Telling the stories of wildlife and conservation.
WELCOME
My name is Brandon Bourassa. I am an ecologist and independent filmmaker, currently working out of Brownsville, Texas and Wanette, Oklahoma. It is my goal to use my passion and experience working with wildlife in combination for my love of visual storytelling to create compelling documentaries, short educational videos, and promotional material for wildlife and conservation organizations. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you are seeking high quality video production services from someone with both wildlife and film/video production experience.
Originally from Oklahoma, I began my wildlife career as a zookeeper in the Children’s Zoo at the Oklahoma City Zoo. I was very fortunate to enjoy a lengthy zoo career, including two years at Gatorland Orlando, prior to attending the University of New Mexico for my undergraduate degree. I completed my BS in Geography at the University of New Mexico in December 2020, just in time for peak uncertainty at the height of a global pandemic. I opted to pursue my MS through a remote program, just in case attending graduate school in person became unfeasible. It turned out to be a perfect fit, with my first semester beginning the same week that I started as a Herpetologist at the ABQ BioPark. I completed my MS in Forest Resources and Conservation, along with a graduate certificate in Care and Conservation of Aquatic Animals, in December 2023. Most recently, I worked as Senior Herpetology Keeper at Gladys Porter Zoo in Brownsville, Texas. I now run the Zoo Herpetology Association, a small nonprofit still in its infancy, with the goal of raising funds for zoo herpetologists that wish to pursue research and/or conservation projects.
I have also worked as an Ecological Consultant for the New Mexico Film Industry as a part of my mission to reduce human/wildlife conflict. No matter how much the film industry tries to reduce their environmental footprint, the reality is that large film productions involve large amounts of people, vehicles, and equipment invading wildlife habitat. It was my job to keep both people and wildlife safe from each other on film and television productions. Below is a list of productions for which I have provided either snake safety or on-camera reptile handling services.
2022 - The Curse (Snake Safety)
2021 - Trigger Warning (Reptile Handling)
2021 - Better Call Saul - Season 6 (Snake Safety)
2021 - Outer Range - Season 1 (Snake Safety)
2019 - Deputy - Season 1 (Snake Safety)
2019 - The Marksman (Snake Safety)
2019 - The Comeback Trail (Snake Safety)
2019 - Better Call Saul - Season 5 (Reptile Handling)
2019 - Better Call Saul - Season 5 (Snake Safety)
2019 - Briarpatch - Season 1 (Animal Handling)
2019 - Briarpatch - Season 1 (Snake Safety)
2019 - Bios (Snake Safety)
2018 - Rattlesnake (Reptile Handling)
2018 - Briarpatch - Pilot (Reptile Handling)
2018 - Chambers - Season 1 (Snake Safety)
2018 - Messiah - Season 1 (Snake Safety)
2018 - Midnight, Texas - Season 2 (Snake Safety)
2018 - Roswell, New Mexico - Season 1 (Snake Safety)
2017 - The Brave - Season 1 (Snake Safety)
2017 - The Kid (Snake Safety)
2017 - Waco (Snake Safety)
I serve as Conservation Coordinator for the New Mexico Herpetological Society, as well as a member of the Coexistence With Pitvipers Working Group for Advocates for Snake Preservation.
Thanks you for taking the time to visit my website. Feel free to check back often for updates if you’re interested. If you’d like to reach out, you can reach me at brandon@bourassawildlife.com or find me on Instagram, @nomadicherper.
All the best,
Brandon M. Bourassa, MS
President/CEO, Zoo Herpetology Association
News
10/20/24 - Hi, Brandon here. My last paper from my time at UF has been published through UF IFAS Extension. I hope that this guide for coexisting with venomous snakes is useful for anyone who shares space with these misunderstood, yet ecologically valuable animals. You can find it here.
3/11/23 - It’s been a while since the last update on here, but I have a couple pieces of news to share. First, I have joined my colleague Brandon Sideleau, a crocodile specialist and PhD student at Charles Darwin University, as co-host of the CrocAttack Podcast. It is currently available only on Castbox, but will soon be on other platforms. For now, you can check it out at https://castbox.fm/channel/CrocAttack-Podcast-id5248055?country=us .
Secondly, my guide to the Venomous Snakes and Lizards of New Mexico has been published through UF/IFAS Extension and can be found at https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/UW503 .
I plan to hit the road with my dog, Florence, quite a bit this year while I finish up my master’s at UF remotely. I plan to attend some Herpetology conferences and do a good amount of herping, so say hi if you see me! And don’t forget to follow along on Instagram (@NomadicHerper).
4/12/20 - The COVID-19 pandemic has given us all a lot more time to think about projects that we have put off for a while, which includes updating this website.
In February, I had the honor of being featured in the cover story of the Hownikan, the monthly newspaper of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, of which I am a member. You can check out the issue here.
The City Nature Challenge is coming up April 24-27, and we want to encourage everyone in Bernalillo County to take part, keeping social distancing in mind, and make as many iNaturalist observations as possible. To help out, here is a handy checklist to the reptile species of Bernalillo County, New Mexico. How many can you find?