Meet Your Instructors
Want to know more about who is teaching the PAT classes? You've come to the right page. DRC Training Institute's PAT instructors have a combined 100+ years of marine mammal experience. DRCTI Instructors approach teaching with the core ideal of creating strong relationships between marine mammals and people based on trust and respect. The relationship and sense of partnership between marine mammals and people is a treasured part of DRC's equation. Based on this foundation, DRC has become a leader in animal care and training techniques, including world-renowned, innovative husbandry, research, and interactive programming.
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Mandy Rodriguez |
If you happen to meet Mandy on the grounds of Dolphin Research Center he may introduce himself as the gardener. While he does love getting his hands dirty, this humble visionary is the co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of Dolphin Research Center. His philosophy of animal training is the backbone of DRC’s Animal Care and Training Department, and the DRCTI courses. He pioneered facility construction for natural habitats, co-designing the fencing DRC uses with a dolphin partner named Kibby. Working with DRC’s Animal Care and Habitat team, Mandy continues to make advancements in care and husbandry for marine mammals, including the threatened Florida manatees he helps rescue. Mandy has also been the recipient of the lifetime achievement award from IMATA. |
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Linda Erb |
As Vice President of the Animal Care & Training department, Linda sits on DRC's Steering Committee. This is the team that makes decisions that lead and direct our family's future. In addition to being the VP of the ACT department, Linda is the Director of the DRC Training Institute as well as an instructor. She is an integral part of DRC and DRCTI, one with the heart and philosophy of our unique family and a staff member since 1979. |
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Loriel Keaton |
Loriel is the Director of Animal Care & Training at Dolphin Research Center in addition to being a DRCTI instructor. Loriel first visited DRC in August 2001 when she participated in both Basic and Advanced DolphinLab. Those two weeks changed her life and from that point on Loriel knew she wanted to be a part of the DRC family. |
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Emily Guarino |
As Dolphin Research Center’s Director of Research Training & Data Collection, Emily’s primary responsibility is to coordinate all aspects of research studies which focus on cognition, behavior, and communication with DRC’s dolphins and sea lions, and field studies of wild dolphins. |
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Kelly Jaakkola |
Kelly Jaakkola is a cognitive psychologist, marine mammal scientist, and Director of Research for DRC. She earned her Master's degree in Psychology from Emory University, where she began her career studying cognition in chimpanzees and human children and received her Ph.D. in Cognitive Science from MIT. |
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Erica Wisniewski |
Erica has been at DRC for over 6 years and, in addition to being a trainer, has become an instructor for both the associates and certificate programs offered by DRCTI. Erica grew up in a small town in New Jersey right by the ocean and that is where her love for marine life grew. She loved any type of aquarium or zoo that her family would take her to and she dreamed at a very young age that one day she would be able to work with marine mammals, and she never let go of that dream. |
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Noelle Belden |
Dean of Dolphin Research Center Training Institute, Noelle, earned a B.A. in Psychology from Rollins College in 2003. During her time there, she worked as a peer tutor for psychology and writing courses. In 2005, Noelle decided to pursue her dream of working with marine mammals and accepted a position as an Educator at SeaWorld in Orlando, FL. |
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Courtney Coburn |
Courtney Coburn is the Administrative Director of Education at Dolphin Research Center. Courtney's passion for the ocean and marine life began at the early age of three when she met Sammy the Sea Lion on a visit to Miami Seaquarium. Visits to SeaWorld of Ohio throughout her childhood continued fueling her love of dolphins and marine mammals. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in Biology, with a minor in Marine Science, from Wittenberg University in May 2007. |
