Josh grew up in midwestern Pennsylvania. His passion for the outdoors and preserving wild places came from years of hunting and fishing with his dad. During a class trip to Costa Rica in 2013, Josh fell behind watching leafcutter ants making their way across a hiking path. Thinking he would have to catch up quickly, he looked around and saw his Biology teacher next to him fixated on the same line of insects. Seeing an adult still caring about the thing they did for a living was at the time a foreign concept, and inspired him to pursue a career in something he loved.
Josh has been working with birds, especially raptors, since 2016. He started as a work study student with Shaver’s Creek Environmental Center’s raptor center while attending Penn State University and quickly connected with the science of behavior change. Following graduation, Sanko accepted an internship in Alaska with the American Bald Eagle Foundation (ABEF) that soon turned into a full-time position in the field. During five years with the ABEF, he was an integral part of the education team as they transitioned from traditional methods to eventually participating in the facility’s first free-flighted programs. Sanko has been with Natural Encounters, Inc. as a trainer since 2024, expanding his experience with mixed-species free-flight bird shows, training, and care. He is a General Member on the Board of IAATE and Marketing Committee Chair focused on connecting members from facilities of all shapes and sizes to share ideas, successes, failures, and everything in between.