Tim Binder

Senior Vice President of Animal Care & Health and Facilities

Tim Binder is the senior vice president of animal care & health and facilities, overseeing all aspects of The Florida Aquarium’s world-class animal care, including a large team of biologists and veterinarians. With the symbiotic relationship between animal care and operations, Tim also administers Engineering, Water Quality, Marine Operations and Dive Safety Operations. Despite growing up far from the oceanic world in Rapid City, S.D., Tim has been a respected leader in animal welfare, husbandry and conservation for more than 40 years. He has led world renowned organizations, pioneered new animal care practices and much more through outstanding leadership, depth of experience and strategic vision.

Beginning in high school and for several years to follow, Tim worked at a small aquarium in Rapid City, S.D., on the road to Mount Rushmore. This facility cared for numerous species of fishes, sharks, sea turtles, aquatic birds, seals, sea lions and dolphins. That experience sparked his passion and led to a distinguished 40+ year career in animal care that continues to make an impact in the zoo and aquarium world today.

In his 20s, Tim joined the staff of the highly regarded Mystic Aquarium in Connecticut, where his skills earned him a senior leadership position. After a long tenure at Mystic, Tim became one of the first people hired by the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta. At the time of its opening in 2005, it was the largest aquarium in the world. Among his most notable accomplishments was ensuring the welfare of the whale sharks, making Georgia the only facility outside Asia where you can see these animals.

In 2008, he left Georgia to consult on various projects to advance care and welfare practices in the U.S., Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Central and South America. A year later, he joined Chicago’s Shedd Aquarium to become executive vice president of animal care. There, he formalized and expanded the animal rescue and rehabilitation program, calling on his 16 years of experience in stranded marine mammal and sea turtle rehabilitation of numerous sea turtle, seal and cetacean species in southern New England.

Tim has played a key leadership role in several multimillion-dollar expansion, renovation and new construction projects at zoos and aquariums. He has worked internationally as a consultant on design details for aquatic animal exhibits and animal management procedures and protocols.

Among Tim’s most notable accomplishments is the key role he served in developing and implementing animal handling procedures and protocols to do health assessments – over a multiyear period – on free-ranging beluga whales in a remote area of southwest Alaska.

With his steep tradition and deep passion for conservation, and attracted by the Aquarium’s vital efforts, Tim joined The Florida Aquarium in 2018, citing the tremendous opportunities to have a direct impact on significant conservation issues in unique and exciting ways.

During his tenure in the zoo and aquarium sector, Tim has served in leadership and advisory roles for a variety of industry organizations and committees. As a member of the American Humane Association’s Scientific Advisory Committee, Tim helped develop the association’s humane conservation certification program that certifies humane treatment of animals in human care at zoological facilities. As a member of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) task force, he worked collaboratively for the development of animal welfare standards for cetaceans in AZA accredited facilities. He has also served on the AZA’s Honors & Awards and Annual Conference Program committees.

KEYWORDS: Animal Care, Animal Rehab, Animal Rescue, Animal Welfare, Conservation, Animal Rehabilitation, Whale Sharks, Facility Operations, Life Support Systems, Exhibit Design, Animal Health, Marine Operations