Summer 2021 Keynote Speakers
Louie Psihoyos, Filmmaker and Executive Director, Oceanic Preservation Society
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Louie Psihoyos is an Academy Award-winning filmmaker and Executive Director of the Oceanic Preservation Society (OPS). Louie’s first documentary film, The Cove, won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Film of 2009 and over 75 other awards around the world. His second film, Racing Extinction, was viewed 36 million times in the first 24 hours, and 50,000+ teachers have downloaded its free curriculum, engaging over 2.3 million students. Louie most recently finished directing the immensely popular documentary The Game Changers, which focused on the benefits of plant-based eating for athletes (with high-profile producers such as Lewis Hamilton, James Cameron, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Chris Paul). Through the production of compelling film and imagery underlined by moving narratives, contemporary crises, and heroic film subjects, Louie is radically changing how people perceive documentaries.
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Dana McPhall, Adjunct Faculty, Institute for Humane Education at Antioch University
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Dana McPhall has over 25 years of experience in the nonprofit and government sectors. In 2015, Dana earned her MEd in Humane Education, adding to her Juris Doctorate and Master of Public Policy. Early on in her career, Dana worked to protect and to seek justice for low-income women and children exposed to domestic violence and for animals suffering from cruelty and neglect. More recently, Dana has dedicated herself to promoting humane education in both K-12 and higher education. As faculty with the Institute for Humane Education (IHE) at Antioch University, Dana teaches Human Rights, Environmental Ethics, and a course she created called Race, Intersectionality and Veganism. Dana also chairs a working group of IHE staff and alumni dedicated to integrating racial justice issues more deeply into the field of humane education. Dana is exploring ways to expand this work, especially in terms of teaching educators, advocates, and parents about the systemic roots of anti-Black racism and the exploitation of non-human animals.
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Derek Walter and Steve Jenkins, Co-Founders, Happily Ever Esther Farm Sanctuary
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Steve Jenkins, a realtor, and his life partner, Derek Walter, a magician, were living an ordinary life when a rescued would-be mini pig came into their lives. Esther quickly stole their hearts and turned their lives upside down. Never ones to succumb to the fear of a challenge, Steve and Derek buckled up for the ride of a lifetime as "Esther the Wonder Pig" turned into a social media powerhouse. Since then Esther has amassed millions of followers from all over the world, and her Dads, Steve and Derek, have become among the world's most well-known animal activists. They have also written a few books, including a New York Times Bestseller. In 2014, with help from Esther's followers, Happily Ever Esther Farm Sanctuary was born. Now Esther and her Dads rescue and rehabilitate abandoned and abused farmed animals, and spread Esther's style of love and compassion around the world.
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Shiqi Xu, Student Activist
Shreya Shah, Student Activist
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Shiqi Xu successfully advocated for the implementation of a student choice policy on classroom animal dissection in her Vancouver high school district when she was a student there. Shiqi also brought the Meatless Mondays initiative to her school's cafeteria, which focused on increasing affordable plant-based menu items as well as promoting conscious eating. She then helped spread the initiative to other high schools in her school district. Shiqi is currently studying engineering physics at the University of Toronto and doing greenhouse gas emissions research with Environment and Climate Change Canada.
Shreya Shah is a grade 10 Student in Toronto and is passionate about social justice, climate justice and animal rights. Having been born into a Jain family she has been raised with values of justice, compassion, non-violence and respect for all beings instilled in her. At school Shreya is a student leader of the Indigenous Solidarity Committee, Environmental Action Committee and Animal Justice Committee, and has been involved in putting together workshops to educate younger students on issues of social justice. |
Summer 2021 Session Speakers
Alaina Interisano, PhD Student/Teaching Assistant, York University
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Alaina Interisano is a third year PhD student at York University in the Faculty of Environmental Studies. She obtained her BA and MA in sociology at Brock University, concentrating in critical animal studies. In her MA thesis research, she examined student perspectives of animal experimentation to understand how this exploitative practice in science education, and the status quo of animal models in research and testing, are maintained and reproduced through post-secondary education. Her current research interests center around the convergence of environmental education and critical animal pedagogy, and human-animal relations in science education and research. For her PhD research, she will explore the implementation of humane education principles and non-animal alternative methods and technologies in post-secondary science education.
