Meet the Staff at Mill Mountain Zoo
Ray- Eric Correia, Executive Director- Ray-Eric Correia, fundraising consultant for the zoo in mid-2010 and President of Crossroads Advancement Associates, assumed the zoo’s executive leadership in December of that year. He hails from New York City, grew up in Manhattan, and earned a bachelor of arts degree from Washington and Lee University and a master of arts degree from New York University. Mr. Correia has a distinguished 36-year career in private independent school leadership—20 years in Manhattan and 16 in Roanoke. Most recently, he was president of Roanoke Catholic School.
Robin Lentz, Curator-Robin joined the Zoo in the spring of 2011. She re-located to Roanoke from Jacksonville, FL where she worked at the Jacksonville Zoo for more than 10 years. Robin’s specialty is birds.
Bambi Godkin, Education Manager-Bambi is the Zoo’s education manager which means she works with both school and civic groups. Her education outreach goes into more than 20 counties and cities surrounding Roanoke. She also coordinates programs for groups that visit the Zoo on field trips.
Sarah Dowdy, Marketing & Operations Coordinator-Sarah joined the Zoo in the spring of 2011. She re-located from Nashville, TN where she worked in the music industry for several years doing marketing, artist and project development and tour management. Sarah loves animals of all kinds and is grateful for the opportunity to use her skills to benefit MM Zoo animals.
Kontessa St.Clair, I graduated from Virginia Tech with a BS in Wildlife Science. While I was going to school at VT I participated in Mill Mountain Zoo’s internship program. While I was an intern I cared for the newly opened aviary and did behavioral study on all the birds inside. I continued to volunteer and was offered a part-time position that lead to my current job as the Herp (reptile and amphibian) keeper. My favorite animals are the snakes and tortoises, especially the sulcata tortoise we have in our education program.
Heather Hutchinson, I graduated with a B.S. in Wildlife Management at Eastern Kentucky University. I began as a volunteer zookeeper at Ellen Trout Zoo working with their bird collection. I then was offered a position as a full time zookeeper at the Ellen Trout Zoo as a small mammal keeper then, 9 months later I was switched to Rhino/Giraffe Keeper that also worked with the large cats as well. My favorite animal I have ever worked with was 2 Abyssinian Ground Hornbills. My favorite animal at the Mill Mountain Zoo is the red pandas.
Ashley Hale, Graduated from Virginia Tech with a degree in Wildlife Science. Started out as an intern before becoming the primary bird keeper. I’m very fond of the male Red Billed Blue Magpie, he has a lot of personality and is quite the trouble maker.
Jessica Embrey, I received my bachelor’s degree in wildlife conservation and biology from the University of Rhode Island. After graduation, I was an intern at Mill Mountain Zoo and shortly became a full time keeper. I started out caring for the birds and small mammals and then began working with the felids, wolves, macaques and red pandas, which I am most interested in. I have been working those animals for over two years. I enjoy all of the animals I work with for different reasons; Cassie the red wolf is very playful and fun to work with, while China the snow leopard is stubborn and provides more of a challenge.
Christyne Fitzgerald, I graduated from Virginia Tech, were I received a Bachelor of Science in Biology and Psychology. Shortly after, I began interning at the zoo and was trained on each type of animal (mammals, birds, and herps). Currently I am a part-time swing keeper that covers birds, herps(amphibians and reptiles), education animals, the marmosets, and two of the red wolves. I am most interested in mammalian carnivores and aspire to work with them one day. My favorite animals at Mill Mountain Zoo are the most playful ones such as Nina (the cougar), Bo (the wolverine), and the Asian small-clawed otters. I am also fond of the Asian black vultures as they are incredibly curious and enjoy trying to take tools away from the keeper, which can be challenging but is amusing nonetheless.
Katie Charles, I graduated with a degree in Wildlife Science from Virginia Tech with minors in Biology, Forestry, and Natural Resources Recreation. I started my Zoo career volunteering with the education department at the Catoctin Wildlife Preserve and Zoo. That is where I discovered my love for educating the public about wildlife, which I still love doing at Mill Mountain Zoo! I started at this wonderful Zoo by teaching summer camps and volunteering with the education animals. I have worked with every animal at the zoo at one time or another and I have really enjoyed learning how to care for them. I am now the current non-dangerous mammal keeper at Mill Mountain Zoo and my favorite animals on my run are the absolutely adorable Indian Crested Porcupines!