Author: Kristin Stone

Rebecca Regnery is the Senior Director of Humane Society International’s Wildlife Department. She is responsible for overseeing wildlife programs and campaigns, and represents the organization at international treaty and trade agreements including: the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES), the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS), the CMS Memorandum of Understanding on the Conservation of Migratory Sharks (CMS Sharks MOU); the Inter-American Convention on the Protection and Conservation of Sea Turtles (IAC), the International Whaling Commission (IWC), the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC), and other regional fishery management organizations.

Regnery collaborates with U.S. and foreign governments, international organizations and other non-governmental organizations, industry, and consumers to accomplish wildlife conservation and animal welfare goals.

She is the North American Regional Director for the Species Survival Network (SSN), and co-chairs SSN’s Sea Turtle and Shark working groups. She is a member of the Expert Advisory Panel of the Shark Conservation Fund. She serves as an elected non-governmental representative on the International Review Panel of the Agreement on the International Dolphin Conservation Program (AIDCP), and the General Advisory Committee to the U.S. government for the IATTC. She is also a member of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Marine Turtle Specialist Group and chairs its Policy Task Force.

Regnery’s animal protection experience includes her previous roles as the Deputy Director of HSI Wildlife, HSI Deputy Director of International Policy, HSI Program Manager for Latin America and the Caribbean, and Project Coordinator for Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) Campaigns and Planning.

Ms. Regnery holds a Master of Science in Business degree from Johns Hopkins University and a Bachelor of Science degree from the American University.

Sara Shields earned her B.S. in Zoology from Colorado State University and her Ph.D. from The University of California, Davis in Animal Behavior in 2004. She worked in a postdoctoral capacity at the University of Nebraska, in the Animal Science department, as a researcher and lecturer. She specializes in the welfare of farm animals, particularly poultry, and does consulting in farm animal behavior and welfare, providing scientific and technical information to food retailers, universities, law enforcement and advocacy organizations. She is currently a U.S. Delegate to the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) TC34 Working Group on Animal Welfare, and a member of The Humane Society Institute for Science and Policy.

Troy is Vice President, Research and Toxicology at Humane Society International.

In this role, he leads a HSI’s global team of campaigners, lobbyists and scientists working to end animal testing for cosmetics and replace other inhumane and obsolete uses of animals in laboratories with advanced non-animal approaches.

With more than two decades’ experience in biomedical and toxicological science policy and animal protection arenas, Troy possesses extensive specialist knowledge of current and emerging testing and research methodologies, legal and regulatory frameworks across numerous countries and sectors, and a drive to find innovative solutions to complex scientific and public policy challenges. His leading contributions to political negotiations leading to an unprecedented 50 percent reduction in animal test requirements for pesticides and biocides in Europe earned HSI the first-ever LUSH Prize for Lobbying in 2012. This work has since expanded globally in the pesticide, industrial chemical, vaccine and other product sectors.

Troy established and co-managed the EU research and innovation coordination project AXLR8, which organized a series of international workshops to understand how to “accelerate the transition to a toxicity pathway-based paradigm for chemical safety assessment through internationally coordinated research and technology development.” Today he co-leads the BioMed21 Collaboration, which is working with health research stakeholders across the globe to advance a modern, human-focused approach to the study, treatment and prevention of disease in place of failing animal models.

Troy has served on numerous high-level policy committees and expert groups at national and international levels, including those of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the European Union (CARACAL, ECHA, EFSA, EURL-ECVAM), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Health Canada, the New Zealand Ministry of Health, and others.

Teresa Telecky, Ph.D. is Vice President of the Wildlife Department for Humane Society International. She is an expert on the United Nations Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) and serves as the Executive Director and Vice President of the Species Survival Network, an international coalition of non-governmental environmental organizations committed to the promotion, enhancement and strict enforcement of CITES.

Telecky has authored or co-authored six published scientific papers on animal behavior and endocrinology, as well as numerous and technical reports of The HSI, including Big Game, Big Bucks: The Alarming Growth of the American Trophy Hunting Industry; CAMPFIRE: A Close Look at the Costs and Consequences; and Reptiles as Pets: An Examination of the Trade in Live Reptiles in the United States.