Presentation: Ontario Science Curriculum and Environmental Education - A Critical Examination of the Construction of the Animal |
Alice J. Hovorka, Professor & Dean, York University (Faculty of Environmental & Urban Change)
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Dr. Alice J. Hovorka is Professor and Dean at the Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change, York University. She earned her PhD in Geography from Clark University in 2003, and became a Humboldt Research Fellow in 2009. Her research program broadly explores human-environment relationships, with specializations in animal geographies, gender and environment, urban geography, Southern Africa, and the scholarship of teaching and learning. As Dean at York University, she is focused on enhancing experiential education, research excellence, and international partnerships in the realm of environmental and urban change.
Presentation: Teaching the Animal through Interdisciplinary Experiential Learning |
Allison Penner, Executive Director, Reimagine Agriculture
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Allison Penner founded Reimagine Agriculture after years of concern about the disastrous and largely unaddressed problems in the food system. The nonprofit focuses on a bold vision for the future with a food system that promotes global health, environmental wellbeing and is ethically sound. Previous to her current work, Allison has a background working in the environment and policy and a degree from the University of Guelph in Environmental Governance.
Presentation: Reimaging Agriculture in Education |
Alyssa Racco, PhD Student/Teaching Assistant, York University
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Alyssa Racco is a doctoral candidate in education at York University. She has a master’s degree in education with an accompanying diploma in language and literacy. Her research interests include the education system’s role in furthering speciesist ideals, sociolinguistics, and language acquisition. Her current research intends to explore the anthroparcal messages transmitted to students via mandated curriculum. Alyssa is also a teacher with the YCDSB, TA, RA and Project Manager for a SSHRC Insight Grant.
Presentation: Ontario Science Curriculum and Environmental Education - A Critical Examination of the Construction of the Animal |
Amanda McKibbon, Senior Director of Affiliate and Community Outreach, Ontario SPCA and Humane Societies
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Amanda McKibbon is the Senior Director of Affiliate and Community Outreach at the Ontario SPCA. In this role, Amanda has the pleasure of engaging and collaborating with community and industry partners to improve not only the lives of animals, but also those of the people who love them and the communities in which they live. Amanda also leads a team responsible for humane education programming for youth and adults, including planning and executing the Change for Animals Conference and the development, growth and implementation of the AnimalSmart™ Humane Education program. Amanda, who holds a BA in Psychology and a MSc in Animal Behaviour and Welfare, has focused her career on animal well-being, research and child psychological health. She is passionate about the power of connection, compassion and education to shape a better future for all.
Presentation: AnimalSmart and the Essential Role of Humane Education in Preparing Our Future Leaders |
Ambika Jain, Teacher, Toronto District School Board
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Ambika Jain is a teacher, parent, and community volunteer. Born into a Jain family, she was taught to respect all forms of life from an early age. This sincere respect for life translates into having a vegan diet, minimizing harm, and evaluating my choices. Her education (HBSc, BEd, and MA in Adult Ed and Community Development from OISE/UT) shaped her career as a teacher. She has had the opportunity to work on volunteer projects in Indonesia and India, work with students considered at risk in the TDSB, and co-found a nonprofit organization focused on ahimsa (non-violent) education for youth.
Presentation: Sharing Experiences of Running Educational Youth Camps |
Atsuko Matsuoka, Professor, York University (School of Social Work)
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Atsuko Matsuoka is a professor at the School of Social Work, York University. She teaches Animals and Social Work from a Critical Animal Studies perspective. Her research has addressed the importance of understanding intersectionality of oppression among immigrants, ethnic older adults, and animals. In promoting consideration for animal-human relationships in social work, her current research, which is supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, examines trans-species social justice (social justice beyond human animals) and social work. With John Sorenson, she co-edited Dog’s Best Friend?: Rethinking Canid-Human Relations (McGill & Queen University Press, 2019), Critical Animal Studies: Toward Trans-Species Social Justice (Rowman & Littlefield International, 2018), and Defining Critical Animal Studies: An Intersectional Social Justice Approach (Peter Lang Publishing, 2014).
