Our 2025 conference is officially in the books and, as cool people would say “the vibes were immaculate.”
This year’s conference theme was “Change,” and there was no shortage of change to go around. Perhaps the most notable change was to the daily schedule format which followed the framework of formal presentations in the morning, discussions and breakout groups in the afternoon, and nightly networking events in the evenings. The new structure allowed attendees to learn new techniques and discover new science in the formal sessions and then extrapolate on this knowledge in smaller group trainings, discussions, and professional development opportunities with afternoon breakouts.
The feedback from attendees was overwhelmingly positive on this new structure, and the discussion generated between fellow behaviorists across many facilities and taxa led to a valuable experience for all who attended.
Beyond the conference structure, the theme of change was echoed in many of the invited speakers’ presentations and breakout sessions. Our conference kicked off with an inspiring keynote address from Tim Sullivan, the Director of Behavioral Husbandry at the Brookfield Zoo on “Embracing Change: The Power of Adaptability & Growth” and concluded with another inspiring address from Ken Ramirez on “The Future of Training.” Both talks instilled an eagerness to effect positive change for our institutions, our animals and our industry.
From kicking-off the conference with an excellent zoo day & icebreaker at Brookfield Zoo Chicago to concluding with an unbelievable awards banquet sponsored by Shedd Aquarium (and the bonus day at their beautiful facility), the conference was jam packed with incredible networking, discussion, and learning opportunities for attendees of all experience levels.
With our 2025 conference now in the rear-view mirror, attention has turned to building on the momentum from this year’s conference to build an even more engaging and valuable conference for attendees in Orlando in 2026! We hope you will be able to join us to participate in the discussions when we get to the sunshine state in the fall of next year.
Until then, a huge thank-you from the entire IMATA leadership team to our attendees, speakers, and sponsors for making Chicago 2025 a conference to remember!
