About Nessie Explains
My name is Nessie O’Neil, although you might know me better as Lochnessofficial on TikTok. I’m a raccoon biologist, animal educator, and science communicator.
I originally created Nessie Explains as a place to turn some of my educational videos into longer, sourced articles, though I often struggle to remember to update it. The content on this site mostly focuses on rabies, wildlife, and other topics where bad information spreads particularly easily online.
If you found this website because you read about my research on the pygmy raccoon (Procyon pygmaeus) of Cozumel, Mexico, you’re also in the right place. My academic work focuses on wildlife conservation, animal behavior, and the complicated relationships that develop between people and wild animals in tourism settings.
My Animal Education Journey
Since I was a small child, I’ve had a habit of sharing my “fun facts” with whoever I could trap long enough to listen. As I grew older, I realized that if I wanted people to be as interested in the things I had to say, I had to find a way to make my “fun facts” actually fun. This realization is what led to my current interpretive approach to my work. My intense passions for both science and art have enabled me to tell an engaging story with everything I create, whether it be a 10 foot light up owl costume, or an educational presentation on proper raccoon husbandry.
Talking about animals comes naturally to me. I have always found it easier to communicate with animals than with people anyway, so talking to people about animals is the next closest thing. I am a firm believer that there are no stupid questions when it comes to animals. Silly? Sure. But not stupid. After all, how else is someone supposed to learn if they don’t ask? My goal as an educator is to ensure people feel comfortable coming to me with questions and know that I want them to be as excited about animals as I am.
I began working as an animal educator at age 14, staffing smallstock barns at fairs and assisting with animal birthday parties for children. I also spent several years as the assistant director of Exotic Pet Wonderland, a sanctuary for captive-bred wildlife in Knoxville, before shifting focuses to my academic work.
My main areas of interest include raccoons and other small carnivores, rabies education, animal behavior, human–wildlife interactions, wildlife tourism, captive wildlife care, and conservation communication.
I Also Research Raccoons
In addition to animal education, I am a graduate student in biology studying human–wildlife interactions involving the pygmy raccoon, a critically endangered species of raccoon found only on the island of Cozumel, Mexico.
My research (federally permitted by the Mexican government and IRB approved by Miami University) examines how tourism shapes interactions between people and pygmy raccoons, and the ways animals adapt their behavior to heavily human-modified environments.
I have also published research documenting previously undescribed object-manipulation behavior in wild pygmy raccoons, including evidence relevant to the study of animal material culture.
A lot of my work sits at the intersection of animal behavior and people. I am particularly interested in what happens when wildlife learns how humans behave, and when humans, intentionally or otherwise, begin shaping the behavior of wildlife in return.
Nessie, why do you know all this random stuff?
Because I have an extremely inefficient approach to having hobbies.
I started taking college courses at 16 and have studied subjects ranging from zoology and animal science to fashion design, communication, tourism, hospitality, and biology.
I have earned an Associate’s degree in Zoology and Bachelor’s degrees in Fashion Design and Tourism & Hospitality Management, and I am currently completing my Master’s degree in Biology.
That combination sometimes looks bizarre on paper, but it is surprisingly useful. Wildlife conservation is not only about biology. It involves human behavior, communication, economics, tourism, culture, policy, education, and how people perceive animals in the first place.
I also occasionally write or talk about subjects outside wildlife, including academia, advertising, environmental issues, fashion, mental health, alcohol and substance-use education, and whatever other subject people on social media ask me to yap about.
Why did you create Nessie Explains?
I created Nessie Explains because of my longstanding beef with AI generated blog articles and my belief that accurate information should be easily accessible. Since websites started using AI to generate blog articles for SEO purposes, I have experienced an influx of people responding to my cool facts with “ummm you’re wrong, Google says otherwise.” And then when I go to look, I realize that Google does, in fact, say otherwise. Brands are using AI to generate “informational” articles and, as a result, are publishing incorrect information that is making its way to the top of Google. More recently, Google has integrated new “AI” results which push even more misinformation. See below, where Google claims there are only 279 beluga whales left and they dine on polar bears. I’m over it, so now Nessie Explains exists to transpose my educational Tiktok videos into blog format in order to help curb the spread of misinformation on google about topics I am passionate about.
Are you the person who did Dashcon?
Yes. Nessie is short for Lochlan (my name is a pun teehee). I am the person who did Dashcon.