Presentation: Educating about Trans-Species Social Justice in Social Work and Sociology |
Barbara Cartwright, CEO, Humane Canada
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Barbara Cartwright convenes and represents the largest animal welfare community in Canada. Through Humane Canada, the federation of humane societies/SPCAs, she works to end animal cruelty, improve animal protection and promote humane treatment of all animals. Sought after for her knowledge of policy and public affairs, Barbara secured amendments to the Criminal Code, Fisheries Act, Migratory Bird Act and Canadian Environmental Protection Act. In 2019, she secured a ban on cetacean captivity, and strengthened animal fighting and bestiality offences. Barbara launched the National Animal Welfare Conference, National Centre for the Prosecution of Animal Cruelty, National Violence Link Coalition and conference, and spearhead the first National Humane Education Strategy. Barbara holds a Master’s in Environmental Education and Communication and received the Governor General’s Gold Medal. Formerly President of Jane Goodall Institute of Canada, she currently sits on Boards of PetSmart Charities of Canada and Gorilla Rehabilitation and Conservation Education Center in Congo.
Presentation: A National Strategy for Humane Education |
Brenda Bedford, Humane Education Consultant
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Brenda Bedford’s background is in Adult Education and Training – with over 15 years of experience in adult learning, curriculum development, course design, and facilitation. Brenda has also worked extensively in outreach and partnership engagement in not-for-profit, academic, and government settings. She has successfully built partnerships and collaborated with a broad spectrum of people – from clients and colleagues to stakeholders and funders. In her role as an Adult Education expert, Brenda has developed training materials, compiled best practices, created resource databases, and led workshops. Her work as a Humane Education Consultant with Humane Canada brings together her experience in Adult Education, her skills as facilitator, her work in knowledge management, and her passion for animal welfare.
Presentation: A National Strategy for Humane Education |
Brigitte Ruel, K-8 Media Specialist/Librarian, The Ottawa Jewish Community School
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Brigitte Ruel has only been working as a school librarian for 5 years, but she has been an animal activist and veg for almost 30 years. Prior to working at a school, she was a media monitor at the Bank of Canada and a library technician in JAG at the Department of National Defense. Both were boring jobs compared to excitement and joy of working with kids! She is always trying to figure out new ways to guide children towards developing their compassion and trying to find ways to bring this into her school. One of the ways she does this is through building an animal-friendly library collection and regularly choosing animal-focused books for storytimes. These are usually fun books but they carry deeper underlying messages about the sentience of animals and animal issues. Brigitte also chooses a lot of books about the importance of the environment and conservation.
Presentation: Cultivating Compassion With Storytime |
Catherine Lamarche, Teacher, Millstream Elementary
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Catherine Lamarche is a resourceful and energetic bilingual teacher with a diverse background. She has a bachelor in Human Kinetics, has an extensive experience in being a life coach and increases efficiency by applying mindful strategies such as meditation. She uses modern teaching methods that are aligned with holistic education in an engaging way which demonstrates high importance in the relationship between connection to nature and awareness of self and other beings.
Presentation: Holistic Educator |
Charlotte Speilman, Teacher, University of Toronto Schools
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Charlotte Speilman is an educator at the University of Toronto Schools. She is interested in bringing issues of social justice and equity into our daily practice as teachers and community members. Always learning, she is seeking new ways to bring light to animal issues in subjects where they are often overlooked.
Presentation: Shifting the Gaze of Curriculum - Connecting Animal Issues to Courses Where They Have Traditionally Been Ignored |
Connie Russell, Professor, Lakehead University
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Connie Russell is a professor and Research Chair in Environmental Education at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay. She teaches courses on animals in education, critical food education, environmental education, and social justice education. Her current research project is focused on the ways humour can be used in increasing engagement in each of these fields. Other recent projects have focused on gender and outdoor and environmental education, fat pedagogy and the intersections of speciesism, sexism, and sizeism, insect-focused education, and wildlife tourism.
