Our Speakers
Please note, more speakers are being added and will be announced soon!
Many more tracks and speakers are pending!
Please note speakers listed are subject to change.
Amber Batson
Bio to come
Dr. Rachel Casey
Dr. Rachel Casey is the Director of Canine Behaviour and Research at Dogs Trust. She leads a team providing expertise in dog behaviour for the charity, including the development of an exciting programme of preventative education and training for dog owners called ‘Dog School’. She also manages a team running research projects in veterinary epidemiology and dog behaviour within Dogs Trust, including Generation Pup – a cohort study where the owners of puppies are recruited and asked to provide lots of information about their dogs as they develop into adulthood.
Rachel first developed an interest in behaviour when working in equine veterinary practice, and has now been specialising in veterinary behaviour with horses, dogs and cats for over 20 years. She is a Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons Recognised Specialist in Veterinary Behavioural Medicine, a European Veterinary Specialist in Animal Welfare, Ethics and Law and a Certified Clinical Animal Behaviourist. She lectures internationally on research and clinical behaviour topics, and has numerous scientific publications in companion animal behaviour and welfare.
Nanci Creedon
Nanci Creedon, M.Sc. is a full time dog behaviour consultant and tutor with Creedons College in Ireland, Nanci’s primary degree is in Zoology from University College Cork and has a masters degree in Animal Behaviour and Welfare from Newcastle University. Like many, Nanci is a fan of Life Long Learning and is currently taking a Medical Neuroscience course.
Nanci opened Creedons Dog Care, Irelands longest operating dog daycare centre, in 2010 and launched Creedons College in 2013.
The most rewarding element of Nanci’s career is training budding dog training and behaviour professionals at Creedons College, as see’s a great need for educated, competent pet professionals in Ireland.
As Ireland’s first certified dog behaviour consultant, Nanci feels great responsibility in promoting ethical, science based dog care in Ireland, and appears regularly on Irish TV and radio educating viewers and listeners on all things dog, working hard to clear up outdated myths and delivering ‘user friendly’ dog behaviour advice.
Nanci’s primary passion is dog bite prevention. In 2015 Nanci set up www.dogbitepreventionireland.com, and through this site provides accessible, step by step advice.
In 2017 Nanci’s research, “Dog bite injuries to humans and the use of breed-specific legislation: A comparison of bites from legislated and non-legislated dog breeds” was published in the Irish Veterinary Journal and she is currently working on more dog bite research.
Dr. Susan Friedman
Susan G. Friedman, Ph.D. is a professor emeritus in the Department of Psychology at Utah State University. She has helped pioneer the cross-species application of behavior analysis to animals, using the same humane philosophy and scientifically sound teaching technology that has been so effective with human learners. Susan has co-authored chapters on behavior change in four veterinary texts, and her popular articles have been translated into 13 languages. She gives seminars on animal learning at conferences and zoos around the world, is a member of Karen Pryor’s Clicker Expo faculty, and teaches yearly hands-on animal training workshops with Steve Martin (www.naturalencouters.com). Susan is the Parrot Division Chairperson of the International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants (IAABC), the Chairman of the Scientific Advisory Committee of American Humane Association (AHA) Film and TV Unit, and a member in good standing of ABAI, AZA, ABMA and IAATE. This year She was included on the Vet Tech College’s list of “15 Animal Professors to Know.” Susan’s acclaimed on-line course, Living and Learning with Animals for behavior professionals, has provided even wider dissemination of effective, humane behavior change practices to students in over 30 countries (www.behaviorworks.org).
Steve Goward
Steve started as a volunteer at Dogs Trust in Shrewsbury, Shropshire back in 2000 whilst studying animal welfare. On completion of his diploma he became a full time canine carer where he built up his experience working with dogs in a kennel environment, and in 2004 he took over as the training and behaviour advisor for the Shrewsbury centre. After 6 years in this role he was promoted to Deputy Head of Canine Behaviour & Training. Recently Steve has taken on the new role of Behaviour Development Manager and now supports all the Dogs Trusts 21 centres across the UK and Ireland with staff training and development of behaviour and welfare knowledge.
Steve has studied canine behaviour at Bristol University to enable him to help dogs that are struggling to cope, both in the kennel environment and once they go to new homes, as part of the aftercare offered by Dogs Trust. Steve has presented workshops on training & behaviour at shelters in many countries all over the world.
