Mari is a Tucson-native Veterinary Technician-Receptionist with an Associates degree in applied sciences from PMI. Having grown up with dogs, Mari has always been an animal lover but as she got older, she found herself surrounded by less conventional animals such as lizards, snakes, fish, frogs, and farm animals. In high school, Mari was gifted a calf named Clyde, whom she would take for weekly walks around the farm. Mari loves learning and has become very knowledgeable with her experience in rescue, rehabilitation, and fostering critters in need. Maria has helped nurse all kinds of animals back to health including but not limited to ferrets, chickens, sugar gliders, turtles/tortoises, fish, guinea pigs, snakes, and lizards. Maria plans to continue her education in Wildlife Rehabilitation and Rescue while considering pursuing her doctorate. Ultimately, she plans to specialize in toxicology primarily focusing on Exotic/Small Mammal care. Maria also has dreams of visiting the African Savannah and even bigger dreams of exploring the Amazon Rainforest. In her free time, you may find Maria at the park; strolling with her bird or walking her dogs while playing Pokémon Go. When the weather is too hot for outside activities, Maria enjoys crafting with her Cricut, creating custom epoxy tumblers, playing Candy Crush (current level 4840), reading, and catching up on TV shows. She also enjoys making custom Bioactive Terrariums and spending time with her menagerie of pets! She is currently the proud mom of 4 dogs (Kash, Kahleo, Kayson,and Benito), 3 cats (Kyro, Kanti,and Kanissa), Sashimi the Sun Conure (pictured), and October the Corn snake. Maria is very excited to have joined the AZEAH Family and has added 2 adopted critters to her herd; Kimchi the ferret and Edamame, the mischievous baby Veiled Chameleon.