Meet our team
OUR TEAM
The KUZO Group collectively has more than 75 years of experience working with animals and their caregivers, which affords us the ability to customize our services to fit many needs.
Suzi Rapp
Growing up in Columbus, Ohio, Suzi Rapp knew at an early age where she wanted to work: in zoos. She attended Ohio University, earning a degree in Health and Human Sciences and Education before embarking on a 40+ year career at the Columbus Zoo. Suzi began her career working in the Education Department and later played a key role in developing the Promotions Department, in time becoming the Vice President of Animal Programs, prior to founding The KUZO Group.
EDUCATION DEPARTMENT
In the Education Department, Suzi:
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Developed and implemented education programming including:
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Summer experiences
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Camp-in programs
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Special Saturday programs
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Outreach programs
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Preschool programs
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A high school zoo program through a local technical school
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Created and taught a high school “Zoo School.”
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Family programs
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Managed staff and oversaw all on-grounds shows
ANIMAL PROGRAMS, OUTREACH, AND ANIMAL ENCOUNTERS
As the Director of Animal Programs, Outreach, and Animal Encounters, Suzi:
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Managed more than 20 full-time staff and many seasonal employees
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Oversaw a collection of over 135 animals. Additionally, she:
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Assisted in hand rearing baby animals for a variety of AZA and ZAA institutions, as needed
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Became known as an expert in raising neonates
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Assisted the AZA to help create best practices protocols for hand rearing
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Cheetahs
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clouded leopards
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penguins
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and others
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Oversaw the Animals Program Department at The Wilds in Eastern Ohio (Columbus Zoo owned).
AMBASSADOR ANIMALS
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Suzi developed the Ambassador Animals program in Columbus and utilized her ambassadors to educate and inspire. Suzi’s team did over 3,000 programs a year, always discussing not only animals, but conservation as well. To this end, Suzi:
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Designed and implemented programs for local events
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fairs
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company picnics
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Kiwanis and Lions clubs
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more
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To further outreach, she created ambassador programs for schools, including trips to rural schools where a large percentage of the student body had never been to a zoo.
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PUBLICITY/MEDIA PRESENCE
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For 35 years, Suzi appeared weekly on a major television network’s local show, educating people about animals, conservation, and the important work that zoos do.
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Spoke, wrote and shared animal and conservation information across media channels
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TV
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Radio
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Online and print articles
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Books
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Was prominently featured on National Geographic’s “Secrets of the Zoo”
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Spoke to visitors on zoo grounds
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Presented at conferences
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Presented at fundraising events
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Worked numerous times with members of Congress as an advocate for zoos, animal welfare, and conservation
EXHIBIT DESIGN PLANNING AND PROGRAMMING
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Animal Encounters Village
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A ground-breaking exhibit that allows visitors up-close and personal animal encounters.
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Oversaw and launched the memorable and impactful animal encounters
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Watering hole at Columbus Zoo’s “Heart of Africa region
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Assisted in the design and implementation of the watering hole concept at the Columbus Zoo’s “Heart of Africa” region
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Managed animal populations including
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Cheetahs
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Hyenas
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Aardvarks Warthogs
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Hornbills
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Oversaw the Animal Programs team in the Heart of Africa region as well as the animals there
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Cheetahs
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Hyenas
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Aardvarks Warthogs
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Hornbills
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Adventure Cove, a 32-million-dollar exhibit, which opened in 2020
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Provided input on the design of the exhibit
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Assisted the zoo in acquiring seven sea lions from Shanghai, China, and oversaw their care and travel from there to Florida, and to their new home in Ohio.
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Assisted in acquiring four harbor seals, and an additional three sea lions from here in the US and oversaw the transfer of them all to Columbus.
DIRECT SCIENTIFIC CONTRIBUTIONS
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Suzi was the driving force behind the first successful In Vitro Fertilization Transfer of cheetahs in 2020.
