Dr. Katie Spaulding, DVM, MPH
Dr. Katie graduated from the University of Massachusetts with a Bachelor’s Degree in Wildlife Biology and Ecology, focused on Aquatic Animal Medicine during veterinary school at Iowa State University, and most recently completed a Master of Public Health Degree, with an emphasis on Environmental Health. She has a strong interest in environmental health and conservation, and made this topic the focus of her veterinary and public health curriculum, focusing on free-roaming cat populations and various ways to manage them. She worked as a shelter veterinarian for the progressive Dakin Humane Society in Springfield, Massachusetts for over seven years before moving to Kaua’i. She is passionate about Hawai’i’s fragile ecosystems and wildlife populations, and the impact cats have on these systems, particularly when it comes to toxoplasmosis and Hawaiian monk seals. She is also the co-founder and director of Hawaii-based NGO AnimalohA. She hopes to be able to encourage both conservationists and cat welfare groups to work together toward effective and humane population management strategies for cats in order to advance the conservation of Hawaii’s native species.