Team Bio

Penelope joined the SSU Primate Ethology Research Lab as an MS student in Biology in August 2014. She received her BS in Zoology & Marine Biology from Humboldt State. Her experience comes from interning in animal care at Oakland Zoo and years of working in veterinary hospitals. Her interests include captive animal welfare and environmental enrichment.

Karin received her MA and PhD in anthropology from UC Davis. She is currently professor of anthropology at Sonoma State University and director of the Sonoma State University Primate Ethology Research Lab.

For the past 15 years, Darren has built and managed animal care and welfare programs for a variety of facilities in the US and abroad. He received an MS in Collections Management & Zoological Administration from George Mason University, BS from UC Davis in Wildlife & Fish Conservation Biology, and three degrees in exotic animal training & management from Moorpark College. He is currently a Zoological Manager at Oakland Zoo and also oversees the Zoo's research and animal care volunteer programs.

David Jaffe has over 20 years' experience as a zookeeper working at the San Diego Wild Animal Park, Marine World, and the San Francisco Zoo. He is also an amateur woodworker and maker and he has successfully combined these skills with his understanding of captive animals to design and build numerous animal-related devices, including a blood-draw sleeve for chimpanzees and penguin nest boxes. He designed and built the smart feeder prototype.

Penelope J. Wilson

Penelope Wilson joined the SSUPER Lab at Sonoma State University as a Biology M.S. student in August 2014. She received her B.S. in Zoology and Marine Biology from Humboldt State University in 2013. Penelope's experience comes from interning in animal care at Oakland Zoo, and years of working in veterinary hospitals. Her interests include captive animal welfare and environmental enrichment. Her thesis focuses on how temporal predictability of environmental enrichment affects the behavior and enclosure use of blue-eyed black and ring-tailed lemurs at the Oakland Zoo and how these changes affect zoo patron's interest in the lemurs.

Karin E. Jaffe

Karin Jaffe received her BA in anthropology from UC San Diego and her M.A. and Ph.D. in anthropology from UC Davis. She has been studying captive and wild primates for over 25 years, including sub-specific sociality differences in orangutans at the San Diego Zoo, behavior of mona monkeys on the island of Grenada, and vervet and patas monkey anti-predator behavior in Laikipia, Kenya. She is Professor of Anthropology at Sonoma State University, Research Affiliate at Oakland Zoo, and Director of the Sonoma State University Primate Ethology Research Lab

Darren Minier

Darren Minier has built and managed animal care, behavior management, and welfare programs with a large range of taxa - both captive and free-ranging - in zoos, marine parks, sanctuaries, animal-assisted therapy, and biomedical research facilities both nationally and abroad. He received a Master’s degree from George Mason University and AZA's Zoo and Aquarium Leadership Program, B.S. from the University of California, Davis in Wildlife and Fish Conservation Biology focusing in Behavioral Ecology, and three degrees from the Exotic Animal Training and Management Program at Moorpark College. Mr. Minier is the Assistant Director of Animal Care, Conservation, and Research at the Oakland Zoo, which includes overseeing the Welfare Research program. He is currently working with sanctuaries, zoos, and policy activists to form the Bear Education and Advocacy Resource (BEAR) Alliance, and consults nationwide on the care and welfare of bears in need. He is a board member for the California Wolf Center, and sits on the International Primatological Society's Captive Care Committee, the Animal Behavior Society's Animal Care Committee, and is an animal management and well-being reviewer for the Institute of Museum and Library Services, Journal of Animal Welfare, and Zoo Biology.