Symposium 2011 Speakers

Randy Atkinson
Randy has kept domestic rabbits for thirty years and started rescuing them in 2000.  He began wildlife rehabilitation in 2004, and he specializes in small mammals, especially the critical patients and those with special needs.

Linda Bergman-Althouse
Linda Bergman-Althouse is a certified wildlife rehabilitator who has served the down east coastal communities of North Carolina and the Outer Banks Wildlife Shelter for thirteen years working clinic in rehabilitation, mentoring new volunteers and facilitating tour groups. Linda is a board member and past President of Wildlife Rehabilitators of North Carolina.   Proactively concerned with loss of wildlife habitat due to progressive development throughout the United States, Linda continually rallies support for the protection and stewardship of America's extraordinary natural resources.  She grew up in rural Macon County, Illinois and is an author, Eastern Illinois University Alumna, a retired U.S. Marine, College Psychology Instructor, Industry Training & Employee Development Specialist and a staunch advocate for animal rights and conservation. She resides in Onslow County, North Carolina with her husband, John, and five (indoor only) cats; Cybill, Kitty, Pearl, Seven and Frizbee.

Halley D Buckanoff, BS, CVT, CWR
Employed at the North Carolina Zoo at the helm of the Valerie H Schindler Wildlife Rehabilitation Center overseeing rehabilitation practices, center operations, and mentoring of more than 150 volunteers and interns; Halley is a graduate of Lewis and Clark College in Portland, OR with a Bachelor’s of Science in Biology, she is also a Certified Veterinary Technician with 10+ years of emergency, exotic, zoo and wildlife medicine and husbandry experience, in addition to becoming a Certified Wildlife Rehabilitator through the International Wildlife Rehabilitator’s Council.  She has completed graduate level course work in animal population management and animal nutrition.  Her experiences include work as a field biologist mist-netting, trapping, banding, tracking and radio-collaring birds; currently she holds a USFW banding permit and is conducting post-release survival studies on common rehabilitated backyard birds in conjunction with Guilford College. 
Halley believes that the wildlife rehabilitation community are entrusted professionals and as such stewards for wildlife and wild places, relied upon to stay up-to-date on practices and provide conservation education.

Jean Chamberlain
Jean and her husband have been rehabilitators for nearly 20 years, rehabilitating raptors for more than 14 years. She is particularly interested in animal behavior.
Jean is actively involved in education and training. She presents many wildlife programs each year. She helps organize and teach the wildlife rehabilitation course at her local community college. She designed and teaches WRNC's Refresher and Basic Courses and organizes the symposium each year. Jean is past president for WRNC and is the web administrator for WRNC and IWRC. She created the Raptor ID website for IWRC, serves as a moderator and is on the Curriculum Development Committee for IWRC's online courses.
Jean has a degree in mathematics and has completed 2 years of post graduate work in human information processing (learning and perception). She taught high school mathematics for several years and is now retired after a second career in Information Technology.

Sathya Chinnadurai, DVM, MS
Sathya Chinnadurai completed his DVM and an MS in Wildlife Sciences at the University of Missouri.  He is completing a three-year training program in Zoological Medicine at the North Carolina Zoological Park and North Carolina State University.  His main interest is anesthesia and pain management of reptiles and birds.

Dr. Tres Clarke
Tres Clarke has a Bachelor of Science degree in Small Animal Science from Delaware Valley College Doylestown, Pa and a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine from Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine St. Kitts, West Indies. He performed his clinical year of study at the University of Tennessee School of Veterinary Medicine. He is the Zoological/ Aquatic Medicine Resident at North Carolina State University School of Veterinary Medicine.
During his undergraduate years he worked at the Philadelphia Zoo for 4 years as an animal presenter/keeper. After graduation from Veterinary school, he was employed as one of the veterinarians at the Virginia Beach Aquarium
and Gloucester Veterinary Hospital, working with a large varied of exotic and domestic species, ranging from seals to cobras.
He has a very strong interest and alot of experience in reptile and marine fish husbandry and medicine. He has also had the great experience to travel for extended periods of time to South Africa and Australia to work with their country's diverse exotic animals.

