Meg Sczyrba
Founder and President
In a shot heard around the world, a Minnesota dentist killed Cecil the Lion for sport. The event struck Meg at her core, and she rather obsessively followed the flurry of news articles highlighting the plight of lions, elephants, and other endangered species. This influx of information ignited Meg’s passion for wildlife conservation and she knew she wanted to do something to help. She wasn’t sure how to get started with this new path until she found Miami University’s Project Dragonfly, a master’s degree program focused on conservation. While it was daunting to go back to school after 30 years, she showed that an old dog really can learn new tricks. Meg centered her studies around creating the foundations of Wildlife at Heart with the intention of helping others understand “who” animals are rather than just “what” they are.
Meg holds degrees in psychology and law from the University of Missouri-Columbia and a master’s degree in biology from Miami University. When she’s not researching species, writing content, or plotting quizzes for the website, Meg loves reading about magical fictional worlds. She lives in Portland, Oregon with two extremely spoiled Himalayan cats. Meg is also a breast cancer survivor.
Kevin Howard
Secretary
Kevin is the Principal Consultant for Climate Changes Everything, LLC, an Oregon certified MBE providing climate risk management and sustainability advisory services to the financial services industry. Kevin built a successful 25-year career in commercial banking before transitioning into climate risk management. Kevin has held senior climate risk management roles with U.S. Bank and Freddie Mac before starting his consulting firm. Kevin is a passionate conservationist deeply committed to contributing to the global transition to a sustainable, regenerative economy.
Kevin’s education includes a law degree with a concentration in constitutional law and contracts, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics. Kevin also possesses the Sustainability and Climate Risk (SCR) certification from the Global Association of Risk Professionals (GARP). Kevin is married to Nikole Fischer, and they live in the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area.
Julia Walz
Treasurer
Julia is a learning coordinator at the Woodland Park Zoo working in the adult and teen education program and specifically facilitating the Advanced Inquiry Program partnership with Miami University. While she is currently working in an education capacity, much of her earlier career was spent as an animal keeper working primarily with primates (especially new world primates!), although she also has a plethora of experience with a wide variety of animals including all kinds of arthropods, birds, marine mammals and carnivores. She holds a B.S. in Evolution and Ecology from UC Davis and an M.S. in Biology from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.
Julia is fascinated by and loves learning about life on our planet (especially animals) and she has a passion for the intersection of animal behavior and conservation. In her spare time, you may see her on her local trails taking in the wild places of the Pacific Northwest and spending time enjoying nature anyway she can!
Barry Brennessel
Board Member
When Barry’s first collection of stories was read aloud by his second grade teacher, the author hid. As the years flew by, he wrote more, hid less (not really), and branched out to Super 8 films and cassette tape recorders. Barry’s audience—consisting solely of friends and family—were both amused and bemused.
Since those childhood days, Barry has earned degrees in English and French from the State University of New York College at Brockport, and a Master of Arts in Writing from the Johns Hopkins University.
His stories, novels, and teleplays have won numerous awards, including Grand Prize and 1st Place in the Rhode Island International Screenplay Competition; Semi-Finalist status, 14th Annual American Zoetrope Screenplay Contest; Top 10, 2017 Tracking Board Launch Pad Manuscript Competition; Finalist, 2016 Arch and Bruce Brown Foundation Competition; Finalist, Cannes Screenplay Contest; a 2008 Pushcart Prize nomination; 3rd Place in the 79th Annual Writer’s Digest Writing Competition; and 3rd Place in the Scriptapalooza TV Writing Competition.
When not embroiled in his own writing, Barry sips wine, nibbles on chocolate, and watches films and TV—both the classic and the cheesy. (Mmm…cheese!). And his passion for all creatures great and small knows no bounds.
Chris Berg
Board Member
Chris is a zoo and aquarium education professional with experience working at AZA-accredited institutions across the United States. His work is grounded in a passion for connecting people to wildlife through meaningful educational experiences, with a recent focus on using empathy-based best practices to inspire care and conservation. Chris is currently pursuing a Master of Arts in Education through the University of Miami’s Project Dragonfly program, where he continues to deepen his understanding of learner-centered and inquiry-based approaches to education. Outside of his professional and academic pursuits, Chris enjoys running, exploring his neighborhood with his (very large) greyhound Curve, and playing board games with friends and family.
Grace Tumasmith
Board Member
Grace is a student at University of Wisconsin Stevens-Point. studying Wildlife Ecology with a Minor in Conservation Biology. She was drawn to conservation even at a young age and loved spending time with animals. Grace raised and hatched monarch butterflies, and as she grew older, she also tagged monarchs to help scientists. Between helping worms on her driveway to helping her cousin catch and tag birds Grace always jumps on the opportunity to learn more about wildlife and the environment.
Grace is from Minnesota. In her spare time, she likes to watch movies and bake.
Isabella Esquivel
Board Member
Isabella is a student at Boston University, currently pursuing her Bachelors of Science in Film and Television. She is a hard-working and passionate film/video producer, originally from Fort Worth, Texas, and has always had a passion for filmmaking and videography – specifically producing. She spends most of her time producing student films, educational videos, and music videos. She has a strong logistical mind, but is also skilled in editing, cinematography, and directing. Passionate about social justice, Isabella hopes to create social change through filmmaking and video production, which led her to Wildlife At Heart.
Lindsay Taylor
Board Member
Lindsay loves animals of all kinds! She is the proud owner of four cats and one amazing dog. Lindsay is currently in school to be an addiction counselor, and will begin seeing patients over the summer of 2025.
Thanks to her close relationship with her aunt, Meg Sczyrba, Lindsay has had many amazing and behind the scenes encounters with zoo animals. Her favorite experience was petting a tiger’s tail, and spraying goat’s milk into its mouth. Lindsay is passionate about Wildlife at Heart, and looks forward to positively impacting wild animals and the environment.