Dr. Susan Aiello, DVM
Susan, principal of WordsWorld Consulting in Dayton, Ohio, specializes in editorial services and communications training for medical and other scientific professions. She received her DVM from Michigan State University in 1984, after which she practiced small animal medicine in Philadelphia and southeastern Michigan for several years. She is a former Editor of The Merck Veterinary Manual, a bestseller in the field of veterinary medicine, and is on the faculty of the Harvard Continuing Medical Education publishing program. Susan is certified by the Board of Editors in the Life Sciences, is a Fellow of the American Medical Writers Association (AMWA), and has received AMWA’s Golden Apple Award for excellence in teaching.  

Dr. John Bukowski, DVM
John is a senior associate at WordsWorld Consulting, a veterinary and biomedical consultancy located in Dayton, Ohio. John received his DVM from Michigan State University and practiced small animal medicine for several years in southern Michigan. He then returned to school to earn a Masters in Public Health from the University of Michigan and a PhD in epidemiology from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. He has held positions in government, industry, and academia, and was the founding director of the Clinical Research Centre at the Atlantic Veterinary College on Prince Edward Island, Canada. John sits on the Editorial Board for the journal Dose Response and is an Adjunct Associate Professor at the Wright State University School of Medicine.

Kathleen Doheny
Kathleen is a Los Angeles-based freelance journalist, specializing in human and pet health topics. Besides WebVet, her credits include webmd.com, healthday.com, cancerandcareers.org, psychcentral.com,  Workforce Management magazine, the Los Angeles Times,  Prevention Magazine and other national publications. She can rarely pass a dog without petting it.    

Nancy Dwyer
Nancy is a freelance writer, but her full-time title is Marketing Director of the Vanderbilt Dyer Observatory, located high atop one of the tallest peaks near Nashville, in Brentwood, Tenn., where she introduces the public to the wonders of astronomy and space exploration.

Silvia Foti
An accomplished journalist, lecturer and creativity coach, Silvia has written on a diverse array of topics. Her experience includes a sojourn in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where she freelanced for the Buenos Aires Herald and Polo Magazine. She has two published novels to date, Skullduggery and The Diva’s Fool.

Elaine Waldorf Gewirtz
Elaine is an award-winning writer specializing in pet topics. She shares her home in Westlake Village, California, with her husband and Dalmatians.

Dr. Greg J. Harrison, DVM
After Greg received his DVM from Iowa State University in 1967, he moved to Florida and began work in general small animal practices. He focused his interest on pet birds and soon established The Bird Hospital, the first Florida practice exclusively for pet bird medicine and surgery. During this time, he developed extensive aviaries on his property and began clinical trials with a formulated diet, which became the basis for Harrison's Bird Foods, the world’s first organic formulated pet food. Greg has been a member of the Board of Directors of the Rachel Carson Council since 2001. He started Spix Publishing International Inc., which published his latest contributions as editor/co-editor or author in the veterinary medical text book “Clinical Avian Medicine.”

Dirk Johnson
Dirk Johnson is a journalist and author, best known nationally for his award-winning work for The New York Times and Newsweek. He is the author of two books, Biting the Dust: The Wild Ride and Dark Romance of the Rodeo Cowboy and the American West, and Meth. He has also appeared on more than 200 television and radio shows, including The "Today" Show, "CNN with Wolf Blitzer," "ESPN's Cold Pizza" and National Public Radio. Johnson is a five-time winner of The New York Times Publisher's Award and has earned the Best-in-Contest Award from the Chicago Newspaper Guild.

Ann Keating
The proud parent of Murph, a therapy dog to all who meet him, Ann is working on a research project on how Hurricane Katrina has affected the mental and physical health of seniors in the Gulf Region.

Tom Kent
Tom is a freelance journalist who has been writing about professional and college sports in the San Francisco Bay Area for the last four years. Among the teams he regularly covers are the Oakland Athletics and San Francisco Forty Niners. 