Nicki Dardinger
Nicki received her undergraduate degree in Animal Science from Cornell University where she focused on wildlife and exotics.  While at Cornell, she participated as a volunteer at the Cornell Raptor Program where she first experienced working with captive raptors.  As a graduate student, she served as the Education Director for the Cornell Raptor Program where she taught undergraduate students how to handle captive raptors, and managed the education programs at the center.  In 2006, Nicki moved to Charlotte, North Carolina and joined the team at Carolina Raptor Center as Director of Education.  She led a team of seven educators that presented over 600 education programs annually to over 50,000 people.  As the Director of Education, Nicki developed a consulting program, and traveled nationally to assist nature centers and wildlife rehabilitators incorporate best practices in raptor husbandry and training into their management program. Currently, Nicki works in the office of Government Relations and Grants at Central Piedmont Community College in Charlotte where she works with a team that manages the college’s federal, state, and private foundation grants.  She also serves on the Board of Directors for Hounds4Heroes, a Charlotte-based non-profit that works to place companion animals from shelters and rescue organizations with military veterans who suffer from mental health issues relating to combat experiences.  She volunteers with the North Carolina Zoo’s Wildlife Rehabilitation Center and assist with their permanent resident raptors, and serves on the Symposium Committee for the WRNC. 

Laurel Degernes, DVM, MPH, Diplomate ABVP
Laurel is an Associate Professor of Avian Medicine and Epidemiology at NC State University, College of Veterinary Medicine, and has been on the faculty there since 1992. She has been specializing in birds since 1985, and is board certified in avian practice. She completed an internship at The Raptor Center at the University of Minnesota in 1986, and worked for another 4 years as staff veterinarian at that facility. She completed a residency at NCSU in companion avian medicine in 1992. She completed a Masters of Public Health degree in epidemiology at the School of Public Health, UNC Chapel Hill during a recent sabbatical leave.
She was one of the founding board members for Piedmont Wildlife Center, and is on the advisory board for the Carolina Raptor Center, the North Carolina Falconers Guild, and Tri-State Bird Rescue and Research (Newark, DE).

Nina Fischesser
Nina has been a licensed rehabilitator since 1991, was the founding WRNC president, and works with Avian, small mammalian, and reptilian native NC species. She holds a BA in Therapeutic Recreation from Southern Illinois University and presently earning a MA in Environmental Education and Communication from Royal Roads University in Victoria, Canada.
Nina has been employed for 7 years at Lees-McRae College in Banner Elk, NC, teaching wildlife rehabilitation and wildlife education through experientially based program as a BS in Biology with a Concentration in Wildlife Rehabilitation. Nina was employed by the North Carolina Outward Bound School as a field instructor for 11 years, and is a strong believer in experiential education through wilderness adventure and wildlife rehabilitation.

Elizabeth Hanrahan
Elizabeth Hanrahan began working in wildlife rehabilitation in 1985 while serving as Executive Director of the Hall County, Georgia, Humane Society.  She received her initial training from veterinarians and has taken classes through IWRC, NWRA, Carolina Raptor Center and the Wildlife Center of Virginia.  In addition she frequently presents papers, workshops and classes and has published for NWRA, IWRC, and WRNC and teaches at three campuses of College of the Albemarle.  Volunteer activities while on Ocracoke included Sea Turtle rescue, and transport, first responder for the Marine Mammal Stranding Network, tour leader for NPS summer birding programs and trip leader for Wings Over Water Birding Festival.
After, moving to Edenton in March, 2006 she opened WREN- Wildlife Rehabilitation of Edenton. 
The Center serves an area from the Outer Banks to the Virginia State line.  WREN has a large group of wildlife transporters and volunteers.  As of August 1, 2007 the WREN had received and treated more than 375 birds (including 1 bald eagle and an albino red tailed hawk), small mammals, turtles and 1 garter snake.
She has a B.S. in Business Administration, a M.Ed. in Marketing Education and an Ed. S. in Vocational Education Administration.  Elizabeth supports Wildlife rehabilitation by providing private birding and eco tours in Eastern North Carolina and the Outer Banks. She and her husband, Dr. Calvin Hanrahan, a Physical Therapist, have two grown sons and recently moved to Edenton from Ocracoke.
Elizabeth is a former President of the Wildlife Rehabilitators of North Carolina.
The Hanrahan’s plan to move back to Ocracoke in approximately 1 year.

