Meet the Staff: Gen Katz

Gen Katz had recently been figuring out what his future could hold. After attending Syracuse University for a year and a half, he decided to search for something that he had a true passion for.

Gen Katz

During the last semester however, there were two prominent items in his apartment, a 10 gallon freshwater aquarium and an attempted saltwater aquarium. He didn’t put much thought into the tanks at the time until he returned to NYC and had the opportunity to get a much larger aquarium. It was the beginning to a new endeavor that eventually led to a new career.

Plastic decorations weren’t satisfying enough for Gen and he felt there was more that he could accomplish with an aquarium. The thought of having a saltwater aquarium was something he considered, but with no true experience it seemed too intimidating. As he started to browse YouTube videos and other online aquarists forums, he found the answer; a planted tank.

From the moment Gen aquascaped his first planted aquarium, the passion for planted tanks took off. Gen has since gone through many planted tanks to find his style of aquascaping. As he began setting up tanks he decided to vlog his process throughout all the tanks. Having this video record has allowed Gen to occasionally look back at where it all began.

Once Gen found Fauna he quickly became part of the family and decided to plant some roots of his own! After revamping the freshwater plant department, he soon had the store littered with small planted aquariums throughout.

Within a few short weeks of working at Fauna, Gen found he also had an interest in dart frog terrariums. After designing a few planted terrariums he knew it would be something he would pursue. Gen finds himself now with planted aquariums, a marine tank and a few dart frog terrariums in his home.

To learn more about Fauna NYC, visit our website!

Meet the Staff: Karin Shetler

Karin Shetler

As a child growing up with a biologist father, Karin was exposed to a variety of non-human animal companions ranging from a coatimundi to geckos, monkeys to goldfish. But her fascination has always been with parrots. Kukla and Ollie (blue and gold macaws), Camille (a mollucan cockatoo) were just a few of the extraordinary beings that shared her home growing up, and they instilled a life long love of birds in Karin from a young age. While raising her 2 children Anya (now the Fauna yoga teacher) and Oliver in NYC, a place far removed from nature, Karin wanted them to experience the same awe and respect for animals that she felt. In order to encourage this Karin made sure there were always pets in the house ranging from dogs and rats to parrots and iguanas. Karin has had the privilege to co-exist in her NYC apartment with Apollo the African Grey, Satine the Eclectus and Kiki, one of Daniel’s hand-reared Cape parrots with whom she bonded while hand-feeding.

Although a former actress and school teacher and currently a Pilates instructor and fitness trainer, Karin’s favorite day of the week is one where she gets to work with, sing to, and more importantly play with the birds at Fauna.

Karin Shetler and Daniel Kopulos

Daniel Kopulos, owner of Fauna, has taught and continues to teach her many important things about aviculture.

Karin Shetler and Daniel Kopulos

Last May she had the privilege of accompanying Daniel to the Mayan biosphere where they worked with the Wildlife Conservation Society in their efforts to save the critically endangered Scarlet Macaws and river turtles.

This trip opened her eyes to the issues of human encroachment into natural environments throughout the world and how this effects animal habitats and contributes to species endangerment. This trip solidified her belief in the importance of bringing awareness and education to people in order to save the many beautiful species of wildlife from extinction.

The Guatemala project and many wonderful organizations are making great strides toward making a difference in these challenges. She hopes to continue to work with Daniel in enriching the lives of our feathered friends throughout NYC and to expand her work in the area of parrot conservation.

About The Guatemala Project

The scarlet macaws of the Mayan Biosphere are one of those species that is critically endangered, with just 300 members living in the wild. The WCS project has had some amazing successes – since the project began the estimated macaw population has nearly doubled, and last year a major victory occurred when the station helped produce a large bumper crop of fledglings that have since taken flight.

Work at the project station includes nest protection, artificial nest construction, chick rearing, veterinary monitoring, and education initiatives. All of this work requires skills training, supplies and funding and the battle to save the macaws is far from over. Daniel hopes to return to Guatemala for the hatching season in May to bring some of those supplies and provide some of that training.

How you can help

Come practice yoga at Fauna to help save the scarlet macaws of the Mayan Biosphere!

Fauna Yoga aims to help raise funds for these supplies and to send skilled conservationists (Daniel and an assistant) to the Biosphere to provide up to date education for the WCS local station workers. All proceeds from the yoga classes go directly to funding Fauna’s mission with the WCS. Join us for yoga on Wednesday night at 6:30pm at Fauna.

To learn more about Fauna NYC, visit our website!

Meet the Staff: Anya Shetler, Yoga Instructor

Anya is a Manhattan native who has always loved wildlife, yoga, and education. This she attributes to her eclectic household growing up, where her father practices yoga every morning (and has been since he studied with Swami Satchidananda over 40 years ago) and where pets from Cairn terriers to iguanas to rats were always found.

