Armed with a curious nature and an ability to strike up meaningful conversations, Nadya Bennett has spent close to 15 years getting to know the guests of the various organizations with which she has worked.

Over the years, she has designed and implemented hundreds of projects and held amazing conversations with thousands of people across the country from various non-learning institutions including zoos and aquariums, science centers, art museums, conservatories and nature centers, and health organizations. Every project and every conversation has contributed in some way for those institutions to gain a better understanding of their audiences and/or clients.

Her most recent position as the Audience Research and Interpretive Content Specialist at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium (CZA) was definitely her proudest but also most challenging accomplishment. Regarding her experience at CZA, she points out “Developing an audience research program at CZA from the ground up was not easy but, in the end, was fiercely successful. Since 2013, our small but mighty team implemented over 100 institutional projects and gathered feedback from more than 100,000 guests and staff.”

Although her years in school helped her with core principals, methods, and specialized knowledge, she truly believes there is nothing more valuable than getting in the field and interacting with her audiences - and she thanks every single one of them.