We make no bones about it!
We take great care of our students because we have a team that cares a great deal about our students.
Nathan Andrews is Karen Pryor Academy’s Education Initiatives Coordinator. He has had a longstanding and varied career in animal care and behavior. Having worked in pet-dog training and welfare, as well as zoological animal care, for more than 15 years, Nathan is passionate about animal welfare and maximizing opportunities for learners. He has authored two peer- reviewed publications in Ursid behavior and is a Karen Pryor Academy (KPA) Certified Training Partner (CTP). For Nathan, the most exciting part of being the KPA Education Initiatives Coordinator is working with an incredible team of caring and compassionate individuals to help shape animal welfare and behavior across a much larger platform. Nathan looks forward to working with many of the amazing educators in this field to create the best learning experiences for a wide range of potential students.
Shelly is one of the curriculum developers at Karen Pryor Academy (KPA), is a KPA Certified Training Partner (CTP), and a KPA faculty member. Shelly began her professional animal training career in 1999 training dolphins and sea lions in the Florida Keys. She continued in marine mammal training for ten years before making the switch to training companion animals. Accepting the honor of teaching the Dog Trainer Professional program was one of the highlights of Shelly’s career. Shelly enjoys meeting students and their dogs, and watching their skillset expand. In 2013, the process of relocating back to her home state of Minnesota provided an exciting opportunity to join the KPA team full-time. Combining her expertise in animal training with her passion for creating written and visual content, Shelly is extremely happy with her role as curriculum developer at KPA.
Tessa Burman is a Course Developer at Karen Pryor Academy (KPA) as well as a KPA Certified Training Partner (CTP). She enjoys combining her animal-training knowledge with her passions for organization and writing in the development and updating of KPA’s educational courses. Prior to joining the KPA team, Tessa worked for several years as a behavior consultant and group-class instructor at the Humane Society of Boulder Valley, in addition to operating her own therapy-dog training business. She is passionate about the human-animal bond and particularly enjoys educating people about canine body language to strengthen that bond. Tessa holds a bachelor of arts degree in international affairs. She resides in Colorado, where she enjoys trail running, reading, baking, watching comedy films, and spending time with her dog, Bindi.
Gretchen is Associate Director of Karen Pryor Academy (KPA) and a KPA Certified Training Partner (CTP). She was hired as the first Alumni Relations Manager for KPA in 2011 and she completed the Dog Trainer Professional (DTP) program with her Boston terrier, Daisy, in 2012. Gretchen’s main focus now is growing the DTP program. She loves working with the KPA faculty and staff as well as traveling to industry conferences. Gretchen lives in New England but holds tight to her Midwestern roots as an avid Green Bay Packer fan. When she isn’t working (or traveling), Gretchen enjoys playing sports with her friends, spending time with her family, and having fun with her dogs. She is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point with a bachelor of science degree in Business.
Annie Chastain is the Application and Enrollment Coordinator at Karen Pryor Academy (KPA) and is a KPA Certified Training Partner (CPT). Annie enjoys meeting students and helping them achieve their goals to become positive reinforcement trainers. She holds a bachelor of arts degree in management and is always looking for opportunities to further her education by attending conferences and seminars. Prior to joining the KPA team, Annie worked in administration for the film industry and a professional photography workshop. Annie resides in New Mexico where she enjoys baking, knitting, traveling, and cheering on the University of Kansas Jayhawks. Her favorite travel destination is wherever the next ClickerExpo is being held.
Aaron is the Chief Executive Officer of Karen Pryor Clicker Training. In 2007, he launched Karen Pryor Academy with the eponymous Karen Pryor. Today, Aaron co-leads the organizations with Ken Ramirez. Historically a “big-dog guy,” Aaron's heart has been taken hostage recently by a Havanese named Zoe. It's an adjustment! Aaron is a native of Massachusetts and still resides there. He is the lucky father of two wonderful young women! Aaron cycles and skis, loves the beach, and is a bit of a foodie. His Pan Mass Challenge bicycle team, founded in memory of his wife, Wendy, and close friend, Bob Freeman, has raised more than $1,000,000 to fund cancer research at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute. Aaron is a graduate of Brown University with a bachelor of arts degree in Political Science; he earned his MBA at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College—much longer ago than he would like to admit. Aaron’s favorite time of year is ClickerExpo time!
Kelly Leisten is the Coordinator of Academic Affairs at Karen Pryor Academy (KPA) and is a KPA Certified Training Partner (CTP). In this role, she enjoys listening to, coaching, and guiding students on their journey to become KPA CTPs. Kelly is the owner and head Trainer of Applaud the Dog, where she provides customized private training and classes to dogs who are fearful, reactive, or impulsive in their surroundings. (She has one of each!) She also devotes her time to evaluating rescue dogs for adoption and providing training for their new families. For several years, she was a head trainer teaching reactive dog classes at a major animal rescue organization. Kelly resides in Connecticut with her family.
Breanna Norris is the Alumni Relations Coordinator at Karen Pryor Academy (KPA) and a KPA Certified Training Partner (CTP) herself. Breanna operates her dog training business, Canine Insights, LLC, in central Maine where she was born and raised. She owns a 57-acre farm in her hometown where she grows fruit and vegetables and enjoys maintaining trails in the woods for daily walks with dogs. Breanna is proud to be a CTP and is passionate about the CTP community. She enjoys training dogs as well as other domestic animals, from cats and horses to sheep and chickens. Breanna holds a master’s degree in anthrozoology from Canisius College.
Ken is the EVP and Chief Training Officer at Karen Pryor Clicker Training, co-leading the company with Aaron Clayton. Ken oversees the vision for, and development of, training education programs. You will usually find Ken teaching at a ClickerExpo conference, leading a course at the Karen Pryor National Training Center (The Ranch), or teaching one of the Karen Pryor Academy courses.
A 40+ year veteran of animal care and training, Ken is a biologist and behaviorist who has supervised the the development care and training of more than 40,000 species. He has worked with organizations across the globe to improve animal training, program effectiveness, and animal health and welfare. Ken’s diverse body of contributions includes designing and implementing conservation projects for elephant protection and spearheading projects to train everything from komodo dragons to butterflies. Ken’s extensive canine work includes working with trainers, organizations, and federal and state agencies on training procedures for topics including aggression, search-and-rescue, and scent detection. He’s written/edited two successful books, taught at a major university, hosted two successful seasons of the television series Talk to the Animals and was EVP of animal care and training at Chicago's Shedd Aquarium. When he’s not doing cool stuff with animals and people, you might find Ken at a NY theater or any movie screening.
