Biography
Hometown:
Fort Collins, CO
Undergrad:
University of Washington, Seattle
How I became interested in Animal Law:
My family has always kept pets and has regarded them as members of the family rather than property, so I grew up with a great respect for animals. I became vegetarian at the age of 13 and transitioned to veganism at 19. I care deeply for companion animals and have experience advocating for them through my work as the operations manager of a nonprofit cat rescue in Seattle, as well as my work as a veterinary assistant. After taking a class in college about human/animal relations, I became intrigued in the dichotomy between the love humans feel for their companion animals and those animals that are raised for consumption. My original intent was to become a veterinarian, but after working with animals, both in the rescue and veterinary setting, I realized that I was more interested in the policy and advocacy that is necessary for helping all animals generally rather than fewer individually. I then heard an interview with Justin Marceau on NPR about animal law and I was fascinated. Until hearing that interview I didn’t know much, if anything about animal law. I did a lot of research and found out as much as I could about the different ways of practicing law for the benefit of animals. My goal is to use my legal education to go into either legislation or litigation to broaden protections for animals. The year before I began at Lewis & Clark, I worked as an animal caregiver at a farmed animal sanctuary in Northern California. This time spent at the sanctuary solidified my commitment to use the law to protect factory farmed animals specifically.
SALDF at Lewis & Clark School of Law:
L&C’s SALDF chapter is one of the biggest groups on campus. I am proud to be an active member in such an amazing chapter. The speaker series does so much to keep students up to date on current animal law issues. The mentor program for first year students and the work-retreats really show that SALDF is committed not only to flourishing within the Lewis & Clark Law community, but also within the community at large. I love that being a part of SALDF reminds me of why I’m here. I’m here to do my utmost to become an effective advocate for animals.