Presenters & Panelists

Wendy James-Aldridge was a faculty member in the department of psychology and frequent department chair at the (then) University of Texas – Pan American for more than 40 years. With a Ph.D. in experimental psychology, she often taught Introduction to Psychology, Statistics, and Research Methods, but the classes that students wanted to talk about when they came to visit her long after they had graduated were her courses in Animal Behavior and Primate Behavior. In those classes, like several of the presenters today, they conducted projects at the zoo. Her connection with the zoo (she was named Curator of Behavior Research in 1988) provided her students with a living lab and the zoo with valuable assistants who helped collect behavior data on the animals in their collection. Although she officially retired from her university position in 2015, she has maintained her position with the zoo and continues to work with students who serve as interns and as volunteer research assistants.

My name is Patricia Scanlan, I am a Brownsville native and mother of one. I always knew I wanted to work with animals therefor gravitated towards courses such as Animal Science, Biology and Animal Behavior. As many students do, my major shifted around a few times during my time as an undergrad. eventually settling on what would be a multidisciplinary approach to my career.

I graduated from The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley in 2018 with a Bachelors in Liberal Arts - Multidisciplinary Studies and in 2021 with a Masters of Liberal Arts in Anthropology with concentrations in Animal Behavior (PSYC) and Art History.

I began with Gladys Porter Zoo back in 2003 as their Senior Aquarist, later moving into reptiles as the demolition and construction of the new Russel Aquatic Center began. In approximately 2014-2015 I took on the role of Enrichment and Training Coordinator marking my entry into zoo-wide animal welfare. Currently I serve as Gladys Porter Zoo’s Curator of Behavioral Husbandry where I strive to promote and maximize the overall well-being, both physically and mentally, of the animals within our care in compliance with Gladys Porter Zoo, USDA and Association of Zoos and Aquariums standards and guidelines.

Hello, everyone! My name is Corinthia Aranda, I am 22 years old. I live on the outer skirts of Santa Rosa, TX, a small city surrounded by farmland. Currently, I am a senior at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley completing a Bachelor of Science in Marine Biology with a minor in American Sign Language in Fall 2022. Before attending UTRGV, I graduated from Texas State Technical College with my Associate in Biology. After graduating from UTRGV, my goal is to work in Texas Parks and Wildlife's coral or oyster aquaculture to preserve coral reefs and marine habitats. My passion is and always has been conservation, especially marine conservation. In my opinion, conservation is not only important but also necessary to sustain healthy fisheries for current and future generations.

Alexandra Chalons is an undergraduate student in her junior year at UTRGV studying psychology with a minor in philosophy. Her interests include the affects of trauma on adult cognition. She plans to pursue her Master's Degree in Experimental Psychology.

With a dual degree in philosophy and applied physics, I am a philosopher and a scientist. My research and teaching interests lie at the intersection of philosophy of science, philosophy of computation, metaphysics, and applied ethics. My main area of specialization (AOS) is philosophy of science: I work on unification, explanation, and model-based reasoning. In philosophy of physics, I investigate space-time models of unified field theories, the philosophical assumptions of quantum gravity (string theory, especially string dualities), and semi-classical models in quantum physics. My Ph.D. thesis explored unification and explanation in spacetime theories (e.g. Kaluza-Klein models).

I have a steady interest in the philosophical aspects of cognitive science and computational science (numerical simulations, machine learning, and evolutionary computation). I have recently been investigating the relatively new area of ‘computational ethics’ (or ‘machine ethics’) and models of artificial moral agency based on machine learning.

I conduct research and teach on those topics which have a major impact on our world and on how we pass it to future generations: philosophy of computation and information (mainly AI), philosophy of emerging technologies, as well as topics such as laws of nature, models, perspectival realism, trust, and unification. See my Research page and a list of recent Conferences.

This academic year I am very excited to teach courses in philosophy, ethics, logic, and critical thinking, in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley and in the Philosophy Department at Old Dominion University. In recent years I have been affiliated with the Master of Liberal Arts and Science program at the University of North Carolina, Asheville, and with the Philosophy and Religion Department at the Western Carolina University. See the comprehensive list of classes on my Teaching page.