Ken is the EVP and Chief Training Officer at Karen Pryor Clicker Training, co-leading the company with Aaron Clayton. Ken oversees the vision for, and development of, training education programs. You will usually find Ken teaching at a ClickerExpo conference, leading a course at the Karen Pryor National Training Center (The Ranch), or teaching one of the Karen Pryor Academy courses.

A 40+ year veteran of animal care and training, Ken is a biologist and behaviorist who has supervised the development care and training of more than 40,000 species. He has worked with organizations across the globe to improve animal training, program effectiveness, and animal health and welfare. Ken’s diverse body of contributions includes designing and implementing conservation projects for elephant protection and spearheading projects to train everything from komodo dragons to butterflies. Ken’s extensive canine work includes working with trainers, organizations, and federal and state agencies on training procedures for topics including aggression, search-and-rescue, and scent detection.

Ken has written/edited two successful books, taught at a major university, hosted two successful seasons of the television series Talk to the Animals, and was EVP of animal care and training at Chicago’s Shedd Aquarium. When he’s not doing cool stuff with animals and people, you might find Ken at a NY theater or at any movie screening.

Laura Monaco Torelli is the founder of Animal Behavior Training Concepts in Chicago, Illinois. She began her career in 1991 at Chicago’s Shedd Aquarium, where she trained beluga whales, dolphins, sea otters, seals, river otters, and penguins. After nearly a decade at the Shedd, she moved on to the San Diego Zoo and then Brookfield Zoo as a lead supervisory trainer. During her time in the zoo community, Laura worked with a wide variety of terrestrial animals, including primates, large cats, birds of prey, horses, parrots, tree kangaroos, giraffes, red pandas, and dogs.

Laura serves as a member of the Karen Pryor Academy for Animal Training & Behavior (KPA) Faculty, and as a Teaching Assistant for Dr. Susan G. Friedman’s Living & Learning with Animals online course. She offers private training at West Loop Veterinary Care, located in downtown Chicago. Laura has presented at numerous professional conferences and taught seminars across the United States, Italy, Sweden, UK, Singapore, Japan, and the Caribbean. She was an invited speaker for the American Veterinary Medical Association Convention, Midwest Veterinary Conference, and Penn Vet Working Dog Conference. She has appeared on various broadcast media, including WGN and NBC 5 news, WGN Radio, and WCIU’s You & Me This Morning. She also contributed her training videos for the Fear Free Professional Trainer Certification program, and the Karen Pryor Academy Better Vet Visits online course.

Learn more about Laura on her website, on Facebook, on Twitter, on LinkedIn or on Instagram.