Faculty

Hayley R. Adams, DVM, PhD, DACVPM, DACVM

Dr. Maya Gupta

guptaDr. Maya Gupta earned her bachelor’s degree from Columbia University and her master’s and doctoral degrees in clinical psychology from the University of Georgia, with a predoctoral internship in the Psychology Service at the United States Penitentiary – Atlanta. Her interests center on connections between animal cruelty and interpersonal violence, particularly domestic violence, and on using this knowledge to improve community response to violence in all forms. She also has a strong interest in assessment/intervention with juvenile and adult cruelty offenders, with a particular focus on identifying perpetrator subtypes and developing empirically supported interventions.

Dr. Gupta’s work in the field of human-animal relationships includes previous 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 now contracts for animal welfare organizations on program development and evaluation, serves as a consultant for research projects on human-animal interaction, and provides expert witness services for animal cruelty cases. In addition to teaching for the Veterinary Forensic Sciences program, she is an adjunct faculty member with the Master’s Program in Anthrozoology at Canisius College. Her current professional service includes the Senior Director of Applied Research, ASPCA, 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 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.


Dr. Maranda A. Kles, Ph.D.

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Dr. Kles is a physical anthropologist, specializing in forensic anthropology. She currently lives in Louisiana with her husband, daughter, and dog, Charley. She earned her Ph.D. in Anthropology from the University of Florida in 2013. Dr. Kles is currently an assistant professor of anthropology at a university in Louisiana. In addition, she continues to consult on forensic anthropology cases.

Dr. Kles’ interest in veterinary osteology developed from the need to identify non-human skeletal remains during the course of forensic anthropology investigations. Her research includes skeletal trauma analysis and identifying skeletal morphology that allows a finer distinction of species.

 


Beverly McEwen DVM, MSc, Ph.D., DACVP

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Beverly graduated from the Ontario Veterinary College, University of Guelph, Canada, and has been a diagnostic pathologist for over 30 years. After a year in practice, she returned to OVC and completed a Master’s degree and PhD in veterinary pathology and became board-certified by the American College of Veterinary Pathologists in 1986. She is a full member of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences and has been a member of the International Veterinary Forensic Sciences Association since its inception and completed 2 terms on the IVFSA Board of Directors. She is an invited speaker on veterinary forensic pathology at national and international conferences and has authored or co-authored journal articles on topics in veterinary forensic pathology in the Journal of Forensic Sciences, Forensic Medicine, Science, and Pathology and Veterinary Pathology. She was guest associate editor for the September 2016 issue of Veterinary Pathology, entirely devoted to veterinary forensic pathology, a first for any veterinary journal. Several chapters she has written on the pathology of asphyxia and drowning have been accepted for publication in an upcoming textbook on veterinary forensic pathology.

 


Pamela Reid, Ph.D.

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Dr. Pamela Reid is a Certified Applied Animal Behaviorist (C.A.A.B.), and currently serves as Vice President of the ASPCA’s Anti-Cruelty Behavior Team (ACBT) and the Anti-Cruelty Behavioral Rehabilitation Center, which provides behavior assessments, enrichment and rehabilitation for animal victims of cruelty, most notably from dog fighting, puppy mill and hoarding cases. At the Rehab Center, Dr. Reid’s team implements treatments designed to reduce fear and anxiety, with the goals of improving the well-being of neglected, undersocialized dogs and helping them become suitable for adoption.

Dr. Reid has been involved in many high-profile operations, including evaluating the dogs from the two largest dogfighting raids in US history: the “Missouri 500” and the “Alabama 367.” In 2008 she received a Public Service Award from the United States Attorney’s Office for her assistance with the Michael Vick dogfighting case. She has testified as an expert witness in several dangerous dog attack and dogfighting cases.

Dr. Reid received her Ph.D. in Psychology with a specialization in animal learning and behavior from the University of Toronto. Prior to joining the ASPCA in 2001, she established a successful pet behavior consulting practice in Toronto, Canada. As a member of the faculties of the University of Guelph and the University of Illinois, Dr. Reid taught veterinary students and supervised graduate students working toward theses in applied animal behavior.


Ngaio Richards, Ph.D.

Ngaio RichardsNgaio Richards is a wildlife biologist and detection dog handler who has had the privilege of fielding in such far-flung places as the Alaskan arctic, the outer islands of west Scotland and the jungles of Cameroon. She obtained a BSc (Hons) in Environmental Science and an MSc in Natural Resource Sciences, for examining the risks that pesticide exposure poses to Eastern Screech owls in apple orchards of southern Québec, Canada. Inspired by the ‘Asian Vulture Crisis’, in which exposure to the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) diclofenac nearly brought three species of Gyps vultures to extinction, her PhD research sought to identify carcass parts – from highly decomposed animals – in which NSAIDs could be detected, to maximize the amount and breadth of information that could be collected after a mortality event.

Much of her work involves bridging the gap between those who specialize either in the repercussions of pesticides, or of veterinary agents, on wildlife as well as those who work in field and analytical settings. She has enjoyed a longstanding collaboration with a wildlife forensics network in Andalucía, Spain that has pioneered many innovative techniques – from training their field officers to impeccably process and gather evidence, to laboratory methods developed to squeeze out every possible bit of information to aid in the prosecution of crimes against wildlife and our environment.

Ngaio is also the Forensics & Field Specialist for Working Dogs for Conservation, a nonprofit in Montana that employs high-drive dogs – most adopted from shelters – to collect otherwise hard to gather information that is integral to conserving wildlife and their habitats. She is managed by a fastidious border collie named Orbee, who is also her primary working partner.


Jessica Rock, J.D.