Presentation: Teaching and Learning in the MEd course, “Animals in Education” |
Eleanor Norman, Teacher, Woodroffe Ave Public School (OCDSB)
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Eleanor Norman is always looking for ways to help her Kindergarten students think about choices they can make to help each other and our planet. Kindergarten students know so much and they are eager to learn and teach others. Children relate to animals. We learn so much about ourselves through learning about animals, especially about social and emotional behaviours. Eleanor loves collaborating with other educators to take a good idea and make it great. She looks forward to the opportunity to learn from you!
Presentation: Kindergarten Animal/Insect/Reptile Study |
Elisabeth Ormandy, Executive Director, Canadian Society for Humane Science
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Elisabeth Ormandy’s academic background in neuroscience and animal behaviour, welfare and ethics has driven her passion to critically evaluate the use of animals in science, and to promote the replacement of animals as best scientific practice. In 2015, she co-founded and is current Executive Director for the Canadian Society for Humane Science – Canada’s first and only registered charity working solely to achieve better science without animals and to reimagine the governance of animal-based science in Canada. Elisabeth is an instructor at the University of British Columbia and serves as an editorial board member for the journal Alternatives to Laboratory Animals (ATLA) and as an advisor to the Humane Education Coalition.
Presentation: Non-animal Methods for Curriculum Aligned Anatomy Education |
Gail Kuhl, Adjunct Professor, Lakehead University
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Gail Kuhl is an adjunct faculty member and contract lecturer in the Faculty of Education at Lakehead University. She has a PhD in educational studies and is especially interested in critical environmental and animal-focused education. She teaches courses in animal-focused education, environmental and sustainability education, and qualitative research. At present, she is researching human-coyote and human-wolf relations in Ontario, including what people learn through direct encounters in shared liminal spaces.
Presentation: Teaching and Learning in the MEd course, “Animals in Education” |
Harveen Sandhu, Environmental Educator, Genvironment
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Harveen Sandhu most recently completed a Masters of Education at the University of Ottawa where she focused on decolonizing environmental education for young people. She has taught in Forest schools and is currently working at Fresh Roots in Vancouver, a non-profit that teaches youth how to grow their own food and eat well, as well as the social and environmental impacts of food production and food justice. She is also an educator with the Ottawa-based sustainability education nonprofit Genvironment, and the Director of Education for the Canadian Green Alliance (bridging the gap between sustainability and the arts).
Presentation: Foodprints - Examining the Environmental Impact of Our Food Choices |
Isabella Liu, Chemistry Teacher, University of Toronto Schools
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Isabella Liu is a high school chemistry and mathematics teacher in Toronto, and has taught students in three different countries. She is exploring the role of science teachers in humane education, including alternatives to dissection. She is an Apple Distinguished Educator, Google for Education Certified Trainer, and has worked with National Geographic in implementing their professional development program for educators around the world.
Presentation: Shifting the Gaze of Curriculum - Connecting Animal Issues to Courses Where They Have Traditionally Been Ignored |
Jan Oakley, Adjunct Faculty Member, Lakehead University
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Jan Oakley is an adjunct faculty member and contract lecturer in the Faculty of Education and the Department of Women’s Studies at Lakehead University. Her teaching and research interests include humane science and environmental education, social justice pedagogies, and feminist and ecofeminist theory.
Presentation: Teaching and Learning in the MEd course, “Animals in Education” |
Jason Fonger, Virtual Event Facilitator / SHSM Certification Instructor, Jason Fonger Education Services
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Jason Fonger is a multiple-time triathlon champion who has eaten a 100% plant-based diet since 2009. He is a popular social media creator with a following of over 200,000 people. He offers virtual events that help high school teachers bring plant-based eating to the classroom. These events are designed to help high-school students understand what plant-based eating is, why it's becoming so popular and how it might affect the future of food. For educators in Ontario who may be looking for Specialist High Skills Major (SHSM) programming, Jason offers several Certifications that have been popular with schools across the province. For more information, visit www.jasonfonger.com.
