SIU Alumni Spotlight
Amber Theising Walker — B.S. 2004 Zoology, College of Science; Speech Communications Minor, College Liberal Arts.
If you want to put your college degree to use every day of your life, then follow in the footsteps of SIU Alumni Amber Theising Walker.
In 2004, after completing her undergraduate degree in Zoology, and minoring in Communications Studies, Walker dove headfirst into her career starting as a zookeeper and trainer in the Children’s Zoo at the Brookfield Zoo in Chicago.
Four years later she migrated to Seward, Alaska, for a year stint rescuing and rehabilitating marine animals, including the sea otter pup, Kiana, who now lives at Chicago’s Shedd Aquarium.
Next, Walker returned to Brookfield for a year to work with the marine animals in their Seven Seas exhibit, and spent a few months at Phillips Park Zoo in Aurora, IL, before Disney’s Animal Kingdom offered her a position as an animal trainer.
“My years with the Zoology program at SIUC were incredible. I was a Zoology Club Officer, where I made lifelong stories and friends. I still use the animal identification information and techniques that I learned in the practical, hands on labs nearly every single day,” Walker said.
While Walker was in in Florida, she also volunteered at the “University of Doglando” which is where she started her hands-on education with dogs, which ultimately led her to start her own business, “Animal Intuitions.”
In 2009, she returned to Chicago to get married and start a family. She spent six years working with Shedd Aquarium’s marine mammals and quarantine teams before returning to school at the Karen Pryor Academy to earn her dog trainer certification and in 2010 started Animal Intuitions, LLC.
“I can now put initials behind my name (KPA, CTP),” she said. “People love to see you’re certified, even if they don’t know what that means,” Walker said.
As the owner of Animal Intuitions, Walker offers group lessons and in-home dog training including basic behaviors through behavior modification. She also mentors aspiring animal enthusiasts around the world, is a regular contributor for TV, print, radio, podcasts, and online, in addition to acting as producer and co-segment producer for some TV appearances.
Her most recent appearance was just last week on WGN, where she focused on “The dos & don’ts of pet Halloween costumes”.
Walker continues to act as a training consultant for zoos and aquariums and is currently an animal training and behavioral consultant for the Phillips Park Zoo in Aurora. She is also a regular guest lecturer at Aurora University for their animal science classes.
“The best part of my job is that I continue to use the skills, tools, and knowledge I learned in my classes. The campus and the surrounding area are spectacular for someone pursuing a Zoology degree. SIUC’s Zoology program gave me tools I needed, from the perfect curriculum, to outstanding professors, like Dr. George Waring, who I am still in touch with, who went out of their way to help me.
So when people ask ‘Will I ever use this stuff in the real world?’ the answer is yes. Every single day,” Walker said.
Walker lives with her husband, Dan Walker, who President and CEO of Fox Valley Farms, her five-year-old daughter, and her two-year-old son.
For fun Walker writes songs and sings them “anywhere from the Internet to hookah bars,” is a hard-core hobby landscape and wildlife photographer, and a landscape painter.
Catch up with Amber Theising Walker at here: http://www.aitrainers.com
