School of Reptilia · Faculty Overview · Class of 2026
Help build the institutionthe reptile communityhas never had.
For generations, the reptile community has been built by people like you: keepers, breeders, educators, zoological professionals, researchers, and conservationists who learned through experience. Your work helped create the standards, techniques, and understanding that shape the field today.
Citadel Culebra was created to preserve that knowledge, organize it into a lasting institution, and pass it forward to future generations. As founding faculty, you are helping establish a permanent home for the experience you have earned and the field you helped build.
Founding Faculty · Class of 2026First courses launch June 2026
// Why now
The people who built this field deserve to be known before their knowledge disappears.
Every serious field has a pathway. Reptile keeping still does not have one clear, trusted place where people can learn the standard, understand the lineage, and find the right voices before mistakes become animals lost, keepers discouraged, or laws written against the whole community.
Some of the most important reptile knowledge lives with people who earned it slowly: breeders, keepers, venomous professionals, crocodilian experts, zoological operators, researchers, conservationists, educators, and species specialists who learned through repetition, failure, patience, and responsibility.
The knowledge behind the glass
A field with real risk needs a real path.
50M
keepers worldwide
Decades
of practice, still undocumented
One
institution to preserve it
// Media woven through the mission
The people, the work, the lineage.
The Citadel has to feel grounded in the field it is being built to serve. The work should speak before the pitch does, because the credibility of this institution comes from the people who have earned the knowledge and the animals, facilities, and standards behind that knowledge.
Kevin McCurley
Tom Crutchfield
George Van Horn
Stacy Crutchfield
Dr. Steve Dinkelacker
Steve Angeli
Ty Park
Chris Gillette
Steve Irwin & Wes Mannion
// The chain of knowledge
Knowledge only survives when someone chooses to pass it down.
The reptile world was not built in a classroom alone, and it was not built in private collections alone. It was built through both: academic study, field experience, breeding facilities, zoological institutions, mentorship, trial and error, and people who dedicated their lives to understanding animals most of the world misunderstood.
That is why the Citadel has to respect every serious source of knowledge. Academia matters. Research matters. PhDs matter. People like Dr. Steve Dinkelacker are essential because they bring scientific discipline, academic structure, and real-world reptile experience together. He is not studying these animals from a distance; he is breeding them, handling them, working with larger species, teaching students, and living the work from multiple angles.
A living chain
Knowledge survives when someone chooses to carry it forward.
Bob Irwin
Steve Irwin
Wes Mannion
Brian Coulter
Kelsey Engle
Toby MillyardPreserve the past.
Advance the present.
Inspire the future.
// What we're preserving
The standards, stories, and skill that built the reptile world.
The Citadel is not built around celebrity. It is built around knowledge, standards, and lived experience. This section focuses on the people already confirmed in the work: the voices whose knowledge, approval, and participation are helping form the foundation now.
Tom Crutchfield
Crutchfield Reptiles
George Van Horn
Reptile World Serpentarium
Ty Park
Iguanaland
Kevin McCurley
NERD
Stacy Crutchfield
Crutchfield Reptiles
Dr. Steve Dinkelacker
Senior Advisor & Curriculum Authority
Steve Angeli
Heloderma Angeli
Chris Gillette
Wildlife & Zoological Operations
This is the point of the Citadel. The confirmed faculty gives the institution its foundation: people already helping preserve knowledge, raise standards, protect the animals, and give the next generation a real path forward.
// The Citadel method
Your expertise is the contribution. Everything else is our responsibility.
Faculty should not have to become production companies, curriculum teams, editors, publishers, or full-time forum moderators. You bring the knowledge. The Citadel structures it, documents it, packages it, facilitates the community, and protects your time.
