Animal Training Academy

Like many young folks who love animals, Autumn set her sights on a career where she could spend her days interacting with the fascinating creatures of our planet. Vet medicine and agricultural production seemed to be the only career opportunities available at the time so she started a path towards vet school. However, once she had the chance to work in a vet school prior to applying, she recognized that her passion for progressive animal welfare refinement was beyond what the school was able to satisfy.

She then opted to study animal welfare and behavior as a grad student at Purdue University. Following school, she spent 17 years leading a behavior and husbandry program in a medical research facility, where she could apply her understanding of asking animals questions about their environments . After experiencing compassion fatigue, she went on to work with learners with Autism Spectrum Disorder and obtained a certification as an Autism Specialist. Here she was able to make sense of her years in animal training with the foundations of behavior analysis. Now Autumn is directing the animal care program at Elon Musk’s neuro tech company, Neuralink. Her goal is to transform animal medical research into a space that more resembles our human experience in voluntary participation of research studies.