Symposium 2017 Speakers

Dr. Kate Archibald
(Wound Management)

Kim Ashby
(Assessment and Treatment of Mammals)
Kim Ashby is a member of Wildlife Welfare, Inc. She began rehabbing small mammals in 2006. She has a special interest in Virginia Opossums, especially their diet as it relates to preventing Metabolic Bone Disease. She is a Registered Nurse and held her Certificate of Emergency Nursing when she worked outside the home.

Daron Barnes
(NC Permit Rule Changes)

Brian Bockhahn
(Creating Wildlife Habitat)
A life long nature lover, Brian has worked for North Carolina State Parks for 20 years teaching about wildlife as a park ranger and education specialist.  Over that time he has worked with more than 50 eagle scouts to create a variety of wildlife projects and enhancements for the benefit of wildlife, mostly along a nature trail at Falls Lake.  Come learn about some of the simple methods you can incorporate in your own backyard or nature center.  Several projects will be set up as display in addition to the presentation. 

Kimberly Brewster
(Launch, Grow and Support a Wildlife Rehabilitation Nonprofit)
Kimberly Brewster is a business development specialist and owner of the consulting firm Expanded Solutions Provider. She is also Co-Founder of Appalachian Wildlife Refuge, a nonprofit that coordinates the needs of wildlife rehabilitation in Western North Carolina providing care for injured and orphaned wildlife, support for the wildlife rehabilitation network and conservation education to the community. Kimberly specializes in small to mid-sized businesses, start-up companies, and nonprofit organizations, providing business advice and strategies for improved growth, efficiency, and sustainability. Kimberly has over 20 years of experience working in all aspects of business operations including over 16 years in nonprofit management.

Halley Buckanoff
(Initial Assessment & Care of Reptiles and Amphibians, Caring for Adult Mammals in Captivity)
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 Rehabilitation Council.  Halley is a former board member for WRNC. 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.

Cathy Burns
(Cottontail Rehabilitation)
Cathy became a Certified Veterinary Assistant through Coastal Carolina Community College in Jacksonville in 2007.Shortly after that she started volunteering at Possumwood Acres Wildlife Sanctuary as she was taking the Wildlife Rehabilitation classes offered also through Coastal. When she finished the classes she became a State licensed Wildlife Rehabilitator in 2008 for mammals and reptiles. She continued to volunteer at PAWS first as a Rehabber then assisting with the education programs both on site and then off site. She now coordinates all of the programs and presents most of them. 
In 2012 she was awarded the Golden Rule Education Award 2012 for Onslow County.
Starting in 2010 she became the facilitator of the Possumwood Acres Facebook.
She has operated her own wildlife rehabilitation center out of her property in Richlands NC since 2009. In 2012 with the completion of cages she became a Federally Licensed Wildlife Rehabilitator.
In 2012 she was hired as an instructor for the Wildlife Rehabilitation courses for CCCC in Jacksonville, NC through their Continuing Education program. 

Sergeant Mark Cagle
(Unlawful Reptile Trade in NC)
Sergeant Mark Cagle is a graduate of East Carolina University with a degree in history and education. He taught school for 7 years before becoming a wildlife officer in 1997. He lives in Plymouth with his wife Erin, their miniature Dachshund, “Peanut” and Great Dane, “Titan.”

Dr. Sarah Cannizzo
(Emergency/Triage)
Sarah is a 2012 graduate of the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine. She completed a small animal rotating internship at Angell Animal Medical Center in Boston, MA and a zoo internship at Wildlife Safari in Winston, OR. She is currently a zoological medicine resident at North Carolina State University.

Alison Castillo
(The Application of Quick Response Codes in Wildlife Sanctuary Husbandry)

Jean Chamberlain
(Is It a Bird? Mammal? Insect?, Basic Medical for Beginners)
Jean has been a rehabilitator for about 25 years, specializing in raptors for 20 years.
Jean presents many wildlife education programs each year for Wildlife Rehab, Inc in the Forsyth county area. She organizes and helps teach the wildlife rehabilitation course at her local community college. She designed and teaches WRNC's Refresher and Basic Courses and chairs the committee that organizes the symposium each year.
Jean is past president for WRNC, is on WRNC's Board and is the web administrator for WRNC. She created Raptor ID on IWRC's website and is on the Curriculum Development Committee for IWRC's courses.
Jean has an undergraduate degree in mathematics and 2 years of post graduate work in human information processing (learning and perception). She is now retired after a career in Information Technology.

Dr. Jane Christman
Dr. Jane Christman graduated from veterinary school from Michigan State University in 2015. She spent a year in a small animal rotating internship at Texas A&M University, and is currently the exotic animal medicine intern at North Carolina State University and pursuing specialization in exotic animal medicine. She has worked with a variety of wildlife species throughout her veterinary training and maintains a passion for wildlife medicine and conservation.

Glenda Combs
(Groundhogs, Squirrel Rehabilitation)

Mathias Engelmann
(Aging a Barred Owl, Avian Physical Exam, Large Bird Bandaging Lab)
Mathias is the Senior Rehabilitation Coordinator at the Carolina Raptor Center. His responsibilities include the daily care of rehab birds - feeding, treatments, and new admission exams. He designs and constructs many of the new flight and rehabilitation cages. He also instructs new volunteers and interns in their training programs, maintains banding records, and coordinates raptor food deliveries.