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The cheetahs participated voluntarily in the process
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Birth of two healthy cubs
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First collection of cheetah milk for study to improve formula needed for hand-rearing neonates worldwide
FUNDRAISING/EVENT CREATION
In her 40+ years, Suzi has done a great deal of fundraising and/or creating events for that purpose, for:
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Cheetah Conservation Fund
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Tanganyika Wildlife Park
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Akron Zoo
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Brookfield Zoo
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Chattanooga Zoo
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Louisville Zoo
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Toledo Zoo
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Lowry Park Zoo
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Alexandria Zoo
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Dallas Zoo
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Fort Worth Zoo
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Blank Park Zoo
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Busch Gardens (all)
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SeaWorld Parks (all)
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Many more
PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS PAST AND PRESENT
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Member ZAA
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Member AZA
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Welfare Committee, ZAA
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Animal Welfare Committee, AZA
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Program Animal Liaison for AZA’s Felid Taxon Advisory Group
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Public Relations Liaison for the Cheetah Species Survival Plan
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Committee Member, American Humane’s Scientific Advisory Committee
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Board Member of the Cheetah Conservation Fund
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Board Member of Ocean Connections
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Wendy’s International’s Animal Welfare Council
Kelly George PhD.
Dr. Kelly George received her PhD from The Ohio State University and taught in higher education on the topics of animal welfare and the human-animal relationship from 2008-2023. Her research there focused on better understanding decisions regarding societal and personal concern (empathy) for animals, best practices for assessing how an animal in human care copes with its environment, including during interactions and transport, and the effect of human-animal interactions. Dr. George advised multiple graduate students conducting research in these areas. She has presented at national and international conferences and has many peer-reviewed publications. Dr. George was the creator of an animal welfare training program called Alphabetic Welfare, and is a founding partner in The KUZO Group LLC, providing consulting services for organizations as they develop animal welfare programs, interactions protocols, and animal environments.
Kelly currently serves as a member of Wendy’s International's (Headquarters Dublin, OH, USA) animal welfare council, is a conservation auditor for American Humane, and is part of the WorthWild Africa (not for profit) management team. Additionally, Dr. George served for four years on the Columbus Zoo & Aquarium's (Columbus, OH, USA) animal welfare committee and five years as Co-director of the Center for Human-Animal Interactions Research & Education (CHAIRE).
Wouter Stellaard
Wouter Stellaard's passion for animals led him to begin working with them in a wildlife rehabilitation center when he was a young teen in the Netherlands. There, he created his own animal ambulance while finishing his animal care studies. In search of further education, in 1998 he took a leap of faith and came to the U.S. (knowing very little English) to pursue training, later graduating from the Exotic Animal Training and Management Program at Moorpark College. After an internship, he was hired at Natural Encounters, Inc. As a senior trainer, he helped create, set up, train, and present bird shows at zoos and aquariums across the country. After becoming the Director of Behavioral Programs, he consulted both nationally and internationally to create zoo-wide animal training programs with keepers to grow their training and presentation skills. He also consulted as part of the team at natural encounters to design elements for the Dallas Zoo's award-winning Giants of the Savanna exhibit.
At the Columbus Zoo, Wouter served as the Animal Programs Training Director. He was responsible for the training of staff and animals in a variety of areas with a variety of taxa. He and his team produced natural behavior mixed species shows and ran an immersive animal encounters guest area, as well as an African exhibit experience. He also consulted on the design elements of the Columbus Zoo's multimillion dollar Africa and Adventure Cove habitats.
Currently, Wouter is a founding member of The KUZO Group and owner of Behavior 360, where he focuses on training the trainers while setting up department or zoo- or aquarium-wide training programs and guest experiences.
Wouter’s passion is teaching people how to train animals using the science of behavior change to further the industry standards.
Linda Stanek
Content Creator, and Interpretive Writer Linda Stanek brings twenty-plus years of professional writing and publishing experience to The KUZO Group. Her passion for animals and conservation, along with her passion to communicate clearly, accurately, concisely, and engagingly with diverse audiences, drives her work. Her experience includes interpretive writing and content including:
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Web copy
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Children’s giveaways with messaging to inspire connections/empathy
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Award-winning interpretive books and articles
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Social media posts and graphics
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Grant writing
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Business writing
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Grade-leveled, STEM-correlated lesson plans
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Cross-curricular lesson plans that include ambassador animals and move beyond science
Memberships:
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Association of Zoos and Aquariums
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Zoological Association of America
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The North American Association for Environmental Education
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Grant Professionals Association
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Writer’s Guild
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Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators
Education:
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B.S. Early and Middle Childhood Education, The Ohio State University
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Cornell University E-STEM (Environmental STEM) Certification