VETERINARY SOCIAL WORK BIOS

Dr. Elizabeth Strand is the Founding Director of Veterinary Social Work (VSW) at the University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine. VSW is a partnership program between Colleges of Veterinary Medicine and Social Work, founded in 2002, designed to enhance, support, and inform both professions. Dr. Strand is a licensed clinical social worker, experienced family therapist, Grief Recovery Specialist, and a Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Teacher. She also is trained as a Rule 31 Mediator, Child and Adult Anicare Animal Abuse Treatment counselor, a Compassion Fatigue Specialist and holds a Doctor of Philosophy in Social Work. Dr. Strand’s service work centers around anti-animal abuse and anti-racism efforts. Her interest areas include the link between human and animal violence, animals in family systems, the scholarly and practice development of Veterinary Social Work as a sub-specialty of social work practice, communication skills, conflict resolution, and mediation in animal welfare environments, and stress management techniques. Her professional mission is to encourage the humane treatment of both people and animals and to care for those professionals who care for animals.

Vet Social Work Interns

Tiffany Pennington, BSW (Clinical Intern) has a bachelor's degree in social work from Campbellsville Univer-sity in Campbellsville, KY. For the past two years, Tiffany has worked with youth and families who have been a part of the foster and residential care system in TN. Tiffany also has experience working with the elderly population and has several years of volunteer experience in nursing homes. Tiffany comes to the UT Veterinary Social Work program with hopes to learn more about the human/animal bond, as well as the practice of veterinary social work, and to gain clinical experience. Upon completion of her Master's degree, Tiffany hopes to obtain her licensure and possibly work in a Christian counseling and/ or geriatric setting.

Shannon Radel, BS (MCP Intern) is originally from Spring Green, WI and has her bachelor's degree in Health Education and Promotion from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. Last year, she attended Valdosta State University in Valdosta, GA where she completed her first year of the MSW program. In Valdosta, Shannon worked as a Resident Hall Director for the Residence Life program and was a clinical social work intern at a lo-cal mental health hospital. Shannon is highly interested in animals/animal rights, the animal-human bond, and hopes to receive her LCSW in the upcoming years. Ideally, Shannon would like to use her MSSW degree to work as the Director of an Equine Therapy facility that specializes in Eating Disorders.

Tashawn Stringer (Clinical Intern) is a graduate of Lane College where she received her BA in Sociology. Presently, she is a clinical MSSW candidate in the College of Social Work . Her interests include terminal illnesses in minority populations, grief and bereavement, and supportive care for the caregivers of chronically ill patients. As a Veterinary Social Work Intern, she hopes to gain insight regarding pet owners' coping mechanisms with pet illnesses and death.

Vet Social Work Ph.D. Fellows

Janelle Nimer, BS, MSW, CSW, PhD Fellow is a Graduate Research Assistant at the University of Tennessee with Veterinary Social Work, and is a PhD student at the College of Social Work. Janelle's research interests include Veterinary Social Work, Animal-Assisted Therapy, and meta-analyses. She holds a Masters' degree in Social Work and a Bachelors degree in Behavioral Science and Health from the University of Utah. Prior to joining the Veterinary Social Work team, Janelle spent 6 years working for the University of Utah most recently at the Pharmacotherapy Outcomes Research Center as a grants and contracts officer. Janelle also worked 3 years doing clinical social work, focusing on Animal-Assisted Therapy with children and adolescents in crisis.

Merrie Rennard, MSSW, LMSW is pursuing her PhD in Social Work at the University of Tennessee, and is a Graduate Research Assistant with the Veterinary Social Work Program. Merrie's research interests include the Human Animal Bond and the relationship across cultures when examining Animal Maltreatment and "the Link" between Family Violence, as well as the role the Human Animal Bond plays in human responses to traumatic events. She holds a Masters' degree of Science in Social Work and a Bachelors' degree in Social Work and her post-masters' experience lies in Child Sexual Abuse Counseling, Sexual Assault Advocacy, Crisis Intervention, Latino/a Outreach, Child Welfare, Forensic Social Work, and Family Violence Prevention. She is the outgoing board president of Ahimsa House, Inc, Georgia's only organization providing temporary shelter for the animal victims of domestic violence, and currently serves on the board of Arte-Sana, a National organization that pro-motes awareness of gender and racially based violence through outreach and the arts.

Jan Yorke BA, MSW has a BA and MSW from Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. Her thesis work there was in equine human bonding and attachment and it's role in recovery from trauma. The resulting journal article has been accepted for publication with Anthrozoös. Jan had worked in addictions and metal health clinically for over 25 years. She has taught addictions and crisis related courses for the School of Continuing Education at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario for 11 years. She did a graduate placement in veterinary social work at the Ontario Veterinary College. She is currently a professor teaching at Georgian College/Laurentian University in Orillia, Ontario and is a second year doctoral student in veterinary social work with the University of Tennessee.

UT College of Veterinary Medicine

UT College of Social Work

VSW HelpLine 755-8839

865-974-8387 (phone)

vetsocialwork@mail.ag.utk.edu (email)