Presentation: Virtual Events on Plant-Based Eating |
Jennifer Green-Blair, Educator, Mindfulness and Wellness Specialist, Author
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Jennifer Green-Blair is an educator with specializations in Biology and Physics, Guidance and Languages. As one of her degrees, she also acquired a B.A. Honours in Env. Sciences and has a mission to support the Global Green Action Project. This is an educational platform that she has created to empower youth through humanitarian, animal, environmental initiatives and mentorship. She is also a Life Success Coach, Wellness, Mindfulness Specialist and an Author of ‘Breathe Like Gwendoline The Magical Gentle Dragon’ (a #1 International Bestselling Children’s Book to help children have less stress and more fun through the use of their powerful healing breath!). She promotes the importance of holistically merging the power of mindfulness and global action; to support our heroes and our youth in the world, helping our animals and planet and making this world a better place.
Presentation: Global Green Action Project - Mindful Compassionate Action to Support Change In The World! |
Jennifer Smolenaars, Teacher, Sir Ernest MacMillan PS (Virtual School West Halton)
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Jennifer Smolenaars is a teacher with 20 years of experience with the HDSB (Kindergarten & Intermediate). She is also the school Equity representative, a parent, and a vegan for compassion and the planet. She is interested in creating students who are activists, change makers, and kind citizens.
Presentation: Creating Change Makers |
Jodi Lazare, Assistant Professor, Dalhousie University (Schulich School of Law)
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Dr. Jodi Lazare is an assistant professor at the Schulich School of Law at Dalhousie University, where she teaches Family Law, Animal Law, and Constitutional Law. She has researched and published in all three areas, most recently, on the rise of anti-whistleblower legislation in the context of Canadian industrial animal farming. She currently holds an Insight Development Grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada for her project “Prohibited Advocacy: Farm Trespass Laws, Civil Disobedience, and the Constitution,” which looks at the rise of ag-gag legislation in Canada, and the constitutional dimensions of animal rights activism.
Presentation: The Constitutional Protection of Ethical Veganism |
John Drew, Lecturer in the Department of English, French and Writing at King's University College at Western University
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John Drew is a Lecturer in the Department of English, French and Writing at King's University College at Western University. His research is situated at the intersection of educational and critical animal studies, and he is particularly interested in the potential for literature and popular culture to engage with animal issues and help foster multispecies empathy. His articles “Rendering Visible: Animals, Empathy and Visual Truths in The Ghost in Our Machine and Beyond” and “Witnessing the Ruins: Speculative Stories of Caring for the Particular and the Peculiar” were published in Animal Studies Journal and The Journal of Childhood Studies.
Presentation: Engaging with Animal Voices in English Language Arts Education |
John Graber, Middle School Teacher, Toronto District School Board
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John Graber has been teaching at the Middle School level for 15 years. He is a long time vegan (20+ years) who is very passionate about the movement. John is a long time volunteer with the Toronto Vegetarian Association and has played many roles in his years doing this (Podcast co-host, Resource Centre Volunteer, Board of Directors).
Presentation: Implementing Animal Rights Into Your Everyday Lessons |
John Sorenson, Professor, Brock University
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John Sorenson teaches Critical Animal Studies in the Department of Sociology at Brock University. His past research was on war, nationalism and refugees; he was active in various solidarity groups and relief work in Africa. His 2019 book, co-edited with Dr. Atsuko Matsuoka, is Dog’s Best Friend? Rethinking Canid-Human Relations. Recent books include Critical Animal Studies: Towards Trans-Species Social Justice; Constructing Ecoterrorism; Critical Animal Studies: Thinking the Unthinkable and Defining Critical Animal Studies. Other books are Animal Rights; Ape; Culture of Prejudice: Arguments in Critical Social Science; Ghosts and Shadow; Imagining Ethiopia; Disaster and Development in the Horn of Africa; and African Refugees.
Presentation: Educating about Trans-Species Social Justice in Social Work and Sociology |
Kale Black, Holistic Environmentalist, Kale's Transformation Network
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Kale Black is an inspiring, honest, funny and enthusiastic speaker with a passion for helping others realize their place in the world. With 13 years of experience in the environmental sector, combined with his experience as a meditation facilitator and in the field of holistic health, he understands the connection between healthy humans & a healthy planet.