01
Digital courses with every faculty member
02
Ebooks, interviews, and written knowledge
03
We document the work you already do
Braxton Warren does most of the legwork: structuring the curriculum, building the objectives, organizing the outlines, shaping the lesson flow, and preparing supporting materials. Kevin McCurley and Dr. Steve Dinkelacker both review and approve the academic direction, and the course instructor reviews, corrects, and approves their own course before anything is published. We will also lean on any faculty member who wants to contribute. When more than one approach works and is healthy for the animals, the curriculum should present those responsible perspectives instead of pretending there is only one right way.
// Education & conservation
Education creates conservation. Responsible keeping keeps the door open.
Every meaningful conservation effort begins with understanding. People protect what they understand, and they care more deeply for animals when they know how those animals live, behave, and fit into the world. The deeper a keeper's understanding becomes, the better they can serve the animals in their care and the more responsibly they can move through the reptile world.
Crocodilian work
Steve Irwin
Wes MannionIn the field
01
Responsible keeping matters first because the animals deserve it. That part is obvious. But it also matters for the future of the entire hobby, industry, and conservation movement. When people do not understand the animals they keep, problems follow: frustration, poor husbandry, unsafe handling, preventable illness, surrendered animals, dead animals, and people leaving the reptile world altogether.
LegacyEducation through proximity
The responsibility we share
Every generation inherits knowledge from those who came before it, and every generation has a responsibility to leave something better behind. The Citadel's role is to preserve that knowledge, organize it, and make it easier for people to act responsibly with the animals they care about. Better education means better keepers. Better keepers mean better outcomes for animals, stronger public trust, fewer preventable mistakes, and a healthier future for the reptile world.
Citadel Culebra is an independent institution. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or operated in partnership with Steve Irwin, the Irwin family, Australia Zoo, or any Steve Irwin estate or charity. Tribute and advocacy only. All trademarks belong to their respective owners.
// Honoring the pioneers
Building on foundations we did not create.
Every field has people who helped shape it — people who took risks before there was a roadmap, who made mistakes, solved problems, challenged assumptions, and spent decades developing the knowledge that others now benefit from. The reptile community is no different.
Why it matters
Honoring pioneers is not about nostalgia. It is about continuity. Every generation inherits knowledge from the generation before it, and the more clearly we understand that lineage, the stronger the foundation becomes for those who follow. When we preserve the lessons, successes, failures, and experiences of those who came before us, we give future keepers a better place to begin. That is how fields mature. That is how institutions endure. That is how knowledge survives.
In recognition
The Citadel proudly recognizes the contributions of the keepers, breeders, educators, researchers, conservationists, zoological professionals, and wildlife advocates whose work helped shape the modern reptile community. Some are no longer with us; others are still actively contributing today. All of them have helped move this field forward. Their legacy is larger than what they accomplished in their own lifetime; it is what future generations can keep building because of it.
01In memoriam
Ross Allen
Founded his Reptile Institute in 1929; early venom, reptile education, and antivenom work the field still builds on.
02In memoriam
Bill Haast
Six decades of venom research, serpentarium work, and public education that advanced understanding still relied on today.
03In memoriamPhotograph Gwen Dundon · Courtesy of Central Coast Council
Eric Worrell
Founded the Australian Reptile Park and built the venom program behind Australia's antivenoms; supplied tiger snake venom to CSL from 1951, work the country still depends on.
04Still contributing
George Van Horn
A lifetime of venomous reptile work, venom extraction, public education, safety, and discipline around animals that demand respect.
05Still contributing
Tom Crutchfield
A pioneer of the American reptile hobby and industry who helped bring landmark animals, including the first albino Burmese python, into the field.
06Still contributing
Ty Park
Built one of the largest living reptile collections in the world, helped push reptile product development forward, and set an example for high-level zoological operation.
07Still contributing
Kevin McCurley
Founder of NERD; a fountain of knowledge across husbandry, behavior, breeding, genetics, health, venom, socialization, and trust-based keeping.
08Still contributing
Wes Mannion
One of the greatest crocodile handlers alive; the Australia Zoo lineage and the people he helped train deserve preservation.