Jennifer Larson
Jennifer is currently performing comedy and music in Chicago, Ill. She has a mix breed black cat named Eartha Kitty. During the day, she works at Dave's Down to Earth Rock Shop in Evanston, Ill., where she sells anything from rough cuts of minerals to gem stones. She is currently working on several collaborative writing projects and freelancing.   

Peter Lopatin
Peter practiced corporate and commercial law before turning to a teaching and writing career. He has taught at the University of Connecticut/Stamford, Norwalk Community College and Manhattanville College. In addition to his WebVet contributions, Peter is working on fiction and poetry.

Sigrid Lupieri
Sigrid is a graduate student at the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University in Chicago. She is originally from Italy and has freelanced for the Italian-American journal "America Oggi." After her graduation in June, she plans to get an M.A. in history.

Erik Martin
From Pet Age to Buffy the Vampire Slayer magazine, Erik has written for Web sites, newspapers, magazines and corporations. His versatile writing style has led him to create Web content in a wide range of fields, from consumer self-help to the world of pets.

Yona Zeldis McDonough
New York-based writer Yona Zeldis McDonough is the author of a novel, several children’s books, and numerous essays and articles that have appeared in many national and literary publications, including the New York Times Magazine, O, The Oprah Magazine, Redbook, Harper’s Bazaar, Cosmopolitan, and The Village Voice.

Dr. Shawn Messonnier, DVM
Shawn practices integrative medicine at Paws & Claws Animal Hospital in Plano, Texas. He writes regularly for Dog Fancy, Dog World, Body+ Soul, and Animal Wellness. He is the author of several books on integrative pet care, including “The Arthritis Solution for Dogs,” “The Allergy Solution for Dogs,” the award-winning “Natural Health Bible for Dogs & Cats,” “The Natural Vet’s Guide to Preventing and Treating Cancer,” and “8 Weeks to a Healthy Dog.” He recently released his own line of USDA-certified organic pet shampoos called Dr. Shawn’s Pet Organics. Shawn can be heard each Tuesday night on Sirius and XM radio on his award-winning show, “Dr. Shawn-The Natural Vet,” on Martha Stewart Living Radio.

Maryann Mott
For more than 15 years, Maryann Mott has written exclusively about pets. Her thorough reporting has led to assignments with a variety of national publications including: The New York Times, Family Circle, Dog Fancy, Cat Fancy, Washington Post, Christian Science Monitor and National Geographic online.

Jill Sherer Murray
Jill is an award-winning journalist, freelance writer, and facilitator who uses her experience in publishing and communications to service a wide range of clients and projects. She is also a former "Weight Loss Diary" columnist for Shape magazine, who took 6 million readers on her public journey to get fit through a year-long series of personal essays and online chats. Currently, she is working on a book called "Diary of a Writer in Mid-Life Crisis" and writing a popular Web-log of the same name on www.wildriverreview.com. She lives in Doylestown, Penn., with her husband Dan, her two rescue dogs, Winnie and Elvis, and a lot of chocolate.

Kim Nagy
Kim is a freelance journalist who has written feature articles on subjects as diverse as astrobiology and global warming, yoga for moms, acupuncture for cats, the booming finance industry in Dubai, biotechnology and parenting. She is currently writing a book titled The Triple Goddess Trials, based on her "Wild River Review" column. In it, she explores every stage of women’s lives through the timeless insights of myth. Nagy lives in New Jersey with her husband and daughter.

Deana Mae Nelson
Deana is the director of a rabbit and small animal rescue and a House Rabbit Society Educator with 4 years of experience as a veterinary technician for small mammals and exotic pets.  She is a thesis short of a Master's degree in Geology and has plans to continue her education in the near future.  In addition to working with animal rescue, she is an instructor at Mathnasium and owner of Critter Cookies, a small business she created to provide healthy treats for our herbivorous small animal friends.