Sabrina Garvin
(Care of Chimney Swifts, Bird ID and Diets)
Sabrina Garvin has been rehabilitating wildlife for over 15 years. She is the Executive Director of Southwest Virginia Wildlife Center, a Category 3 wildlife rehabilitation center which takes in over 1200 cases annually, and maintains state and federal rehabilitation permits. 

Michelle Gregory
(Compassion Fatigue, Beginner Expectation - Eyes Wide Open)
Michelle graduated from California State University East Bay with a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology in 2011, and earned her CZASP designation (Certified Zoo and Aquarium Science Professional) from the Animal Behavior Institute of North Carolina in 2016. She is intrigued by the human-animal dynamic and hopes her talks bring aid to people, along the animals they care for. She currently lives in California as a veterinary assistant with her rescue mutt Jax, and two rats named Squash and Dragon. She is honored to attend this year as a symposium speaker.

Melisse Hopping
(Rehabilitating Orphaned Opossums)
Melisse has been rehabbing small mammals for about 15 years, including possums, gray and flying squirrels, groundhogs, chipmunks and mice. She assists with raptor and waterfowl capture and transport. She lives in Pfafftown on about 10 acres with her husband and fellow rehabber, Jerry, 2 dogs, one cat, (all rescues), a flock of chickens and two rescued turkeys.

Carla Johnson
(If you can’t see them, are they there?: Zoonoses, Handling Wildlife Calls, Groundhogs)
Carla has been rehabbing for over 20 years, is on the board of WRNC and Wildlife Rehab, Inc., her local rehab group. She has coordinated wildlife rehabilitation classes through the local community college in Winston-Salem, NC and presented countless environmental education programs to the surrounding community. Carla is responsible for maintaining WRNC's membership records, is on the symposium committee and helped put together and teach the refresher course for WRNC. She is currently the vice president for WRNC.
In her spare time, she rescues dogs from puppy mills and natural disaster situations, is the Southeastern Region coordinator, treasurer as well as one of the board of directors for Chihuahua Rescue & Transport, a national 501(c)3 organization and enjoys working to place unwanted Chinese Crested dogs.

Dr. Kelli Knight
(Fawn-Napped! Rehabilitating White Tailed Deer)
Dr. Kelli Knight graduated from Virginia Tech with a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry and from the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine with a Doctorate in Veterinary Medicine. After a successful career in small animal practice, Dr. Knight completed a wildlife rehabilitation internship and fell in love with the field.  In 2011, she joined the staff at the Wildlife Center of Virginia and is currently the Assistant Director of Veterinary Services.  Dr. Knight is also an IWRC Certified Wildlife Rehabilitator and a member of NWRA’s National Team.

Dr. Gregory Lewbart
(Non-invasive Turtle Shell Repair)
Greg has degrees from Gettysburg College, Northeastern University, and the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine.  He worked for a large wholesaler of ornamental fishes before joining the faculty at the North Carolina State University College of Veterinary Medicine in 1993 where he is Professor of Aquatic Animal Medicine and a diplomate of the American College of Zoological Medicine.   He helped found the Turtle Rescue Team in 1996 and has been its faculty advisor since that time.

Dr. Amber McNamara
(Acupuncture/Chinese Medicine, Songbird Bandaging Lab)

Kelley ODell
(Cage Building Workshop) 
Kelley has been a licensed home rehabilitator of small mammals since 2006.  She is an active member of Wildlife Welfare, Inc. and WRNC, and also volunteers and fosters for Wake County Animal Center.  She works fulltime as a receptionist at a law firm in downtown Raleigh.  She lives in Raleigh with her dog, cats, chickens and bunnies.

Toni O'Neil
(What's Wrong for Wrens is Right for Robins, Fluid Therapy)
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. Toni is president and a board member of WRNC.

Linda Ostrand
(Observations, Mammal Roundtable)
Linda is the founder of Our Wild Neighbors, a licensed non-profit organization in Orange County, NC dedicated to the care of urban wildlife and educating the public about them. Along with a BS and MA from Pennsylvania universities, State and Federally-licensed Wildlife Rehabilitator, Linda has over three decade’s experience in wildlife rehabilitation, having trained at the largest wildlife rehab facility in Pennsylvania, the (AARK). Based in Hillsborough, Linda oversees a volunteer team of over 30, writes a monthly column for three newspapers on wildlife, and trains interested volunteers for rehabbing and outreach activities. Among her additional life hobbies are open hearth cooking, gardening, and leading environmental tours to Africa and the Galapagos.

Dr. Lauren Powers
(Avian Necropsy, Avian Anatomy)
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 College of Veterinary Medicine in 1997.  She is board certified in both avian practice and in companion mammal practice through the American Board of Veterinary Practitioners.  She has been a staff veterinarian at Carolina Veterinary Specialists and service head of the Avian and Exotic Pet Service since 2002 and regularly offers services to local wildlife rehabilitators and nature museums.  She currently serves as the president-elect of the Association of Avian Veterinarians (AAV) and has held numerous other professional leadership positions.  She frequently speaks at local, regional, and national veterinary conferences and has published numerous scientific papers and book chapters.

Dr.David Scott
(Avian Orthopedics, Raptor Case Studies, Avian Orthopedics Surgery Lab)
Dr Scott graduated from the veterinary school at the University of Illinois in 1997.  He is currently the staff veterinarian at the Carolina Raptor Center in Charlotte. He recently published “The Handbook of Raptor Rehabilitation” and is the developer of the RaptorMed patient management system. Dr. Scott is a former board member of WRNC.

Additional speakers bios will be added as the program is finalized and we receive the speaker bios.