Likenesses shown in recognition of each individual's contribution to the field. Inclusion here honors that contribution and implies no endorsement.
// Who we're looking for
We are building with people whose standards match their knowledge.
Knowledge matters, but knowledge alone is not enough. The Citadel is looking for people whose experience is matched by humility, integrity, discipline, and a genuine desire to help the next generation.
Science to standardAcademic work made usable.
Ethical operationsFacilities, media, and animal respect.
Crocodilian infrastructureBuilding around powerful animals.
Public educationTurning attention into stewardship.
These four lanes are intentional: science that can become standards, operations that protect animals, crocodilian infrastructure that respects risk, and education that turns attention into stewardship.
01
This is not being built around ego, popularity, or noise. It is being built around stewardship: people who share knowledge carefully, responsibly, and with respect for the animals and the students learning from them.
People who care about
the animalseducationconservationthe communitysharing what they know
Bring good people together.
Preserve what matters.
Help move the reptile community forward.
// The faculty
A faculty built to carry the whole field.
The Citadel only works if the faculty reflects the full weight of the reptile world: the pioneers, the zoological operators, the breeders, the venomous professionals, the crocodilian experts, the educators, the academics, the conservationists, the people building serious operations today, and the students serious enough to carry the work forward. No single person can carry the whole field. That is why this has to be built as a faculty, not a personality platform.
We need different perspectives because reptile knowledge does not come from one kind of life. A breeder sees things a field researcher may never see. A venomous keeper understands risks a hobbyist may never face. A zoological operator thinks in systems, scale, and protocols. An academic brings research discipline and scientific structure. An educator knows how to turn fear into understanding. A conservationist sees the connection between animals, habitat, law, and public trust. A newer serious keeper may understand where the next generation is confused in a way the old guard does not.
Together, they contribute across the Citadel's 13 core disciplines
- Husbandry
- Nutrition
- Behavior & Handling
- Socialization & Bond Building
- Breeding
- Genetics
- Anatomy & Physiology
- Veterinary Medicine & Clinical Care
- Venomous Animals & Toxicology
- Zoological & Large-Scale Operations
- Conservation, Research & Human-Wildlife Conflict
- Education, Media & Public Communication
- Legislation & Regulatory Policy
Confirmed faculty
Kevin McCurley
Chief Academic Officer
New England Reptile (NERD)
Behavior · Husbandry · Genetics · Breeding · Health · Socialization
Kevin's work has influenced generations of keepers through reptile behavior, trust-based husbandry, breeding, genetics, health, venomous work, and socialization. He is a fountain of information: able to talk for hours about parasites, then shift into pathogens, venom, breeding, animal ailments, behavior, genetics, or husbandry with real depth. As Chief Academic Officer, his role is to help set the academic standard and make sure the education carries the seriousness this field deserves. Preserved through the Citadel, that knowledge can continue guiding future keepers long after the lessons were first learned.
Tom Crutchfield
Principal Advisor
Crutchfield Reptiles
Breeding · Importation · Venomous · History · Husbandry
Tom's career spans much of the modern history of reptile keeping. Through decades of breeding, education, exploration, importation, and industry leadership, he helped shape the field many keepers know today. He helped bring landmark animals into the American reptile world, including the first albino Burmese python and other species that changed what people believed could be kept, bred, and understood. His experience connects the community's past with its future, ensuring the next generation understands not only how the field works, but how it was built.
George Van Horn
Principal Advisor
Reptile World Serpentarium
Venomous · Venom collection · Education
George's lifetime of work with venomous reptiles carries a body of practical knowledge few people on earth possess. It proves the importance of experience, discipline, safety, calm judgment, and respect when working with some of the world's most misunderstood animals. His work connects venomous keeping to medicine, public education, professionalism, and purpose. Through the Citadel, those lessons can continue serving future generations.
