Education: Bachelor’s degree in Teaching from Virginia Tech and his Master’s degree in Ecology from Indiana State University Venomous Snake Handling Experience:​ Joe was a Senior Keeper at Indianapolis Zoo, an AZA-accredited institution. As a Senior Zookeeper he worked with a wide variety of venomous (e.g. adders, cobras and relatives, rattlesnakes, and a variety of arboreal vipers and rear-fanged species) and nonvenomous snake species from around the world. His experience also includes husbandry of arboreal pit vipers and rattlesnakes at Indiana State University. He has also conducted research on Prairie Rattlesnakes their natural habitats. This research included tracking, PIT-tagging to determine hibernacula and provide management recommendations to agencies. In recent years, Joe traveled to Central and South America working with native herpetofauna, including venomous species like Bushmasters, Fer de Lance, Neotropical rattlesnakes, and Coral snakes. He is also experienced with Gila monsters and Mexican beaded lizards, both of which are venomous lizards. He provides snake safety training to agencies and industry staff.