town.

Letitia Jacques

Another past participant of our program…

…and Rob knew at an early age that she would one day be working for him. She has a thirst for learning about animals and loves to play with our many resident reptiles. She is currently a student at the University of Montana where she is studying in their forestry department. She has served as a camp counselor in our popular Wildlife Science Camp, helps teach classes and helps us out during our open public hours (she always has a snake draped around her neck!). Although a full time college student, Letitia ("Tish") loves to work at the WDC when she is in town for holidays.

Matt Campbell

Exhibit/Special Projects Consultant

Matt is a serious hobbyist who is currently working with a number of rare species of frogs, newts and salamanders along with several reptile species. He works full time as an Animal Keeper at the world famous Lincoln Park Zoo's Small Mammal and Reptile House. Matt is trained and certified to work with their venomous herps and he has a vast amount of experience with reptiles in general. In addition to his husbandry and exhibit design skills, Matt is also a very talented writer and has had some articles published in herp magazines. When Matt is helping at the WDC, you can't miss him….he's the dude with the pony tail, ZZ top beard and to top it off, he wears a kilt! We enjoy having a staff with many interests, talents, and looks!

Laura Hilstrom

Raptor Expert/Consultant

Laura is a full time keeper at the internationally acclaimed John G. Shedd Aquarium in Chicago. She takes care of many fish species and even works with some that could make quick work of her and any other human on earth….but being a professional means being careful and minimizing risks. Her experiences have allowed her to join research teams snorkeling in the pacific waters. In addition to her fish expertise, Laura is also an expert when it comes to raptors. She brings a wealth of experience and knowledge in working with birds of prey as she has worked at a number of highly acclaimed facilities. She helps us to make sure our animals are in tip top condition and is a great asset to our staff.

Ali Killam

is our newst staff person at the Wildlife Discovery Center and we are very excited to have her aboard. Ali was a student back in "the day" when Rob first started the WDC and she has taken many classes and traveled with Rob to several field herpetology trips (Beaver Island, Michigan and the Shawnee National Forest in downstate Illinois). Her passion has become very evident as she also started building up her own personal collection which include a ball python. Ali is a junior at Lake Forest High School and participates on the Cross Country team. Welcome aboard Ali!

Volunteers

We rely heavily on top quality volunteers and are happy to announce that Michael Simet (freshman at Lake Forest High School) is one of our volunteers. Michael keeps a variety of herps at home including a borneo short tailed python. When he's not playing with reptiles he's playing on the high school's football team. Michael is also most likely one of the tallest amateur herp guys in the area standing at 6'7" and still growing!

Riley Parrot

is a freshman at Woodland's Academy in Lake Forest. Riley is a past participant and is absolutely passionate about wildlife and nature. She has a contagious curiousity about the natural world and we are very excited to have her aboard. She's also quite a tennis player!

Natalie Martin

We'd also like to thank this summer's college intern, Natalie Martin, for doing such a great job at the WDC. Natalie is a wildlife biology major at University of Illinois and we gave her many responsibilities this summer including leading our camp outreach programs, wildlife coordinator of our Chicago Park District programs, ass't animal keeper, and she assisted on our annual field ecology trip to Beaver Island, Michigan. Great job Natalie!