Anya’s mother Karin brought the flare of exotic birds into the house when she helped Anya adopt Apollo the African Grey parrot in 2001. This experience solidified her love of exotic wild life, and since then Anya has traveled and studied in many parts of Latin America to both expand her personal knowledge and to work with conservation and subsequently public health organizations.

Anya was brought to Fauna also through her mother, who has spent years in the Fauna community as a parrot trainer and behaviorist. In 2010 Anya was lucky enough to snag a reception job at Fauna, during which time she had the opportunity to run the children’s story time, learn invaluable information about animal care and conservation, and get to know the wonderful community surrounding the store. She is so excited to be returning to Fauna now as a yoga teacher!

In college, Anya studied Anthropology and Public Health at Boston University. This decision came from her interest in the connection between how people and cultures interact with their surroundings (and the other animal inhabitants of those surroundings!) and how that makes people and environments healthy or unhealthy. Throughout high school and college Anya worked with a number of health education organizations as a teacher and resource coordinator. When she graduated from BU in May, she decided to take the time to study for her 200-Hour Vinyasa Yoga Teaching certificate with Yoga High on the Lower East Side of Manhattan.

The desire to begin teaching yoga stemmed from a deep love of yoga (which she has been practicing seriously since the age of 14), a strong belief in the benefits of yoga, and her passion for alternative health and education.

She believes a healthy and happy community needs healthy and happy inhabitants, and that includes not just people but also the furry, feathery, scaly, insecty, and leafy members of a community.

Teaching yoga for Fauna’s Guatemala Project immediately seemed to her like one of the best opportunities to promote just that right here on the Upper West Side of Manhattan all the way to the Mayan Biosphere of Guatemala. She hopes to see many yogis, conservationists, and animal lovers alike coming to class in the future. Namaste!

To learn more about Fauna NYC, visit our website!

Meet the Staff: Megan Sweeny

Megan grew up in Fairfield County, CT where she immediately made a connection with the horses under her mother’s care. She began riding horses at a very young age and still manages a quick ride whenever she visits her parents. Throughout her childhood Megan grew up with her dog Abby, a black lab mix, and several cats all of which were adopted from the humane society. Being an only child, her pets were some of her best friends and she gained a deep empathy for the animals she grew up with. From Megan’s influence, her parents currently still have three dogs, three cats and three horses, while Megan has two cats of her own.

Megan on her mother’s horse Shadowfax

Megan and her parent’s American Mastiff, Mason

Megan’s affinity for animals lead her to pursue a Bachelors of Science degree in Environmental Science from Iona College in New Rochelle, NY. The summer before her senior year, she was fortunate enough to be selected for an internship at a local aquarium that she visited as a child. During her internship, Megan worked closely with both educators and aquarists and learned many important skills that peaked her interest in animal care and training. It was in the aquarist department that she learned about IMATA (International Marine Animal Trainer’s Association) and continued on to attend an Animal Training Seminar at the Annual IMATA Conference in September 2010. This seminar was an enlightening experience for her; one that she hopes to expand upon in the future.

Megan and coworker at the Maritime Aquarium

After college, she began working in the education department at The Maritime Aquarium in Norwalk, CT. At the aquarium she taught children of all ages about the Long Island Sound and the native species that live in said environment. Classes varied from reading House for a Hermit Crab to five year old’s to teaching about global warming and environmental changes. Megan enjoyed working with the children and especially loved cultivating their interests in science at a young age. A very rewarding part of her job was teaching an after school program in a nearby low-income area. This program has had such a positive impact in these children’s lives and Megan is proud to have been apart of it. Though working at The Maritime Aquarium was a valuable experience, Megan strived for a more hands-on opportunity with a wider variety of animals. It was during the summer of 2011 that she learned of Fauna in New York City through a friend and immediately jumped at the opportunity to join the team. She has loved her new position and especially loves her new feathered and scaled friends.

Megan and Forbes at Fauna

To learn more about Fauna NYC, visit our website!

Meet the Fauna Staff: Christian Morehouse

Christian Morehouse feeding a baby English Budgie

Christian has always loved animals. He grew up in a small rural town in northern Connecticut where he spent most of his days looking for anything that would crawl, slither, or swim. Much of this time was spent in the woods or on a riverbank flipping over rocks and logs just to see what he could find. In particular, he has always loved fish. He loves the level of diversity one can find in the water and especially a coral reef. It has been a fascination and border-line obsession that has stuck with him throughout his life. He set up his first saltwater aquarium when he was a sophomore in high school and was instantly hooked. One tank became many in a fashion not too different than the urban sprawl of Manhattan. Aquariums filled his room and outlined his bed until he was quite literally, “sleeping with the fishes.” Being known for such an interest, his best friends would (and still do) call him, “Fish.”

