Ryan Colman

What inspired you to pursue a career in your field?

I’ve always had a passion for animals and there’s so much you can do to make the lives of animals better, whether it’s enrichment or enclosure design or training, working with animals is active and a job with really high job satisfaction.

What do you enjoy most about your role at the college?

I enjoy developing animal enclosures and helping develop the wildlife park to be an award winning collection that encourages the best out of the industry. I love building enrichment and just building something out of nothing!

Areas of Interest and Expertise

I specialise in reptiles from being a reptile keeper for 7 years, but I also specialise in smaller mammals, usually small carnivores, specialising in enclosure design and enrichment.

What advice would you give to students looking to succeed in your subject area?

It’s a physically demanding job, there’s a lot of mud, a lot of poo and a lot of unfavourable working conditions. Be prepared to get stuck in. And once you’ve got the enthusiasm for it, volunteer and work experience as much as humanly possible to get that foot in the door and just prove your worth. Don’t panic about grades, there’s always options no matter how well or badly you do.

What book, movie, artist or podcast do you always recommend?

I recommend whatever book has the most information on the animals you like most! You can never know too much about your favourite animals!

If your students had to describe you in three words, what would they say?

Quiet, Easy going, Committed

Anything else?

An interesting fact about me is that after a full day of working with animals at Askham I go home to a dog, a bird, chinchillas and a room full of reptiles, amphibians and invertebrates to do it all again!