As a kid growing up in suburban Huntington,
NY, Matt got his love of animals from his parents. He acquired his first pet snake "Mike" for Christmas when
he was only 8 years old and his collection of animal friends quickly grew. Within a few years, Matt had a bedroom dominated
by animal habitats. Pets at that time included a cat, a hamster, two parakeets, two snakes, a box turtle, two newts,
a salamander, an anole, a toad, and three bullfrogs. But that wasn't enough; Matt was constantly out in the backyard
looking for critters to play with.
It wasn't until
college that Matt knew he wanted to work with animals professionally. During his first semester away at college majoring
in graphic design, he would tune in to watch Steve Irwin's "Crocodile Hunter" show every day. Matt found
himself inspired by Steve's passion and enthusiasm for what he did. At the same time Matt also began to realize
how critically important it was for people to both learn about and help animals. There had to be other ways to achieve
this besides television, but how?
That summer (2001),
the owner of a local pet shop approached Matt and offered him a weekend job as an animal presenter. Matt had never heard
of such a job before, but jumped at the chance to work with animals. That weekend job opened up a whole new world of
opportunity, and it was exactly what Matt had been looking for.
Over
the next few years, Matt "tried out" as many different animal jobs as he could. He worked as a dog groomer,
veterinary technician and as an animal presenter for several other companies in New York and Massachusetts. He also
gained experience working for two exotic pet shops, a pet resort and even volunteered for a local humane society's trap-neuter-release
program to help feral cats. The accumulation of all of this knowledge and experience combined with Matt's ideas
and goals eventually led to the creation of Animal World Experience in late 2006.
Since he first began his career, Matt has performed thousands of animal programs throughout New York,
Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts and New Hampshire. As your head animal presenter, Matt blends interactive education
with fun and excitement that is sure to entertain audiences in every program!
