Our Animal Care Staff on What They Do Each Day

Did you know that our Animal Care team members at the New England Aquarium are responsible for caring for nearly 10,000 animals? In celebration of Zookeeper Appreciation Week, we’re spotlighting a few of the dedicated people who spend every day taking care of animals across the Aquarium and our Animal Care Center in Quincy.

The highly trained team tackles many tasks to keep the animals strong and healthy, from feeding them to cleaning and prepping exhibits and engaging them through enrichment activities. Meet some of them below, and learn a bit about their work!

Kristen, Senior Aquarist

What’s something you think people would be surprised to know about your job?

I think people would be surprised to know that we dedicated space in the Animal Care Center in Quincy for when animals need time off exhibit, which is what my job is—to take care of them!

Can you explain what you do as simply as possible?

Here’s what I’ve got: I’m basically a glorified stingray butler. I clean up after them, prepare gourmet food that the living raviolis are hand-fed. I’m wet 90% of the time, either from pancake splashes or diving!

Summer, Senior Aquarist

What’s something you think people would be surprised to know about your job?

Most people assume that being an aquarist is just about feeding fish, but there’s so much more to it. We wear many hats: nutritionist, chemist, plumber, animal behaviorist, electrician, artist, science communicator, conservationist—the list goes on! Each day brings new challenges, whether it’s fine-tuning water chemistry, repairing life support systems, or designing engaging habitats. It’s a complex, multidisciplinary role that requires both technical skill and deep care for the animals. That variety is what makes it so rewarding.

Can you explain what you do as simply as possible?

I simulate the sun, ocean currents, and planetary chemistry so living rocks can grow millimeters a month. For fun!

Jordan, Senior Aquarist

What’s something you think people would be surprised to know about your job?

Maintaining our life support is as important to our exhibits as animal welfare is to our ambassadors. New England Aquarium aquarists are trained thoroughly on maintaining and building life support components such as UV sterilizers, rapid sand filters, and heat exchangers that are integral to our facility’s operation.

Can you explain what you do as simply as possible?

I take care of our cold marine animals and their homes!

Alyssa, Aquarist II

What’s something you think people would be surprised to know about your job?
At our Animal Care Center in Quincy, my team and I hatch and raise many of the fish you see in various exhibits around the aquarium. We share a lot of the fish we raise with other Association of Zoos and Aquariums-accredited instiutions, so we’re often shipping out juvenile fish all over the country!

Can you explain what you do as simply as possible?

I work with our larval fish and seadragons—so I’m basically a part-time fish nanny, part-time dragon trainer. When you glance into some of my tanks you might mistake what you’re looking at for a grain of rice with eyeballs, but I promise you, it’s a baby fish! I feed the “rice grains” smaller organisms that I culture by culturing even smaller organisms for them to eat, all of which require the most perfect, ideal conditions to survive. Some days it feels like if I even look at them wrong, it’s game over for everyone.

When it comes to the seadragons, these hyper-fragile, leaf-shaped divas also require a lot of specialized care. I create the perfect romantic ambience: mood lighting, seasonally regulated water temperatures, and just the right amount of flow—all so I can study and track their breeding behaviors. Despite these efforts, it still feels like I’m watching the world’s worst dating show, but with cool dancing and great fashion taste. After all of this, I’m still constantly trying to convince people that, no, they are not aliens, nor are they quite seahorses, and no, unfortunately, I cannot ride one into battle.

Adi, Aquarist II

What’s something you think people would be surprised to know about your job?

I think the main thing that people would be surprised about my job is that my team and I care for the largest diversity of fish and invertebrates throughout the aquarium. We provide high-level care for Amazonian and local freshwater fish and reptiles, tropical marine fish and invertebrates from the Indo-Pacific all the way to the Caribbean, temperate Australian reef fish and invertebrates found along the Gold Coast, and local cold-water marine fish found here in New England, as well as those along the Pacific Northwest coasts. Our five different galleries cover most of the unique ecosystems you can find aquatic life in, making it an incredibly rewarding team to be a part of!

Can you explain what you do as simply as possible?

As a floating aquarist on the permanent galleries team, my role differs from the primary aquarists of each gallery. They spend their full week in their gallery, while I have the opportunity to provide coverage in one or more of the five galleries on a given day. It makes me unique in that I know quite a lot about all the galleries in the 2.5 years that I’ve been working in this role (both about the animals I care for and the life support components we have to keep those animals happy and healthy). The one challenge my role poses is that having a singular favorite fish, invertebrate, or reptile is nearly impossible! I think my top two (or three) are our two adult female anacondas, Marion and Wilson, and then the scribbled angelfish in our Healthy Corals, Healthy Reefs exhibit.