Caryn Self-Sullivan, PhD, KPA CTP, Neighbor

Caryn Self-Sullivan owns and operates The Positive Quarter LLC, where she teaches people to train people and their pets using positive reinforcement methods known as TAGteach and Clicker Training.  A native of Fredericksburg, Caryn graduated attended Ferry Farm Elementary, T. Benton Gayle Middle, Stafford High, and graduated from James Monroe High School in 1972. She married young and delayed university until 1993, after raising 3 children and walking away from a successful 15-year career as a real estate broker and 1988 President of FAAR.  Since going back to school, her academic journey has taken her around the world, living, studying, and conducting research in North America, Africa, Australia, Central America and the Caribbean. Her credentials include a B.S. in Marine Science, with minors in Mathematics & Biology, received in 1997 from Coastal Carolina University (SC) and a Ph.D. in Animal Behavior & Conservation Biology from the Department of Wildlife & Fisheries Sciences at Texas A&M in May 2008.   In July 2011, she became certified as a Karen Pryor Academy Training Partner and TAGteacher. Caryn’s expertise and research interests are focused on Animal Behavior, Marine Science, and Conservation Biology.  She is also a part-time distance-education professor at Nova Southeastern University (Florida) where she teaches, advises, and mentors graduate students working towards their MS in Environmental Education and Oceanography.  In her spare time, Caryn volunteers and works with the Earthwatch Institute, Hugh Parkey's Foundation for Marine Awareness & Education in Belize, and Sirenian International, the non-profit she co-founded in 1999.