Bustad Companion Animal Veterinarian of the Year Award

Emily has a Master of Science in anthrozoology from Canisius College and a Certificate in Applied Animal Behavior from the University of Washington. She’s currently pursuing her Doctor of Education (EdD) in Educational and Professional Practice with a specialization in humane education from Antioch University.

Emily is a certified professional dog trainer and graduated with honors with a Certificate in Training and Counseling from The Academy for Dog Trainers. She’s also a certified Fear Free Animal Trainer and a member of their Speakers Bureau.

Additionally, Emily is a co-founder of the Humane Alliance of Rescue Trainers, which matches shelter and rescue organizations with credentialed trainers for behavior consulting and support. She also owns Coexistence Consulting, which strives to improve the interactions and relationships between humans and other animals through consulting and humane education.

Clive D. L. Wynne  is a British-Australian ethologist specializing in the behavior of dogs and their wild relatives. He has worked in the United States, Australia, and Europe, and is currently based at Arizona State University in Tempe, AZ. He was born and raised on the Isle of Wight, off the south coast of England, studied at University College London, and got his Ph.D. at Edinburgh University. He has studied the behavior of many species – ranging from pigeons to dunnarts, but starting around 2006 melded his childhood love of dogs with his professional training and now studies and teaches about the behavior of dogs and their wild relatives.

Leslie Irvine received her Ph.D. in sociology from The State University of New York at Stony Brook. Her research focuses on the roles of animals in society. At the graduate level, she teaches Sociological Theory, Qualitative Data Analysis, and Social Psychology. At the undergraduate level, she teaches Animals and Society and is the Director of the Animals and Society Certificate Program. She also teaches Classical Theory, and The Self in Modern Society. She is the recipient of the Excellence in Leadership and Service Award from the University of Colorado Boulder Faculty Assembly, the Helena Lopata Mentor Excellence Award from the Society for the Study of Symbolic Interaction, and the Marinus Smith Teaching Award from the University of Colorado Parents Association.

Maya Gupta earned her B.A. from Columbia University and her M.S. and Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of Georgia. Her interests center on the psychology of animal cruelty; assessment/intervention with cruelty offenders; connections between animal cruelty and interpersonal violence, particularly domestic violence; and using this knowledge to improve community response to violence in all forms. Dr. Gupta previously held roles as Executive Director of the Animals & Society Institute and as Executive Director of the Ahimsa House domestic violence safe haven program for animals. She has also contracted for animal welfare organizations on program development and evaluation, served as a consultant for research projects on human-animal interaction, and provided expert witness services for animal cruelty cases. She is currently Senior Director of Applied Research with the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

In addition to teaching for Canisius, she is an instructor for the Veterinary Forensic Sciences Program at the University of Florida. Her current professional service includes the Steering Committee of the National Link Coalition, the Animal Cruelty Advisory Council of the Association of Prosecuting Attorneys, the Board of Directors of Mojave Animal Protection, the Advisory Council of Ahimsa House, the Advisory Team of Pets for Vets, the Governing Body of the Section on Human-Animal Interaction in the American Psychological Association, and serving as an Action Editor for the Human-Animal Interaction Bulletin.