Our Team
Sarah Feliciano and Matthew Owens have designed over 70 unique, natural-looking enrichment devices for over 100 animal species during their combined 30+ years of professional zoo experience. They have combined their fine art background, zoo exhibit construction techniques, and firsthand experience working with zoo animals and their caretakers to produce enrichment focused on goal-based outcomes backed by science. Through the creation of the Zoo Enrichment Lab they plan to continue their work advancing animal welfare by inventing new enrichment, teaching the next generation, and educating the public about the important role zoos and aquariums have in preserving the natural world and advancing welfare for all.
Sarah Feliciano
Originally hailing from the outskirts of Detroit, Michigan, Sarah got her start in the Chicagoland area at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. After almost being laughed out of college for saying she wants to “make art for animals”, here she is, decades deep into a career of doing exactly that.
It’s always been more than a career for her, it’s been a lifelong commitment to bettering the welfare standards of all animals in our care and doing it in an artful way.
She brings 20+ years of experience collaborating between animal care teams, facility crews, educators, and administration in zoological settings.
Always looking to better the experience for both the animal, their caretakers as well as the public, she’s committed to engineering naturalistic-looking enrichment that blurs the lines between form and function. From marine mammals to millipedes, she approaches each new challenge with the same amount of passion and dedication.
She is a determined inventor/problem solver at heart with an uncanny ability to remember each animal's name easier than their human friends.
Ironically allergic to almost every animal she helps. Very allergic to polar bears…
Matthew Owens
Matthew Owens is originally from Wyoming, though he has lived in Chicago for decades now. Like Sarah, he is a graduate of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
Matthew has been active in the Chicago art scene for years- working in gallery arts and curation, theater performance and design, and music and composition. He is a prolific puppeteer whose work has appeared in feature films (Tim Robbins’ “Cradle Will Rock”), opera (Lyric Opera’s premiere of “Amistad”), and symphonic (Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s “Soldier’s Tale” by Stravinsky), and has acted, directed, designed and costumed many local productions.
Matthew joined Brookfield Zoo in 2008 and worked in exhibits for several years while developing unique enrichment pieces. He has a deep and passionate love of all animals and considers himself lucky that he has been able to enrich and enhance the lives of hundreds of species, from large carnivores and pachyderms to birds, ungulates, reptiles and primates.
Matthew’s work bringing joy and contentment to animals everywhere is his life’s calling. If he can engage an orangutan to solve a puzzle he designed for her, encourage a grizzly bear to forage and explore, or challenge a giraffe to worry out a treat from one of his devices, he can be truly contented.