Christian at the Academy of Sciences in San Francisco

By the time he graduated high school, he got a job at a local aquarium store where he gained a lot of experience working with different species, techniques, and methods of keeping aquariums. He was able to keep the job throughout college while attending Wesleyan University where he double-majored in environmental studies and dance. It was a combination that baffled some, but for him, it provided inspiration for both aspects. Since freshman year, he had a small 10 gallon S.P.S (small polyped scleractinian, or hard corals) tank in his dorm and he was often introduced and occasionally even recognized, as, “the kid with the fish tank.” This title was quickly shortened and he was once again known simply as “Fish.”

A photo of Christian’s 10 gallon from college

He also studied topical marine biology at Murdoch University in Western Australia. The classes were half lecture, and half scientific studies and sampling (aka: snorkeling.) It was amazing for him to see so many fish and corals he recognized in the wild.

Tridacna Maxima

Acropora sp

During college, he also developed an interest in dart frogs. The design of a dart frog vivarium shared many similar traits with a saltwater aquarium. He quickly had as many as four vivariums at once, all with different species of captive bred dart frogs. Through his studies he has also developed a strong belief in conservation and environmental education. His care for the animals and the environments they live in play a strong and obvious role in his character.

Three Dendrobates azureus from one of Christian’s first vivariums

After he graduated college he moved to south western Connecticut to work in another aquarium store just outside of New York. Here, he was able to continue to grow in the field for the next year while keeping a small 8 gallon sps tank. With the increasing desire to move to the city, he happened to be looking for apartments when he stumbled into Fauna. He knew immediately that it was different. After talking to Daniel, he saw a deep level of passion and care for the animals in his life. Christian knew that this was the place to be. More interestingly, Daniel’s interest in birds mirrored Christian’s interest in fish. The opportunity to learn about something completely new from someone so knowledgeable and passionate was very intriguing and exciting. Under Daniel’s guidance, he began interacting with the birds and raising the babies, which has certainly been the most rewarding part. The most memorable experience so far in the past 5 months? Bringing home 11 baby birds while staying at a friend’s house during Hurricane Sandy.

Christian Morehouse with Fauna’s baby Duyvenbode’s Lories

To learn more about Fauna NYC, visit our website!

Meet the Fauna Staff: Daniel Kopulos, Owner

Daniel Kopulos

Daniel was raised in Nashville, TN, where the forest and nearby farms nurtured his passion for nature. During part of this time his family was actively involved in wildlife rehabilitation. Although they did have the typical pets such as dogs and cats, there was nothing odd about unusual animals scurrying about the house. From the time he was in sixth grade, he could be found spending his time after school at the local fish store where he eventually started helping out and then working at a young age. At this point his interest and experience in the reproduction of exotic birds was rapidly growing.

OJ (a Black-capped Lory) and Daniel

Once in college he started working as a zookeeper at the Nashville Zoo, while maintaining a sizable flock of birds at home. A few years later his desire to know more about animal medicine had increased and he accepted a position as a veterinary technician for a prestigious veterinary clinic in Nashville. It wasn’t long before he became the lead technician where he remained for several more years.

Daniel with Jack, his Hyacinth Macaw

In 2001, Daniel moved to New York City, bringing a select few of his feathered flock along to join his then partner. He continued his work as a veterinary technician, while doing some animal handling for theater, film and photography on the side for the next several years. During a meeting with one of his avian clients, the concept of opening a store was conceived. Through his work at clinics Daniel had always felt a strong need for there to be a place for people who wish to share their lives with exotic animals to be educated on how to properly care for and to make responsible choices for those animals. In 2007, Uptown Birds was formed. Uptown Birds was however, just a shadow of what Daniel had imagined it should become. When the time came to close Uptown Birds he chose to strive harder to bring his vision into fruition with Fauna.

Fauna has opened its doors in New York City as an awareness and education hotspot for all.

With its programs for children, educational presentations for adults, expert staff and active conservation efforts in the field, Fauna represents the evolution of the ‘pet store’. As Fauna continues to mature, Daniel’s involvement in wildlife conservation grows.

Daniel and Karin in Guatemala

In early 2012 he and staff member Karin spent a month in Guatemala continuing work started the previous year with endangered Scarlet Macaws, Mesoamerican River Turtles and Jaguars.

Daniel teaching the veterinarians how to take a blood sample from the Mesoamerican River Turtle

With the generous donations of friends and customers, they were able to set up a small medical laboratory to improve the work the team was currently doing in the jungle.

Daniel and Karin with members of the Guatemalan team

Through the donations from private individuals each year, Daniel and his staff are able to directly bring knowledge and supplies to a select few of the underfunded programs currently underway across the globe.

This is just another way of giving back what little they can to all that helped make each and every one of the staff at Fauna the animals they are.

Scarlet Macaws

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To learn more about Fauna NYC, visit our website!