Stacy Crutchfield
Senior Advisor
Crutchfield Reptiles
Behavior · Socialization · Interpretation · Public engagement
Stacy's work in behavior, socialization, interpretation, and public engagement has helped many people move from fear to understanding around animals they were taught to avoid. Her work makes clear that how we relate to an animal matters as much as how we house it: reading behavior, building confidence, lowering fear, and teaching respect. She brings visible leadership for female keepers and shows that serious reptile work can be skilled, warm, confident, and responsible at the same time. Preserved through the Citadel, that understanding can help future keepers and the public build the same confidence and responsibility.
Framingham State UniversityDr. Steve Dinkelacker
Senior Advisor & Curriculum Authority · Ph.D.
Herpetologist & Biology Professor
Curriculum development · Academic standards · Scientific rigor
Dr. Dinkelacker brings the academic side into the same faculty table as the rest of the experts. He will help with curriculum development, educational structure, academic standards, scientific rigor, and the bridge between formal biology and practical reptile work as a senior advisor and curriculum authority. His role matters because he brings scholarship without being detached from the animals, and the Citadel needs both research discipline and real animal experience working together.
Steve Angeli
Senior Advisor
Heloderma Angeli
Heloderma · Venomous snakes · Terrapins · Licensing
Steve has spent years developing expertise in Heloderma and other demanding venomous lizards, while also breeding diamondback terrapins and venomous snakes that help supply venom laboratories. His work makes clear how specialized husbandry is earned through focus, breeding success, safety, licensing mentorship, and care. Braxton trains under Steve for venomous handling alongside two other young men working toward their permits. Preserved through the Citadel, that mentorship and specialized knowledge do not have to be lost to a single generation.
Ty Park
Principal Advisor
Iguanaland
Zoological operations · Product development · Bearded dragons · Chelonians
Ty has built one of the most extensive living reptile collections in the world, spanning hundreds of species. Before many reptile products existed commercially, he was at the forefront of developing tools, supplies, and systems keepers needed in order to do the work better. He was also one of the biggest bearded dragon breeders around, with serious work across chameleons, tortoises, rhino iguanas, iguanas, chelonians, and rare species. Preserved through the Citadel, those breeding, husbandry, product-development, and operational lessons can guide the keepers and institutions that follow.
Florida · USAChris Gillette
Senior Advisor
Wildlife & Zoological Operations
Crocodilians · Field work · Zoological operations · Education
Chris brings ethics, animal knowledge, finesse, and public education together in a way that fits the Citadel's mission. He is a great role model for the next generation because he shows that you can make wildlife content engaging without being reckless, sensational, or careless with the animals. His work is built on real understanding: behavior, timing, facility standards, field experience, crocodilian handling, and respect for what these animals are capable of. That balance matters for the future of public wildlife education.
Students of the work
Tyler Bevers · Jasmyn Brilliante · Braxton Warren
Tyler, Jasmyn, and Brax are here in a smaller and very different role. They are students and stewards of this knowledge: listening, organizing, applying the lessons, and trying to walk in a way that honors what the faculty have earned. Brax's role as CEO, knowledge architect, and host is to gather the wisdom, shape the conversations, and turn the work into organized education. Together, Tyler, Jasmyn, and Brax help with general support, first-line coaching, moderation, organization, and routing advanced questions to the experts. Their responsibility is to protect the day-to-day structure around the faculty's wisdom, not to pretend to be the source of it.
People we still want to bring in
People we still want to bring in
This area stays separate from confirmed faculty. These are people we still want involved because each one would strengthen a specific part of the institution. The goal is not to collect names. The goal is to bring in the people whose knowledge would fill important gaps: crocodilian lineage, venom production, public education, academic translation, veterinary medicine, chelonian conservation, monitor husbandry, and serious next-generation operations.
