Melanie Distefano Email & Phone Number

Boston, Massachusetts, United States

Boston, Massachusetts, United States

• Perform animal care routine for 26 species of Ambassador Animals including general husbandry, behavioral enrichment, and training. Maintain complete and up-to-date records in ZIMS and internal files.• Conduct behind-the-scenes tours and meet & greet opportunities with visitors.• Safely handle Ambassador Animals according to protocols and facilitate educational encounters for visitors, school groups, and special events.• Train and supervise seasonal staff, interns, volunteers, and teens on animal care, animal handling, and interpretation.• Support zoo’s Master Interpretive Plan by facilitating interpretation trainings, developing interpretive outlines, and presenting both formal and informal chats.• Provide superior customer service and engage guests throughout the zoo by answering inquiries and sharing knowledge about animals, natural history and behavior, exhibits, and conservation.

New Bedford, Massachusetts, United States

• Create, conduct, and evaluate curriculum for a 10 week after school program, ensuring conformation to Massachusetts and Common Core Standards, and bringing in revenue of $2,500.• Review and adjust ZooCrew summer camp curricula consisting of 12 different weekly sessions for campers between ages 4-12. Coordinate with Education Programs Supervisor to amend schedule and activities and to develop new content for inclusion.• Participate in professional development and feedback sessions to improve curriculum development, facilitation and classroom management techniques.

New Bedford, Massachusetts, United States

• Perform daily animal care and husbandry tasks including diet preparation, feeding, administering medications, cleaning exhibits and holding areas, developing and providing enrichment, crating and transporting animals, and keeping thorough records. Rotated through 3 areas of the zoo, working with more than 110 individuals from over 55 species of mammals, birds, reptiles, and invertebrates.• Conduct operant conditioning sessions to train and maintain husbandry and exhibition behaviors. Coordinate with staff in developing and adjusting training programs.• Assist in designing, constructing, and installing new habitat features including perching, shelter boxes, and climbing structures.• Engage the public through touch tank experiences and encounters with Ambassador Animals, delivering educational and conservation-based messages about them and their wild counterparts. Over 170 programs conducted with more than 8,600.• Support educational initiatives including zoo camp, virtual chats, break boxes, story walks, and off-site programming.

• Responsible for the care and continuous welfare of 38 animals from 16 species. Distributed diets, cleaned exhibits and holding areas, provided approved enrichment, assisted with shifting between enclosures, and observed animals for unusual behaviors, eating habits, and signs of illness or injury.• Assisted in department record-keeping by participating in daily team meetings to ensure consistent and professional communications regarding all aspects of collection maintenance.• Operated company vehicles both on and off grounds to collect, process, and distribute browse, and to transport various supplies including diets, equipment, and exhibit features. Utilized power tools and landscape equipment to maintain exhibits and holding areas as well as keeper areas.• Conducted ASRs with Masai giraffes, educating visitors about their natural history, behavior, and conservation. Ensured safe and positive interactions between guests and animals during guest feedings.

Woonsocket, Rhode Island, United States

• Managed prescriber data stabilization process by partnering with external data vendor and facilitating weekly status meetings to analyze prescriber data anomalies, determine next steps for data correction, and suggest process amendments for improved data acquisition and maintenance.• Analyzed prescriber data and developed strategy plans for effective deployment of prescriptive authority validations on over 2 million prescribers in 7,895 CVS stores. • Oversaw reporting and research activities for a team of 7, ensuring due dates were met and issues were communicated to the appropriate parties. Developed and maintained internal files and databases for tracking data issues, research and updates.• Created and maintained comprehensive policy, procedure, and training documents.• Educated team members on reporting and analysis procedures and strategies to assist in investigating issues and determining solutions.• Developed and managed system enhancement testing for team by constructing comprehensive test plans including test scenarios, data files, and process flow. Collaborated with QA team to ensure successful data load and test execution.• Aligned with key stakeholders to develop system functionalities to ensure compliance with regulatory requests, identify system defects and ensure successful implementation.

Woonsocket, Rhode Island, United States

• Researched and corrected 56,000 audited claims with 97% successful resolution, ensuring accurate claims submission and reliable database information. Worked with plan representatives to devise strategies to prevent such instances in the future.• Resolved 1,476 customer relations calls and 8,192 help desk calls.

Bachelor Of Science - Bs, Animal Sciences

Activities and Societies: Order of Omega, Golden Key, Sigma Alpha Agricultural Sorority, Research Assistant, Undergraduate Teaching.

Ba, Psychology

Activities and Societies: Sigma Kappa Sorority, Psychology Club, Research Assistant