Jackie Stone ’13

“My favorite thing about UNE was the opportunity to get hands on experience, whether than be in the classroom, in the lab, or at the Marine Animal Rehabilitation Center. At MARC, I attained a lot of hands on experience rehabilitating different types of marine mammals. In the ANB classes, I actually was given the chance to perform a study to see the practical application of what we were learning in class. The classes were also small, which gave us, the students, the ability to talk with our professors one-on-one and learn from them on a closer level than if there were 200 students in the class.

"The classes I took gave me the knowledge and background for the work I do today. Though the ANB major, I learned about different types of training, the physiology of the brain, and read numerous behavioral studies that allowed me to learn from experiments that already occurred. I was able to learn about different theories and why training has morphed over the years. I also learned a lot about operant conditioning, which is the type of training (positive reinforcement) that we utilize at my job each day.

"Currently I am an assistant trainer at the Georgia Aquarium where I work with dolphins in both an encounter and show environment. As for future plans, I strive to keep learning from mentors and other trainers in the field, so that I may become the best trainer I can possibly be. I plan to keep learning and growing professionally, while having fun and loving what I do. It’s an awesome career to have and I’m blessed to have the opportunities that have been given to me.”