SPEAKER BIOGRAPHIES
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David E Anderson, DVM, MS, DACVS, Professor, Head of Agricultural Practices, College of Veterinary Medicine, Kansas State University. Dr. Anderson was raised in North Carolina in the small farming town of Oak Ridge. He earned both a BS degree in Animal Science and a DVM from North Carolina State University. He then completed an intensive rotating internship in large animal medicine and surgery at the University of Georgia and a Residency in Food Animal Medicine, Surgery, and Reproduction at Kansas State University. Dr. Anderson became a board certified specialist in surgery (Diplomate ACVS) in 1995. While at Kansas State University, he earned a MS degree in Clinical Sciences focusing on bone physiology and fracture repair. Dr. Anderson became Head of Food Animal Medicine and Surgery at Ohio State University where he developed techniques in minimally invasive surgery of ruminants and founded the International Camelid Institute. The ICI is an information repository and continuing education center with participants from 17 countries around the globe. Currently, Dr. Anderson is Head of Agricultural Practices at K-State and continues development of novel surgical treatments of injuries that limit welfare and productive use of livestock. His research focus is in surgery of food animals with special emphasis on pain and welfare. In 2009, Dr. Anderson founded the International Academy of Farm Animal Surgery to provide a method for international exchange of information among veterinarians. The IAFAS has over 300 participants in 19 different countries. |
| Dr. Mark Anderson, DVM, PhD, DACVP is a Professor of Clinical Diagnostic Pathology, based at the California Animal Health and Food Safety (CAHFS) Laboratory System in Davis. While his work includes all livestock species, his research interests are in infectious disease, specifically livestock abortion and reproductive disease, and gastrointestinal and respiratory diseases. Dr. Anderson is board certified in the American College of Veterinary Pathology |
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| Dr. Beate Crossley, DVM, PhD, MPVM received her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from the Free University of Berlin, Germany in 1994. She then completed a PhD from the Free University of Berlin, Germany in cooperation with the University of Wisconsin, Madison in 1997 focusing on bovine herpesvirus. She worked at a small animal clinic in Ludswigsburg, Germany from 1997-2000. Subsequently, Dr. Crossley completed her Masters of Preventative Veterinary Medicine at the School of Veterinary Medicine in UC Davis at 2001. Dr. Crossley was employed as a post-doctoral researcher at the California Animal Health and Food Safety (CAHFS) from 2002-2008. Dr. Crossley was appointed to the veterinary faculty at UC Davis and California Animal Health and Food Safety in 2008, specializing in Clinical Diagnostic Virology. Dr. Crossley is an Assistant Professor of Clinical Diagnostic Virology, with a clinical interest and focus in mammalian virology with a food animal emphasis. |
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Dr. Dominic Dawson, DVM, DACVIM received her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from the School of Veterinary Medicine at UC Davis in 2005. She completed an internship at Pilchuck Veterinary Hospital in Snohomish, Washington in 2006. She then finished a residency in Large Animal Medicine at Cornell University in 2009. During her residency, Dr. Dawson continued to work with camelid patients and collaborated on several studies evaluating blood tests and clinical problems in alpacas. Dr. Dawson joined the veterinary faculty at UC Davis in 2009, specializing in Internal Medicine. She is board certified in the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine. Dr. Dawson is a Staff Veterinarian in the Department of Medicine and Epidemiology, with a clinical interest and focus in emergency medicine and critical care and infectious diseases. |
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Dr. Julie Dechant, DVM, MS, DACVS graduated from the Western College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Saskatchewan in 1996. After completing a private practice internship in her home province of Alberta, she moved to Fort Collins, Colorado to complete a combined Masters and clinical residency in Large Animal Surgery at Colorado State University from 1997 to 2000. After her residency, Dr. Dechant joined the Large Animal Surgery faculty at the University of Saskatchewan for a 1-year position as a Clinical Associate. From 2001 to 2004, she was a Visiting Assistant Professor at Oklahoma State University where she was an emergency clinician. In 2004, Dr. Dechant was offered an emergency surgery position at University of California-Davis, initially in a Lecturer position and now in a Clinical Faculty position. Dr. Dechant has benefited from expertise of numerous mentors throughout her training and employment who have provided insight and allowed her to gain experience in camelid medicine. She is a board-certified specialist in Large Animal Surgery, and she is currently completing fellowship training in Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care. Dr. Dechant is the faculty advisor to the UC-Davis Camelid Medicine Club and supervises the care and use of the Camelid Teaching Herd. |
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Dr. Murray Fowler, DVM grew up on a small farm in Utah. He graduated from Iowa State University Veterinary School in 1955. Three years were spent in an equine practice in Southern California prior to joining the faculty of the Veterinary School at the University of California, Davis in 1958. After 10 years of teaching in the area of large animal medicine and surgery, he was asked to develop a program in Zoological Medicine (captive, free-ranging and privately owned wild animals), the first of its kind anywhere in the world. He is the editor, author or co-author of 18 books. About 217 professional papers have been published. He is the editor/author of Zoo and Wild Animal Medicine, now in its 5th edition. The second edition of his book on the Medicine and Surgery of South American Camelids is now in print, as is the second edition of Restraint and Handling of Wild and Domestic Animals. He has published his autobiography, entitled Murray – From Hummingbirds to Elephants and other Tales. He is a diplomate of three specialty boards: The American College of Zoological Medicine (ACZM), The American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine (ACVIM) and the American Board of Veterinary Toxicology. He is now Professor Emeritus of the University of California and devotes his time to writing, editing and speaking at conferences and workshops around the world. |
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Michelle Ing, DVM is a well-established camelid veterinarian in Granite Bay, California. She is a 1996 graduate from UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine. In 1997 she completed an equine surgery internship in Lexington, Kentucky. Following her internship she moved to Eastern Washington where she started a large animal practice where she focused her efforts on alpacas and llamas. She continued to practice both in Eastern Washington and in Northern Idaho and was a frequent guest at the Pacific Northwest Alpaca Association (PNAA) and Inland Northwest Llama Association (INLA) meetings. She was an occasional speaker for INLA and guest writer for the INLA newsletter. She hosted her own camelid seminar with guest speaker Murray Fowler, DVM and members of both PNAA and INLA.
