Ms Sabrina Brando

Hi, I‘m Sabrina, I love the outdoors, laughter, journeys, and connecting with others, including other animals! How are you (but then really) & can you please tell me a story, are two of my favourite questions. Stories of call kinds can inspire, bring us joy, connection, and help us heal. Stories and ACTs can affect change. One of my favourite quotes is “What you do speaks so loudly that I cannot hear what you say” by Ralph Waldo Emerson. It connects deeply to my ideas around flourishing for all. For peoples, other animals, the greater community of life, and this beautiful planet we share. To listen, learn, share, and act from a culture of respect and care. I look forward to connecting with you.

Sabrina Brando is the director of AnimalConcepts, including the Practical Animal Welfare Science platform, a PhD candidate at the University of Stirling in Scotland on the topic of animal and human wellbeing, is a Primate Care Training Instructor for the Pan African Sanctuary Alliance, and Research Associate with the Smithsonian Institution.

She teaches at various universities and colleges as well as working with many zoos, aquariums and sanctuaries worldwide, on animal welfare, behaviour, environmental enrichment, animal training, the human-animal relationship, and other topics. Sabrina is a Certified Compassion Fatigue Professional and feels compassion awareness is key in the animal care profession in order for animal care professionals to serve animals and people with compassion and integrity, for people to ‘Take Care to Give Care’.

Sabrina is a frequent invited and keynote speaker at conferences and seminars and runs a wide variety of workshops through AnimalConcepts. She teaches as a guest lecturer at various universities and colleges as well as many zoos, aquariums and sanctuaries worldwide, on animal welfare, behaviour, environmental enrichment, animal training, the human-animal relationship, and other topics. Sabrina serves on zoo expert groups and collaborates on a wide variety of research projects regarding animal care and wellbeing, behaviour, and advocacy, serves as a reviewer on academic journals, contributes chapters to animal wellbeing books, and has extensively published popular and academic articles.

Sabrina is a Chief Storyteller. She loves storytelling and writing - particularly about animals, the human-animal connection, and the natural world. She often wears a button with “I love stories”. The button sparks a lot of great conversations and storytelling about animals among many other topics, from people she meets at conferences to strangers on a plane. If you have a story you want to share about the animal(s) you care(d) for, a special friendship you have with your favourite animal, a great action for animals or for the planet you were involved in, or anything else that makes your heart sing concerning animals and nature, Sabrina would love to hear from you!

My research interests revolve around the interconnectedness of animal and human wellbeing. Focusing on the 24/7 across lifespan & whole of life experience, the quality of care of captive animals in zoos, aquariums, and sanctuaries, as well as what it means for people to care for animals, and other goals such as conservation, education, and research they care about.