This faculty is the bridge between what the field has learned and what the next generation needs. Every course, ebook, interview, demonstration, community discussion, and educational resource created through the Citadel becomes part of a larger body of knowledge: one built from real experience, held to a higher standard, and designed to serve the animals, the keepers, and the future of the reptile world.
// Why institutions matter
Knowledge needs somewhere to live.
Important knowledge does not survive by accident. It survives because people choose to protect it, organize it, teach it, and pass it forward. Every serious field eventually needs institutions: places that create continuity, preserve standards, and make sure the work of one generation does not disappear before the next generation can build on it.
Venomous
Pioneer
Operations
Standard01
The reptile world has the people. It has the experience. It has the passion. What it has not had is one dedicated place built to gather that knowledge, organize it responsibly, and make it easier for serious keepers to learn from the full field. The Citadel is not claiming to own that knowledge. We are trying to help give it a home.
02
Stronger together
03
A home for the field
04
For the animals
05
Looking forward
The Citadel is being built to preserve, organize, and pass forward reptile knowledge so the field can become stronger than any one person, facility, or generation.
// The Culebra ecosystem
An ecosystem of quality, built from first interest to advanced operation.
Citadel Culebra is not being built as one course, one community, or one website. It is being built as a full student ecosystem: a connected path for everyone from a first-time enthusiast to a serious breeder, a venomous keeper, a public educator, or a zoo owner. The goal is quality at every step: quality education, quality community, quality records, quality commerce, quality mentorship, and quality standards around the animals.
Live nowCulebra Codex
The library
Live nowCulebra Connect
The community
Summer 2026Culebra Exchange
The marketplace
Summer 2026Cerebro Culebra
The operations platformTogether, these platforms create a complete ecosystem of quality. Codex organizes the knowledge. Connect keeps students and keepers learning together. Exchange supports responsible commerce across animals, supplies, vendors, and equipment. Cerebro helps people manage animals and operations with better records. Each piece serves a different purpose, but all of it supports the same mission: better education, better keepers, better animal care, stronger standards, and a reptile world where serious people have a clear path from their first animal to the highest levels of the field.
// The academic framework
The framework that turns scattered knowledge into a real pathway.
The Citadel is being built as an academic framework for the reptile field: a place where hard-earned experience, scientific understanding, professional standards, and responsible practice can live together. The goal is to organize scattered knowledge into a pathway a student can actually follow, from a first serious reptile to advanced breeding, venomous, zoological, conservation, or public education work.
In motion
Core disciplines
01
Husbandry
02
Nutrition
03
Behavior & Handling
04
Socialization & Bond Building
05
Breeding
06
Genetics
07
Anatomy & Physiology
08
Veterinary Medicine & Clinical Care
09
Venomous Animals & Toxicology
10
Zoological & Large-Scale Operations
11
Conservation, Research & Human-Wildlife Conflict
12
Education, Media & Public Communication
13
Legislation & Regulatory Policy
Enclosure design, gradients, humidity, light, substrate, ventilation, hydration, cycling, enrichment, observation, and the daily systems that let reptiles thrive.
Species programs
The disciplines give the school its structure. Species programs make that knowledge practical across reticulated pythons, monitors, crocodilians, venomous reptiles, chelonians, geckos, chameleons, boas, and regional groups. This is where different faculty perspectives become a strength.
Reticulated PythonsMonitor LizardsCrocodiliansVenomous ReptilesCheloniansGeckosChameleonsBoasAustralian SpeciesAfrican SpeciesAsian SpeciesAmerican Species
How the knowledge becomes usable
We build courses, ebooks, guides, interviews, oral histories, demonstrations, live discussions, AMAs, research reviews, certificates, and searchable Codex resources. The point is not to force every expert into one format. The point is to capture your strongest knowledge in the form that teaches it best.
