Vinci Parks, PhD
Science, dogs, & data
Post-secondary Education
- PhD in Neurobiology — University of Pittsburgh
- B.S. in Psychology with a Mathematics emphasis — University of California, Davis
Training
- Graduate of IAABC Foundation's Professional Dog Training: Science & Application course (May 2024)
- Fear Free Shelters Graduate (June 2024)
Conferences Attended
- The Lemonade Conference 2020, 2021, 2022 (virtual)
- Aggression in Dogs Conference 2022 (virtual)
- UC Davis Behavioral Medicine Symposium 2015
Fenzi Dog Sports Academy Gold Level Courses
- 2024: BH345 On Guard — Working Through Resource Guarding Issues (Karen Deeds)
- 2023: FF110 Pay to Play — Using Food to Get Great Toy Play (Sara Brueske)
- 2022: NW180 Developing Scent-sational Skills for Competition (Julie Symons)
- 2021: BH150 Management for Reactive Dogs (Dr. Amy Cook)
- 2021: NW390 Nosework Games (Melissa Chandler)
- 2021: FE135 Shaping Demystified (Sarah Stremming)
- 2021: NW130 Developing Advanced Nosework Skills (Melissa Chandler)
- 2020: NW120 Introduction to NW Search Elements (Melissa Chandler)
- 2020: NW101 Introduction to Nosework (Melissa Chandler)
- 2020: BH110 Dealing with the Bogeyman: Helping Reactive and Fearful Dogs (Dr. Amy Cook)
- 2020: BH430 Success with Sensitive Dogs (Hélène Lawler)
Volunteer Experience
- Dog walking at shelters since 2011: Animal Friends (Pittsburgh, PA), Animal Rescue League (Boston, MA), Yolo County Animal Shelter (Woodland, CA), MSPCA (Boston, MA)
- Fostering (dogs & cats) since 2012: Speak for the Unspoken (Columbus, OH), Animal Friends (Pittsburgh, PA), Animal Rescue League (Boston, MA), Yolo County Animal Shelter (Woodland, CA), Yolo County SPCA (Davis, CA)
- National Disaster Search Dog Foundation: Canine Recruitment Volunteer since 2023
Other Training
- FEMA IS-100.C: Introduction to Incident Command System
- FEMA IS-200.C: Basic Incident Command System for Initial Response