Ben Hart
Ben Hart hates injustice and wasted potential, and he has a mission to help people understand the true nature of equines by using the honesty of the science of behaviour to help both animals and their people unlock their true potential. He firmly believes working with equines doesn’t have to be complicated, dangerous or stressful and by helping people to understand the true and amazing behaviour of equines, he wants them to better understand each other to make life better for horses, donkeys and Mules. Ben removes the myths and dependence on dominance and forceful training methods and focuses on positive, safe effective solutions that centre on both the animal and the human. Ben’s delivery of training is unique, ensuring an outstanding experience that is enjoyable and life changing. Ben is also the author of several books on equine behaviour and clicker training, as well as the creator of a unique series of individual equine training plans. He has worked with horses, mules, donkeys and people all over the world: from mustangs and race horses in California, stock horses in Australia, pleasure horses in Canada and Europe, and working equines in Cambodia and Ethiopia, Egypt, Mexico, Kenya. www.hartshorsemanship.com.
Dr. Elinor Karlsson
Elinor Karlsson is an assistant professor in Bioinformatics and Integrative Biology at the University of Massachusetts Medical School and the director of the Vertebrate Genomics Group at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. She is excited by the potential for using our own evolutionary history to understand how the human genome works, and in how that knowledge can lead to advances in healthcare. By investigating evolutionary history using high throughput genomic tools, Elinor aims to identify genes, pathways, and functional variants underlying polygenic traits, including susceptibility to infectious diseases, like cholera and viral hemorrhagic fevers, as well as psychiatric disorders (using dogs as a model organism).
Elinor received her B.A. in biochemistry/cell biology from Rice University, and earned her Ph.D. in bioinformatics from Boston University. She was a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University before starting the Karlsson Lab at the University of Massachusetts Medical School in 2014.
Adria Karlsson
Adria Karlsson, MAT, EdS, is an Applied Behavior Analyst and Certified Dog Behavior Consultant working out of Cambridge, MA. Her main focus professionally is on dogs and cats, but she finds the behavior of any species of animal, particularly humans, is endlessly fascinating. Her early professional training was in elementary education and working with dyslexic children. When she adopted a dog, Beskow, with behavioral issues she soon became immersed in the world of dog training. As Beskow’s issues became more pronounced she began to seek out and meet with different trainers and consultants in New England. It soon became obvious that this was a new calling and through volunteering, assisting, and teaching at the MSPCA in Boston while completing a second masters degree in Applied Behavior Analysis at Simmons, she moved completely into the world of animal training. Since then, she has continued to pursue further education through conferences, professional workshops (including getting to work with birds at Natural Encounters, Inc!), and courses (including Living and Learning with Animals and TagTeach). Currently she is working for herself through her business (Dog Willing), mentoring for the IAABC Principles and Practice course, collaborating with the Darwin’s Dogs project, and raising four young sons alongside her two dogs and two cats.
Kay Laurence
Kay has been involved in training dogs for over forty years. What began as a hobby morphed into a full-time business via college teaching and sheep farming. The constant thread has been a passion for learning about dogs and effective teaching.
Her business (learningaboutdogs.com) was established in 2000 and provides learning opportunities for dog professionals, training enthusiasts and everyday living with dogs. Workshops, seminars, books, videos and online courses provide thoughtful training based on science and understanding, delivered with empathy and experience. Training experience has been shaped by working and sports dogs that demand high levels of precision and performance to designing online courses.
Kay leads the way in developing innovative and creative techniques that delivers connection and effective teaching for both dogs and people blended with passion, joy and enthusiasm.
Her career has involved practical teaching and presenting for a variety of professional and academic organisations in the US, Australia, New Zealand, several European countries and across the UK.
Life is managed by Border Collies, style is demanded by Gordon Setters.
Dr. Christopher Pachel, DVM, DACVB
Dr. Christopher Pachel, DVM, DACVB received his veterinary degree from the University of MN in 2002 and worked as a general practitioner for two years in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area prior to the start of his residency program. He operated a house-call behavior practice in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area until 2010 and became board certified by the American College of Veterinary Behaviorists in 2010.