Bob Kiger
Bob has been making wildlife cages that his wife designed for 15 years. He recently taught two cage building classes for WRNC. Bob has several years commercial construction experience prior to retirement.

Beth Knapp-Tyner
Beth holds both state (NC/SC) and federal rehab & possession permits, including a special Fawn rehab permit. She averages 150-160 rehab admits per year. Some of them her favorite species to rehab; mid-to-large size mammals (otters, beavers, fawns) and birds including; owls, hawks & hummingbirds. She also presents education programs using live, non-releasable raptors for local clubs, summer programs, schools & groups.
She is the current vice president for WRNC and served for two years as their treasurer. She believes strongly in networking with other rehabilitators to promote both, the best care and situations for the animals and support for and by fellow rehabbers.
She has attended several rehab conferences, classes and special workshops and has also been a speaker/teacher at a few. She went back to school in her thirties to attain a specialized AS degree, is a certified Equine Sports Massage Therapist (ESMT), and was a certified Childbirth Educator and doula for several years. She says she is extremely fortunate to have a husband who is 110% supportive of, and helps whenever asked with, her rehab and education "habits".

Dr. Leslie Martin
Dr. Leslie Martin received her DVM from the University of California at Davis.  Following graduation, Dr. Martin worked in exotics and small animal practices.  Recently, she gained training in population health through the completion of a residency in laboratory animal medicine at UNC Chapel Hill.  Dr. Martin is the staff veterinarian at Triangle Wildlife Rehabilitation Clinic in Durham, NC.

Dr. Michael Martin
Michael Martin is an Assistant Professor at the North Carolina State University College of Veterinary Medicine in the Population Health and Pathobiology Department and is a board certified Diplomate by the American College of Poultry Veterinarians. He obtained his veterinary degree, Masters of Preventative Medicine (MPVM), and residency training from the School of Veterinary Medicine at the University of California at Davis.

Dr. Greg Massey
Dr. Greg Massey received his veterinary degree from the North Carolina State University in 1989. In 1996 he became a diplomate of the American Board of Veterinary Practitioners certified in avian practice. From 1993 - 2003 he worked as the Endangered Species Veterinarian for the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources. From 2003 - 2010 he worked with the Oiled Wildlife Care Network at the University of California School of Veterinary Medicine. In 2010, Dr. Massey returned to his home state of North Carolina and now works as a Research Associate for the NCSU College
of Veterinary Medicine. Since 1996, Dr. Massey has participated in more than 17 oil spills throughout the United States. Most recently he responded to the Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. He has served on numerous endangered species recovery teams and advisory groups to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and has given lectures on
conservation, avian medicine, and oiled wildlife response to audiences in the U.S. and abroad. He remains passionate about the conservation of endangered species and ecosystems, and is currently the veterinary advisor to the Marian Avifauna Conservation Project.

JB Minter
Dr. Minter received his Masters degree in Wildlife biology at Utah State and his DVM at NC State College of Veterinary Medicine. Following graduation from vet school he did a Large Animal medicine/surgery internship at the University of Illinois. After his internship, he worked part time at a small animal exotic practice in southern Florida and part time at Wildlife Care Center of Fort Lauderdale. He is a first year Zoological medicine resident at NC state College of Veterinary
Medicine.