Brian O’Connell
Brian has authored 10 books on business news and trends, and has written articles for an impressive roster of publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Computer User, Newsweek, Men’s Health, CBS News Market Watch, USA Weekend, Bloomberg Wealth Advisor, and many others. He has also appeared as an expert commentator on CNN, Fox News, Bloomberg, and other broadcast media outlets. He teaches freelance writing at The Writers Room of Bucks County in Pennsylvania.

Sally Schloss
Sally covers the Nashville arts and music scene and is the quintessential "cat lady". She has written extensively for the Web and has ghostwritten books on writing and medical issues. Her own novel is reaching completion.

Barbara Sharnak
Barbara has a well-rounded background in research, writing and producing for radio and television, including Clear Channel, Kiss 108 FM, and United stations Radio Networks. Early in her career, she supervised 10 to 25 dogs attending Doggie Day care, where services included walking, feeding and providing individual attention to each animal.

William Christy Smith
Chris has earned a long list of local, regional, and national awards for his writing on health and dentistry. A long-time advocate and owner of greyhounds, Chris currently lives in the French Quarter of New Orleans and works in post-Katrina conservation efforts for the New Orleans Museum of Art. He has also created media campaigns for the Sierra Club’s efforts in the Mississippi Gulf Region.

Marilyn Soltis
Marilyn is a writer and reporter with extensive experience in traditional and alternative media. With a special interest in travel, her work as a journalist, coupled with general curiosity, has taken her across the nation and the globe – from Central and South America to Eastern and Western Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. As a result, she brings a cosmopolitan sensibility to her appreciation of animals and words.

Gayle Soucek
Gayle is a freelance writer and author of several books on companion birds. Gayle’s “animal magnetism” has drawn a wide variety of critters into her life, from feathered to finned to furred, and from domestic to exotic. She is Past-president of the Midwest Avian Research Expo, the Northern Illinois Parrot Society, and the Midwest Congress of Bird Clubs. Her special areas of interest are animal nutrition, disease, animal law, and green living. She lives in a Chicago suburb with her ever-patient husband, dogs, reptiles, and various species of parrots. Gayle’s mostly unsuccessful goal has been to curb her compulsive volunteerism.

Dr. Andrew Streiber, DVM
Andrew earned his degree from the University of California at Berkeley and spent eight years in the music business in Los Angeles before drastically changing his life and dedicating himself to his passion for animals – and to becoming a veterinarian. He graduated from the Kansas State University College of Veterinary Medicine in 2006 and spent a year honing his clinical skills, training at the Animal Surgical and Emergency Center in West Los Angeles, where he completed a rotating internship in emergency medicine, surgery, radiology, internal medicine and cardiology. Andrew has four pets (Kody, a Labrador retriever, Pearl, a lab mix, Casey, a tailless domestic shorthair and Tripod, a 3-legged domestic shorthair) that keep him busy when he’s not working.

Keith Watson
Keith Watson, who recently lived in Cape Town for three years, is a freelance writer residing in Chicago. He has worked for newspapers, written for magazines, and has written Web copy for global businesses. He did not grow up with pets because, as his mother explained to him when he was a boy, with eight children, there were enough animals in the house.

Vicki Weeks
Vicki owned her own dive shop, and spent many years taking clients out sailing and diving off the coast of Key West. Her unique perspective brings a new twist to articles about boating with your pets.

Howard Wolinsky
The winner of many major writing awards from organizations including the National Press Club, Associated Press Managing Editors Association, the American Bar Association, and the American Public Health Association, Howard freelances for a wide range of business, technology, and medical publications and sites. His credits include The Industry Standard, Upside, CONTEXT, Line 56 and Wired, as well as online services Webbed and OnHealth.com. He co-authored The Serpent on the Staff: The Unhealthy Politics of the American Medical Association and Healthcare Online for Dummies.