Presentation: Creating Change Makers |
Kathy Benjamin, Tech & Math Teacher, Spec Ed ACL, Sir William Osler HS (TDSB)
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Kathy Benjamin works as a Math and Design/Communications/Hospitality Tech teacher at Sir William Osler HS in the TDSB. Prior to teaching, she worked for many years in the field of Architecture, after receiving a B Arch from the University of Waterloo. As an ethical vegetarian since her teenage years, she transitioned to a vegan diet in 2020 after being exposed to the realities of animal agriculture through social media and the outstanding Animal Justice Academy program. Kathy is so inspired to be part of a group of dedicated educators committed to guiding students towards more humane choices in every aspect of their future, and looks forward to what we can achieve together towards this endeavour.
Presentation: Cultivating Animal Welfare in the Curriculum |
Laura Fanthome, Humane Education Manager, Ontario SPCA and Humane Societies
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Laura Fanthome is the Humane Education Manager for Ontario SPCA. Laura uses her former positions as a teacher and environmental educator to design Humane Education for their AnimalSmart Program. She has also had a former career as a Veterinary Technician to help educators and students relate to animal behaviour and animal welfare. Laura holds a Bachelor of Education degree, Bachelor and Masters in Environmental Studies, and a Diploma in Veterinary Technology.
Presentation: AnimalSmart and the Essential Role of Humane Education in Preparing Our Future Leaders |
Lisa Kramer, Professor, University of Toronto
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Lisa Kramer is a behavioural economist and Professor of Finance at the University of Toronto. Among other topics, she is interested in the application of multi-disciplinary insights from academic research to the practice of animal advocacy. Her research on the use of animals in biomedical research has appeared in peer-reviewed scholarly outlets, and she has written on that topic for media outlets such as the Globe and Mail and the Financial Times. She routinely volunteers as a member of the board of directors for non-profit organizations, currently We Animals Media and previously the Vancouver Humane Society and Mercy For Animals Canada. She co-organized the “Why Love One But Eat the Other?” public awareness campaign that ran on public transit vehicles in Toronto and other cities in Canada and abroad. Her website is www.LisaKramer.com and she posts on Twitter as @LisaKramer.
Presentation: From the Classroom to the Laboratory: Why Using Animals in Experiments is Harmful to Humans |
Lisbet Chiriboga, Program Manager, TeachKind
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Lisbet Chiriboga, was a teacher in New York City for 12 years before joining PETA. She has served on the Executive Board of the United Federation of Teachers’ Humane Education Committee for the past decade. She was also one of the original founders of Humane Education Advocates Reaching Teachers (HEART). Throughout her teaching career, she has witnessed reluctant readers become motivated after learning about the plight of animals. She has also seen apathetic students with difficult behavior issues become the fiercest protectors of animals. As a former classroom teacher, she is well aware of the demands placed on educators. She understands that teachers have so little time these days, and in many cases, so little freedom to include “extra” lessons on anything that isn’t in the mandated curriculum. That is why she helps develop and disseminate lessons and resources that help you teach academic skills and foster empathy for animals simultaneously.
Presentation: Promoting Empathy & Motivating Students with TeachKind |
Lori Croonen, Animal Rights Activist, Toronto Pig Save
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Lori Croonen is a passionate animal rights activist. Lori has always loved animals and became vegetarian as a child after visiting a farm and making the connection between animals' lives and who she was eating. Since becoming vegan her eyes have been opened to the multitude of ways humans exploit animals and was so disturbed to find out she was contributing to the exploitation unwittingly by going to zoos, purchasing skin care and cleaning products tested on animals, wearing wool and worst of all, being silent. Working full time as a computer engineer for all of her adult life, Lori spends a large portion of her free time advocating for the animals. Most of Lori’s advocacy involves street activism and bearing witness to pigs enroute to slaughter but also enjoys being invited to school classrooms to discuss animal rights in an open and non-judgmental way.