In 2002 Dr. Ing moved back to California and established a veterinary practice exclusive to camelids in Granite Bay, California where she lives with her husband, and young son. Besides general medicine, she has focused her attention on camelid reproduction, nutritional concerns of camelids, neonatal care and problems associated with heat stress. Dr. Ing holds an undergraduate degree in Journalism and is a regular contributor to camelid publications. She currently is on the Board of Directors for the Alpaca Research Foundation. |
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Dr. Birgit Puschner, DVM, PhD, Diplomate ABVT received her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from the Ludwig-Maximillians-Universitaet in 1992. Dr. Puschner worked in private practice before returning to Ludwig-Maximillians-Universitaet to complete a PhD in 1995. She then pursued post-doctoral fellowship training at University of Michigan in Ann Arbor from 1995-1996. Dr. Puschner came to UC Davis in 1996 for a residency in Veterinary Toxicology, which was completed in 1999, and she became board certified by the American Board of Veterinary Toxiology. Dr. Puschner joined the veterinary faculty at UC Davis and California Animal Health and Food Safety in 2000, focusing on clinical diagnostic toxicology. Dr. Puschner is a Professor of Veterinary Toxicology, with a clinical interest and focus on toxicoses in livestock and pets, poisonous plants, and natural toxins. Dr. Puschner received the 2009 Carl J. Norden-Pfizer Distinguished Teaching Award, which is given to educators in recognition of their character and leadership qualities as well as their outstanding teaching abilities. |
Cathy Spalding lives with her husband of over 35 years and the youngest of their three children in Olympia, WA where they manage their herd of 18 llamas and alpacas.
Together with her family, she has been actively involved with llamas and alpacas since 1985. Cathy has served as a board member for the ILA, LANA and local associations, chaired and co-chaired many events and fundraisers, served as an active member on numerous committees for local and national associations including the ILR, edited the LOWS newsletter, spearheaded the Llama and Alpaca Symposium in Kansas City, written numerous articles, authored the original Delta Society guidelines for llamas and alpacas, and created the llama and alpaca cartoons “Changing Places” and “Lamazing Wisdom.” Her first behavioral textbook on CD-ROM entitled “Llama Talk” is a vast collection of llama behavioral cues complete with photos and vocals. Continually in high demand, “Llama Talk” is used in a number of veterinary universities including Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y. and the Uruguay Veterinary School of Medicine in Uruguay, South America. Cathy’s second behavioral CD-ROM for alpacas entitled “Alpaca Talk” is highly acclaimed as a must have for alpaca owners. This text includes over 100 color photos of alpaca behavioral cues as well as vocals. Her article on positioning has been translated into Chinese and presented at the Xi'an Jiaotong University in China.
Cathy’s focus is in the awareness of alpaca and llama behavior as the very foundation for understanding training and herd management. Problem solving can be complex with more than one way to approach most issues. Understanding behaviors provides the crucial information needed in making educated decisions for appropriate resolution in any given situation. Understanding behavior also saves lives. Cathy teaches alpaca and llama behavior and training clinics (which include a detailed visual presentation of behavioral cues) for Cornell University, OSU and WSU, alpaca and llama associations including LANA, CLAA and AOBA and at private farms and ranches across North America, England and New Zealand. Cathy is a featured speaker at many conferences, works with FFA and 4H and serves as a judge at many county fairs and jackpots.
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Jane Vaughan BVSc PhD MACVSc graduated with a Bachelor of Veterinary Science with honours from the University of Melbourne in 1988. She spent 7 years working in rural practice throughout Australia. She began working with alpacas in 1991 whilst working in dairy practice in south-eastern Australia. In 1996, Jane worked on Cocos Islands Quarantine Station for 12 months with more than 600 Peruvian alpacas during their importation to Australia. She then spent a year at Murdoch University, Western Australia, doing a Residency in Food Animal Medicine and passed examinations for membership to the Australian College of Veterinary Scientists in the Ruminant Nutrition Chapter. Between 1999 and 2001 she studied the control of ovarian follicular growth in alpacas as part of a government-funded Doctor of Philosophy at Central Queensland University and then researched artificial insemination of alpacas between 2002 and 2004. Jane now performs commercial embryo collection and transfer in alpacas throughout Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. She also provides nutritional advice and Johne’s disease Market Assurance Programs to alpaca breeders in Australia. |
Pamela G. Walker, DVM, MS, Diplomate ACVIM-LA of Alpaca Jack’s Suri Farm, is a 1992 graduate of Kansas State University College of Veterinary Medicine. After graduating, she spent two years in Wisconsin in private practice working with dairy cattle. She then went on to complete a Food Animal Medicine and Surgery residency at the University of Illinois, where she also received her Masters of Science degree. Dr. Walker is a member of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine and is on the board of the International Camelid Institute. She has taught senior veterinary students at University of Illinois, Washington State University, Michigan State University, and is currently teaching part time as a Clinical Assistant Professor at The Ohio State University. She has been working with camelids for more than 15 years and has a special interest in neonatal care, gastro-intestinal parasites and herd health. She has spoken both nationally and internationally to producers and veterinarians about camelid health. At Alpaca Jack’s, Dr. Walker is responsible for the medical, surgical, reproductive, and daily health care of the alpacas, which include her own small herd of 11 alpacas.
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