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Jenifer A. Zeligs,
Ph.D. is the founder and director of the SLEWTHS program.
She is responsible for the program's direction and vision,
as well as the overall management of the animal collection
and staff. |
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Dr. Zeligs has been
working with animals since 1981, when she got her start
at the Smithsonian's National Zoo in Washington, D.C.
Since that time she has trained dozens of species of terrestrial
and aquatic animals, but she has specialized primarily
in marine mammals. She has also worked as a training consultant
with exotic and domestic animals, as a veterinary technician,
and with animals trained to assist the handicapped. |
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| Dr. Zeligs has trained animals for research, free release in the
open-ocean, feature films and documentaries, public display
and veterinary purposes. She has collaborated with numerous
facilities and organizations, including work with Sea
World of San Diego on the release of JJ, the grey whale
in 1998, and work with Alliance for Marine Mammal Parks
and Aquariums on the reauthorization of the Marine Mammal
Protection Act in 1994. Dr. Zeligs has been featured
in over a dozen documentaries including National Geographic
Explorer and Dateline, NBC. She has been a professional
member of the International Marine Animal Trainers Association
since 1986 and the Marine Mammal Society since 1995. |
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Dr. Zeligs received her doctorate
from the University of California at Santa Cruz, where
she worked for Dr. Daniel Costa investigating diving physiology
in trained California sea lions. While at UCSC's Long
Marine Laboratory, she developed a program for animal
training and management for sea lions, seals and dolphins
which is still in use today. |
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| Dr. Zeligs
left UCSC for a post-doctoral position at Moss Landing
Marine Laboratories under Dr. James Harvey. At MLML, she
built and designed a marine mammal facility and developed
the SLEWTHS program. Jenifer Zeligs currently holds
an Assistant Professor position with California State
University at Monterey Bay where she teaches classes in
applied marine mammalogy. |
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