Dr. Grey Stafford is an animal trainer, zoologist, educator, and currently the Director of Conservation at the

Wildlife World Zoo Wildlife World Zoo & Aquarium is a zoo and aquarium in Litchfield Park, Arizona, United States, near Phoenix. The zoo specializes in African and South American animals, and has Arizona's largest collection of exotic animals. It has a "safari tr ...

and Aquarium in Phoenix, Arizona. He is also a spokesperson for the zoo and aquarium industry and has been featured on nationally televised programs. Grey is also the author of ''Zoomility: Keeper Tales of Training with Positive Reinforcement''. His mentor,

Jack Hanna Jack Bushnell Hanna (born January 2, 1947) is a retired American zookeeper and a former director emeritus of the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium. "Jungle Jack" was director of the zoo from 1978 to 1992, and is viewed as largely responsible for elevat ...

, wrote the book's foreword.

Early years

Grey was raised in

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

, Ohio and began his animal training career as a marine mammal trainer at SeaWorld of Ohio under the auspices of acclaimed animal trainers Thad Lacinak and Ted Turner.

Education

He holds a PhD granted by the Department of Biological Sciences at

Kent State University Kent State University (KSU) is a public research university in Kent, Ohio. The university also includes seven regional campuses in Northeast Ohio and additional facilities in the region and internationally. Regional campuses are located in As ...

Career

Grey serves as the Director of Conservation at the Wildlife World Zoo and Aquarium in Phoenix and appears regularly as a guest animal expert on "Fox 10 Arizona Morning," ''

Good Morning Arizona KTVK (channel 3) is an independent television station in Phoenix, Arizona, United States. It is owned by Gray Television alongside CBS affiliate KPHO-TV (channel 5) and low-power LATV affiliate KPHE-LD (channel 44). KTVK and KPHO-TV share st ...

'' and ''Your Life A to Z''. He is a zoo spokesperson and has helped feature animals on ''

The Ellen DeGeneres Show ''The Ellen DeGeneres Show'' (often shortened to ''Ellen'' or ''The Ellen Show'') is an American daytime television variety comedy talk show that was created and hosted by its namesake Ellen DeGeneres. Debuting on September 8, 2003, it was prod ...

Late Show with David Letterman The ''Late Show with David Letterman'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on CBS, the first iteration of the The Late Show (franchise), ''Late Show'' franchise. The show debuted on August 30, 1993, and was produced by ...

The Tonight Show with Jay Leno ''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Jay Leno that first aired from May 25, 1992, to May 29, 2009. It resumed production on March 1, 2010 and ended on February 6, 2014. The fourth incarnation of the ...

Larry King Live ''Larry King Live'' was an American television talk show hosted by Larry King on CNN from 1985 to 2010. It was the channel's most watched and longest-running program, with over one million viewers nightly. Mainly aired from CNN's Los Angeles s ...

, Martha Stewart, Rosie O'Donnell,

Good Morning America ''Good Morning America'' (often abbreviated as ''GMA'') is an American morning television program that is broadcast on ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends with the debut of a Sunday edition on January 3, 1993. Th ...

'' and ''Weekend Extra''. He has also been featured on the

Sci Fi Channel Syfy (formerly Sci-Fi Channel, later shortened to Sci Fi; stylized as SYFY) is an American basic cable channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. Launc ...

Professional Service

Stafford also serves on the editorial advisory board for the International Marine Animal Trainers Association (IMATA).

Commentator

Grey serves as an expert commentator regarding captive animal issues for national and international media outlets. On July 30, 2010 he was interviewed by CNN HLN concerning the fatal grizzly bear attacks in Montana. In 2013, he was selected along with his colleague William Hurley IV to serve as a guest panelist for a critique of the controversial docudrama ''Blackfish'' (film) for CNN.

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Stafford, Grey Animal trainers Kent State University alumni Writers from Cleveland American male writers