Digital CoursesMaster ClassesSpecies ProgramsEbooks & GuidesFaculty InterviewsOral HistoriesLive DiscussionsField DemonstrationsResearch ReviewsCertificatesCommunity LearningCodex Resources
This framework is meant to stay alive. Faculty review, correct, expand, and approve the material so the Citadel becomes more than another pile of information. It becomes a living school: searchable through the Codex, supported through the community, reinforced through real tools, and grounded in standards responsible keepers need.
// Faculty partnership & compensation
A serious institution has to support serious contributors.
The people we are asking to help build the Citadel have already given years of their lives to this field. Some built facilities, raised animals, preserved bloodlines, took risks, corrected mistakes, and mentored keepers through direct work. Others studied deeply, researched, taught, published, documented, and helped the field understand these animals through intellectual and academic contribution. All of it matters. If that knowledge is going to be preserved through the Citadel, the people contributing it should be respected as true partners, not treated like hired contributors giving up ownership.
Production
Publishing
Institution01
We invest first
02
Shared ownership
03
Revenue sharing
04
Long-term partnership
05
Why this matters
Faculty are not being asked to finance production, build technology, edit videos, manage publishing, or become a media company. The Citadel covers the structure, production, editing, publishing, platform infrastructure, and distribution. Your role is to bring the knowledge, review the material, correct what needs correcting, and make sure the final product reflects your standards.
Reinvesting in the mission
Revenue generated through the Citadel goes back into strengthening the institution and the people, tools, and programs that make it useful.
// The vision
Build the institution the field should have had a long time ago.
The vision is bigger than courses, software, memberships, or content. Those are tools. The real vision is to build a lasting institution for reptile knowledge: a school, archive, community, technology ecosystem, and educational standard that honors the people who built the field and gives the next generation a clearer path than the one most of us had to walk.
Conservation
Archive
Global workToday
Founding faculty
Next
A working institution
Then
A global standard
The first responsibility is preservation. We are documenting the knowledge, stories, methods, research, husbandry systems, breeding lessons, handling protocols, conservation work, and operational standards carried by the people who have actually shaped the field. That includes the pioneers and OGs, the academics and researchers, the zoological operators, the venomous professionals, the crocodilian experts, the educators, and the serious newer operators who are already showing what the next era can look like.
Conservation through education
Everything ties back to conservation because every animal kept well matters. A keeper who understands husbandry, behavior, nutrition, health, records, legality, and ethics is less likely to fail the animal in front of them and more likely to become a responsible voice for the animals in the wild. Captive knowledge should not stop at the enclosure. It should support field research, habitat work, relocation, coexistence, snakebite education, public understanding, stronger policy conversations, and the global conservation work that gives these animals a future.
// A personal note
From Braxton Warren
A letter about stewardship, gratitude, and building this with the people who earned the knowledge.
If you have made it this far, thank you. More than anything, thank you for the work you have already done.
Academic bridgeSo, sincerely: thank you. Thank you for the work you have already done, the knowledge you have already carried, and the trust you have been willing to extend as we try to build this correctly. This is humbling, and I am deeply appreciative of every person helping us take the next step.
If this mission feels aligned with the work you have spent your life doing, I would be honored to build the Citadel with you, not above you, and not around you, but with you.
Respectfully,
Braxton Warren
Founder & CEO, Citadel Culebra
Preserve the Past. Advance the Present. Inspire the Future.
// The invitation
Help ensure what you've learneddoesn't leave with you.
Every faculty member on this page has spent years — often decades — developing knowledge that did not come easily. Some of it was learned through success, some through failure, some through patience, observation, experimentation, and persistence. Much of it exists nowhere else.
The Citadel was built to help preserve that knowledge and make it available to the generations that follow.
We handle
- the production
- the structure
- the publishing
- the technology
- the logistics
You bring the one thing we cannot create ourselves
- Your experience.
- Your perspective.
- Your lessons.
- Your story.
A hundred years from now, someone may still be learning from the knowledge you choose to share today. That is the opportunity. That is the responsibility. And that is the invitation.
Or reach the founder directly — brax@thewrngroup.com