Presentation: Creating Change Makers |
Mary-Chris Staples, Director of Veg Student Alliance (Retired High School Teacher)
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Mary-Chris Staples is the Program Director for Veg Student Alliance, a support and empowerment program for veg teens and their veg-friendly peers. A veteran high school teacher, Mary-Chris taught in Toronto and Vancouver public schools for 34 years. She has been a vegan animal rights activist for 11 years. Mary-Chris has organized hundreds of educational and outreach initiatives and participated in a wide-variety of efforts to effect a move toward a non-speciesist, more sustainable, plant-based future. For the past two years, Mary-Chris has worked for an international education nonprofit, teaching middle and high school students about the impact of animal agriculture on the world around us. Mary-Chris loves animals, kids, and teaching. She is a passionate advocate for a world where humans and nonhumans live in harmony, and she enjoys swimming, skating, cycling, hiking and spending time in nature with her companion dog, Skipper.
Presentation: Empowering Youth Through School Clubs |
Megan Snyder, Assistant Manager, TeachKind
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Megan Snyder is PETA’s TeachKind Assistant Manager. Before joining PETA, Megan taught in various public school systems in Virginia for two years. She's certified to teach English to middle and high school students—although she has worked in some capacity with every age group, as well as to students with special needs. She's an active member of the National Education Association and Sigma Tau Delta, the international English honor society. She is also certified by the ASCD in building trauma-sensitive schools. Since going vegetarian in 2008 and then vegan in 2013, animal activism has been a large part of Megan's personal life. Together, these experiences led her to PETA, where she's thrilled to be able to combine her love of language, rhetoric, and education with her mission to help end animal suffering.
Presentation: Promoting Empathy & Motivating Students with TeachKind |
Melissa Logan, Director of Education, Alberta SPCA
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Melissa Logan is an educator who has worked in the Alberta SPCA Education Department for over a decade. Engaging with teachers and other organizations, she has developed and collaborated on curriculum-relevant humane education programs and resources for Alberta teachers to inspire empathy and compassion for all living things, and enhance animal welfare across the province. She has presented on using humane education to foster a care ethic for all living things and the environment at national and international conferences. She holds a BSc., and a BEd. from the University of Lethbridge and an MSc. in Animal Welfare, Ethics and Law from the University of Edinburgh.
Presentation: AnimalTales - Using Stories to Foster Empathy |
Meneka Repka, Contract Lecturer, Lakehead University
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Meneka Repka is an artist and teacher who lives in Ottawa. Meneka holds a BFA in drawing, BEd in education, MA in art education, and PhD in educational research. She is currently an instructor in the Faculty of Education at Lakehead University, teaching graduate courses in animal-focused education, activism in education, and environmental education. Meneka's interdisciplinary research interests are critical animal studies, intersectional studies, critical theory, forest schools and school gardens, vegan studies, and art education.
Presentation: Teaching and Learning in the MEd course, “Animals in Education” |
Nandita Bajaj, Executive Director, Population Balance
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Nandita Bajaj is the Executive Director of Population Balance, a non-profit organization that raises awareness about the impacts of human overpopulation on humans, animals, and the planet. Previously, she was a high school Science and Math teacher and administrator for 12 years in the Toronto District School Board and at University of Toronto Schools (UTS). She has run the Animal Justice Committee at UTS to raise awareness about animal exploitation in education, including introducing dissection alternatives to the Science department. She also serves as a Board member for the Canadian Society for Humane Science. She recently completed her MEd degree from the Institute of Humane Education at Antioch University. She will be joining the Institute for Humane Education at Antioch University as an adjunct faculty member in 2022 to teach her course on ‘Pronatalism and Overpopulation’.
Presentation: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for Students and Staff Who Protect Animals |
Natalie Thomas, Adjunct Faculty, University of Guelph/Guelph-Humber
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Natalie Thomas is an adjunct faculty member in the philosophy department at the University of Guelph. She received her PhD in philosophy from the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada, where she focused her research on animal ethics and the study of animal minds. She is a Fellow at the Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics, and a Woman for Humane Canada. She teaches applied ethics courses including business ethics, media ethics, environmental ethics and animal ethics at various Universities and Colleges. In 2016 she published Animal Ethics and the Autonomous Animal Self as part of the Animal Ethics Series with Palgrave Macmillan.