Betty O'Leary
Betty has been working with raptors for 24 years. She worked 23 years at Carolina Raptor Center, and is now volunteering at Tuft's Wildlife Clinic in MA. She has cared for both the permanent resident birds used for education, and the birds in rehabilitation. She has a raptor banding permit and for 4 years she operated a hawk watch and raptor banding station during fall migration at Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge. She enjoys teaching others on raptor rehabilitation and care, and performing necropsies.

Toni O'Neil
Toni holds a B.S. in Zoology with a minor in Wildlife Management from the University of Maryland . She has been  rehabilitating since 1991and holds both state and federal permits, specializing in songbirds and waterfowl.  Toni has held administrative positions with ARC and has taught classes for CRC, ARC, and Carolina Wild Care, as well as teaching the Basic and Advanced Wildlife Rehabilitation courses through the local community college.  She gives many presentations to schools, scout troops, and civic groups in her community.  Toni believes in a strong state-wide networking system to assist rehabilitators at all levels, and encourages them to participate and become involved in reaching out to others.  She believes that communication between rehabilitators is vital to further education, share ideas, and keep up-to-date on the changes in wildlife medicine.  Currently, she is the Director of Possumwood Acres Wildlife Sanctuary in Hubert, NC, and enjoys working closely with the coastal residents of Onslow County.

Lauren Powers, DVM, Diplomate ABVP (Avian)
Dr. Lauren Powers is a 1994 graduate of Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine.  She completed a residency in avian medicine and surgery at North Carolina State University in 1997 and became board-certified (American Board of Veterinary Practitioners-Avian Practice) later that year.  She has been a staff veterinarian at Carolina Veterinary Specialists and service head of the Avian & Exotic Pet Service since 2002 and regularly offers services to wildlife rehabilitators and nature museums.  She frequently speaks at local and national veterinary conferences and has published numerous scientific papers and book chapters. 

David Scott, DVM
Dave Scott completed is DVM at the University of Illinois in 1997. He started out in small animal practice and volunteered for many years with several wildlife\avian groups including International Bird Rescue Research Center (IBRRC) in San Francisco and Raptor Rehab of Kentucky in Louisville.  He is currently employed as the first staff veterinarian at the Carolina Raptor Center in Charlotte where he works exclusively with birds of prey.  His interests include orthopedic and soft tissue surgery as well as hematology.  He has just published a new book titled
"Handbook of Raptor Rehabilitation" and is also the creator of RaptorMed, the first and only medical records software designed specifically for birds of prey.

Dr. Ed Smallwood
Dr. Smallwood received his veterinary degree and a master of science in veterinary anatomy from Texas A&M University. He is currently the Alumni Distinquished Professor of Anatomy at North Carolina State University. He has been awarded many teaching awards and has written numerous publications on anatomy. His primary areas of research interest are radiographic anatomy, computed tomagraphy and magnetic resonance imaging.

Ann Rogers
Ann has been a licensed home rehabilitator of small mammals since 1988. She has been federally permitted since 1991. She is a founding member and volunteer with the Triangle Wildlife Rehabilitation Clinic. She works both in their clinic and helps with fund-raising.

Joanna Weitzel
Joanna is a graduate of the Masters in Business Administration program at the University of South Carolina, received a Bachelor of Science in Marketing from Clemson University, and is nearing completion of a degree in Biological Sciences from USC.  She joined Carolina Wildlife Care (CWC) in 2004 as its Executive Director.  Her work in wildlife rehabilitation also includes volunteer service with CWC, the Carolina Raptor Center and Riverbanks Zoo.  Joanna is a past IWRC board member, serves on a statewide coalition to advance environmental education in SC, and was recently recognized by the South Carolina Wildlife Federation with the Conservation Ethics Award.  Special interests include songbird and bat rehabilitation, spending time with husband Steve and children Erin (12) and Davis (9), and serving as a contributing writer for a local magazine.

Additional speaker informationwill be added when it is received.