He is currently the owner of the Animal Behavior Clinic in Portland, OR, lectures regularly throughout the US and Canada, and has taught courses in veterinary behavior at the University of MN and at the Virginia Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine. He has published research on feline water consumption preferences, wrote a book chapter on Intercat Aggression for the May 2014 issue of Veterinary Clinics of North America: Small Animal Practice, and is co-author of an forthcoming book chapter on Pet Selection for Animal Assisted Therapy.
Suzanne Rogers
Suzanne worked in science publishing for 10 years – initially as a science journalist and later as the Managing Editor of Trends in Biotechnology. In her spare time she re-qualified in animal behaviour and welfare, gained extensive practical experience with several animal welfare organisations, worked as an equine behaviour consultant and founded Learning About Animals, which consists of four elements: events, equine behaviour, animal welfare consultancy and resources.
Through extensive travel to developing countries Suzanne gained interest in transport animals and in 2005 joined the Board of the World Association for Transport Animal Welfare and Studies (TAWS), of which she is still an active member. She is also co-founder and Programmes Director of Change For Animals Foundation (CFAF) and co-founder and Trustee of the Aquarium Welfare Association.
In 2007 she became the Programmes Manager of the Companion Animal Unit at WSPA (now World Animal Protection) managing dog population and working equine programmes. A key part of this role was to develop and test participatory methodologies – working within communities to lead to a change in the way people manage and care for their animals. Suzanne led the move away from a heavy focus on mobile clinics towards prevention through participatory approaches. To reflect the broad applicability of the approach to other species she became the Technical Advisor for Human Behaviour Change Programmes. Since 2011, Suzanne has worked as an international consultant for animal welfare and human behaviour change, working with many key animal organisations. In 2016 she co-founded Human Behaviour Change for Animals (www.hbcanimalwelfare.com – info@hbcanimalwelfare.com) and also continues her work in equine behaviour.
Michael Shikashio, CDBC
Michael Shikashio, CDBC, is the president of the International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants (IAABC), and provides private consultations working with dog aggression cases through his business Complete Canines LLC. Michael is fully certified through the IAABC, is a full member of the Association of Professional Dog Trainers (APDT), and is a mentor trainer for Animal Behavior College. Michael also offers mentoring and training to other professionals.
Michael is sought after for his expert opinion by numerous media outlets, including the New York Times, New York Post, Baltimore Sun, WebMD, Women’s Health Magazine, Real Simple Magazine, The Chronicle of the Dog, and Steve Dale’s Pet World.
He is a featured speaker on the topic of canine aggression at conferences and seminars across the country, and he currently teaches courses through The Dog Trainers Connection and the IAABC.
Michael resides in Mystic, CT and enjoys coastal life with his wife, two boys, and three dogs.
Nancy Tucker, CPDT-KA
Nancy is a full-time pet dog trainer and behaviour consultant in Sherbrooke, Quebec (Canada). She regularly teaches seminars, webinars, and workshops on dog training, dog behaviour, and the business end of training in Canada, the US, and in Europe.
Most of her time is spent doing private in-home behaviour consultations with clients. She specializes in common behaviour issues that affect the family dog, and is skilled and experienced in treating aggression and anxiety cases.
Nancy has written numerous articles on dog behaviour for various French-language Quebec publications, and is a regular contributor of training and case study articles for the Whole Dog Journal.
She is a member of the IAABC, a Charter Member of the Pet Professional Guild (PPG), and a founding member of the Regroupement Québécois des Intervenants en Éducation Canine (RQIEC), a Quebec-based association of trainers and behaviour consultants.
Helen Zulch
Helen Zulch, Head of Professional Development in Canine Behaviour at Dogs Trust, is a veterinarian and European and Royal College Specialist in Veterinary Behavioural Medicine. She is additionally a Visiting Fellow in clinical animal behaviour in the School of Life Sciences, University of Lincoln and an Honorary Assistant Professor at the University of Nottingham School of Veterinary Medicine and Science. Helen has worked in the field of companion animal behaviour for over 15 years as a behaviour consultant as well as a lecturer. She was instrumental in developing the Life Skills for Puppies programme currently run at the University of Lincoln. Her research interests include problem prevention in pets, the relationship between pain and behaviour, olfaction in dogs and the sciences explaining learning and their application in and implications for training animals.
Helen Lives with her husband, eleven year old Border Collie and four year old Chocolate Labrador.