Presentation: Critically Compassionate Thinking |
Nimisha Dubey, Adjunct Professor, University of Windsor
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Nimisha Dubey is a practicing lawyer and an Adjunct Professor at the University of Windsor, Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences teaching a course on Animals and the Law. This course focuses on the role of the law in human-animal interactions and the balancing of competing interests within traditional areas of law, policy, and public interest movements. Nimisha has designed her class to function within an online learning environment which provides a safe space for students to debate and critically assess major legal issues such as the status of animals as property. Her course has successfully integrated experiential learning opportunities and non-traditional assessments with foundational course content, so that students leave the class with the skills necessary to become strong animal welfare and rights advocates.
Presentation: Assignments that Encourage Animal Advocacy |
Omar Bachour, Adjunct Professor, Queen's University
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Omar Bachour is an adjunct professor in the philosophy department at Queen’s University and a fellow of Animals in Philosophy, Politics, Law, and Ethics (A.P.P.L.E.). As an instructor, he strives to incorporate animals into all his courses and lectures. His interests include the history of the Left vis-à-vis ‘the animal question’; the relation between systems of animal exploitation and global capitalism; animalist Marxism; and literary, as well as poetic, representations of animals that prefigure a human-animal community of equals.
Presentation: Critical Animal Pedagogy and the Animal-Other in the Classroom |
Shoshana Chaim, Wellness Consultant, Podcaster, Author, Speaker
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Shoshana Chaim is a Canadian Wellness Expert who works with families to guide them on their holistic journey so they can improve cellular communication and achieve their health and life goals by meeting them where they are. She also teaches her tools to health practitioners and entrepreneurs so together they can make the world a healthier and happier place. She is the founder of Plant Trainers, with an interest in Redox Signalling Technology and Plant-Based Nutrition. Shoshana is the co-host of the popular Plant Trainers Podcast, helping people improve their quality of life through plant-based nutrition. Shoshana is an international speaker and #1 best selling, international author of I Am A Peaceful Goldfish, a picture book that teaches children the importance of mindfulness and taking big breaths in a fun and imaginative way. She lives in Toronto with her husband and two children.
Presentation: Navigating your Parent/School Committees |
Valerie Trew, Director, University of Guelph Child Care and Learning Centre; ECS Faculty, Guelph-Humber
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Valerie Trew, MA, RECE is the Director at the University of Guelph Child Care and Learning Centre in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. As a Registered Early Childhood Educator with a Master of Arts in Leadership, she also teaches in the Bachelor of Applied Science program at the University of Guelph and Guelph-Humber applying a lens of social and environmental justice to studies in policy, administration, and leadership. Valerie views teaching, from early learning to post-secondary, as a political act and does so with a view to provoke radical social transformation towards a post-colonial world. Valerie has spent 20 years working in children’s services through postsecondary education, regional government, early intervention, and early learning and child care. Holding a Certificate in Plant Based Nutrition, Valerie is passionate about transforming our food systems for human and planetary health and to end oppression.
Presentation: The Benefits of a Plant-Based Menu in Schools and Child Care - Tools for Advocacy |
Victoria Barger, Founder and CEO, Veg Student Alliance
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Victoria Barger is a compassionate educator with a strong belief in the importance of kindness and the power of plants to heal many of society's problems. Victoria has over a decade of experience in the field of education, much of it as a middle school classroom teacher. For the past 2.5 years, Victoria has worked for an international education nonprofit, giving presentations to middle and high schoolers about the impact of food on health, animals, and the environment. Victoria was one of the founding teachers of the Pasture Pals Program at VINE Sanctuary in Vermont, USA. Victoria is the Executive Director and founder of Veg Student Alliance, a program for veg and plant-forward teenagers. Veg Student Alliance provides a space for veg teens to build community, learn leadership skills, hear from guest speakers, host educational outreach events, and advocate for themselves and for a plant-forward future.
Presentation: Empowering Youth Through School Clubs |
