Sabrina Brando is the director and founder of AnimalConcepts. She is deeply passionate about the interconnectedness of life - animals, people and planet. Her current PhD studies at the University of Stirling focus on ‘One Care: Individual and organisational aspects of human wellbeing in zoos and aquariums’.

Sabrina holds an MSc in Animal Studies and has extensively published popular and academic articles and books. She serves on zoo expert groups, a reviewer on academic journals, contributor to animal wellbeing books and is a frequently invited speaker and keynote. Sabrina is an instructor on the Primate Care Training Program for the Pan African Sanctuary Alliance, and teaches at various universities, colleges, zoos, aquariums, sanctuaries, and other facilities worldwide to improve animal, human and planetary wellbeing. Read more HERE.

Sabrina loves laughter, connection and stories. ‘How are you - but then really?’ and ‘Can you tell me a story?’ are two of her favourite questions.

Patrícia always had a passion for animals and at the age of 8, she decided she wanted to be a marine biologist. In 2002 she started her path in Biology and after graduation she joined MARE-ISPA, to monitor and study the behaviour of bottlenose dolphins in the Sado estuary region, Portugal.

In 2018 Patrícia finished her PhD in Behavioural Biology with two fronts: the study of captive dolphins’ behaviour using inertial sensors to build an automatic behavioural map; and the use of video-tracking to have information about dolphins’ preferences in the pool, contributing to the increase of knowledge of these animals’ routines.

Patrícia is the author of international scientific papers as well as posters and oral presentations at international conferences. Nowadays she is a lecturer at ISPA-Instituto Universitário, Lisbon. Simultaneously, she is dedicating her career to animal welfare since 2020 as the Executive Office Project Manager at AnimalConcepts.

Melodia is an enthusiastic scientist who is dedicated to improving animal welfare and the wellbeing of our planet. Ever since her childhood, she has been deeply connected to nature and has always been curious about the interconnectedness of all living things, especially wild animals.

Driven by her ambition to help animals all over the world and her strong sense of planetary consciousness she pursued a BSc in Environmental Sciences and an MSc in Applied Animal Behaviour and Welfare.

Melodia is fascinated by working with people from different countries as she believes it provides an opportunity to discuss cultural and ethical differences towards animals. Since 2022, she has been working with the Committee on Climate Change of Catalonia. Simultaneously, she dedicates her career to animal welfare working as the Virtual Learning Coordinator at AnimalConcepts. Melodia believes we can transform the lives of vulnerable animals through science, education and positive communication.

Max is a graduate of the Royal Veterinary College’s MSc in Wild Animal Biology and a keen animal wellbeing scientist with an interest in tools for holistic animal wellbeing across all domains of care.

As Animal Welfare and Conservation Coordinator at AnimalConcepts, he is involved in creating accessible resources for the animal care and wellbeing community with an interest in enhancing the diversity, equality, equity, and inclusivity of animal care careers and professional development resources.

Max has a diverse range of experiences with animals in human care, including as a caregiver in facilities across South-East England and as a nutritionist formulating zoo animal diets. His research interests include social network analysis, personality studies of zoo animals, and other tools for optimising the lives of animals and the people who care for them. He is a keen educator and lectures on wild animal care and conservation in addition to his work creating learning resources for AnimalConcepts.

Empowering people to improve the lives of animals is the purpose of Hannah’s work. Whether this is through words, stories, behaviours, or visuals it is communication with others that fascinates Hannah.

She aims to create connection and emotional safety in whatever she does so that she can effect meaningful change for animals and people.

Hannah holds a BSc in Animal Behaviour and is training to become an Equine Psychology Specialist with the Equine Behaviour Affiliation. Alongside her work for AnimalConcepts as Storyteller Hannah works at a small animal rescue centre, specialising in rabbits and guinea pigs, and also works freelance to support her passions in human behaviour change, copywriting and animal wellbeing. 
Hannah believes that an interconnected approach is needed to translate science, nurture compassion, and create change to improve the wellbeing of all.

The purpose of Irma lies in working towards a just, sustainable, peaceful, and ethical society.

She works on creating awareness of and inspiration for regenerative sustainable solutions. Communication and education have always been key in her professional career as she has a bachelor's degree in education. She graduated with her master’s in Environment and Development, specialising in climate change policies at the University for Peace in Costa Rica.

Irma works with themes such as climate change, biodiversity, sustainable lifestyles, resource wisdom and value education. She is committed to the Earth Charter and greatly values the principle of ‘respect and care for the community of life’. She has been collaborating with AnimalConcepts for many years already.

Recently she started her own company called Ayñiy; towards planetary wellbeing. Ayñiy focuses on environmental value education and advises organisations to take steps towards sustainability and circularity based on the interdependence of all life.