Following a post-doctoral fellowship with the National Science Foundation and the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science at the National Institute for Basic Biology in Okazaki Japan, Telecky began work for HSI in 1990, specializing in the international wildlife trade.

Telecky earned her Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in zoology from the University of Nevada, Reno, and her doctorate in zoology from the University of Hawaii, Manoa.

Rebecca Aldworth is the Executive Director of Humane Society International/Canada. For more than a decade, she has been a firsthand observer of Canada’s commercial seal hunt, escorting more than 100 scientists, parliamentarians and journalists to the ice floes to witness the slaughter.

Aldworth has testified before the Canadian House of Commons and a large number of European Parliamentarians on the humane, economic and environmental aspects of the Canadian seal hunt, published numerous position papers and articles on the seal hunt in publications including the Toronto Star and the International Herald Tribune and lectured at many universities and other institutions on animal protection issues. She has appeared on the Montel Williams Show and was featured in People Magazine.

Aldworth builds coalitions within the animal and environmental protection community and helps coordinate international efforts to close seal product markets. She works with government agencies to enforce legislation preventing trade in marine mammal products.

Aldworth has founded two animal protection groups in Canada. She is a recipient of the 2004 Jean Taymans award for animal welfare and in 2006 was named one of nine Eco Heroes by Alternet.

Prior to joining HSI Canada, Aldworth served as Seal Campaigner for the International Fund for Animal Welfare for seven years. As a director of Global Action Network, she also worked on a number of other animal protection issues including factory farming, the fur trade and animals in entertainment—helping to block the construction of a captive dolphin facility in Quebec, achieving municipal bans of animals in entertainment in three Canadian municipalities and convincing more than 300 Canadian retailers to remove fur products from their stores.  

Aldworth studied Fine Arts at Concordia University in Montreal, Quebec.

Naomi Rose, Ph.D. is senior scientist for Humane Society International (HSI), specializing in international marine mammal protection issues. Her areas of expertise include whaling, whale and dolphin watching, marine ecotourism, the dolphin-safe tuna label, marine sanctuaries, acoustic harassment, captive marine mammals (including swim-with-the-dolphin programs), the Marine Mammal Protection Act, and the sport hunting of polar bears, as well as the protection of walruses, seals, sea lions, manatees, dugongs and sea otters.

A member of the International Whaling Commission’s (IWC) Scientific Committee, Rose has been invited to participate in subcommittees on environmental concerns and whale watching since 2000. She has co-edited the State of the Cetacean Environment Report at this forum since 2003 and has authored or co-authored numerous journal articles and book chapters on marine mammal science, welfare, and policy, including the HSUS report The Case Against Marine Mammals in Captivity.

Rose is a member of the Society for Marine Mammalogy and Sigma Xi, the scientific research society. She served as a lecturer and teaching assistant in graduate school and presents college-level lectures on marine mammal welfare, conservation and policy at several east coast universities annually.

Rose received a doctorate in biology—with a dissertation on the social dynamics of male orcas in British Columbia—from the University of California, Santa Cruz in 1992, and a bachelor’s degree in biology and French from Mount Holyoke College in 1984.

Marta Prado is Executive Director for International Trade and Development for Humane Society International (HSI). She oversees the development and implementation of international trade and economic policy for HSI in many international arenas, including the World Trade Organization (WTO), the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, and the U.S.—Central America—Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR). 

Prado serves as HSI’s liaison for the Trade and Environment Policy Advisory Committee, which advises the United States Trade Representative and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on international trade and environment issues. She also oversees HSI’s office in Latin America, and formulates and coordinates HSI’s capacity building program in Central America, the Dominican Republic and Peru, which focuses on development projects relating to conservation and habitat protection, sustainable tourism, animal welfare, and sustainable agriculture. 

Before joining HSI, Prado practiced law in Washington, DC at Stewart and Stewart (1999-2004) where she specialized in International Trade Law, the WTO, North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), and CAFTA-DR. During her years working in private practice, Prado co-authored several articles on the WTO dispute settlement system as well as the Handbook of WTO/GATT Dispute Settlement. 
 
Prado graduated from Georgetown University Law Center in 1999. She received a Bachelor’s Degree in History from Georgetown University in 1995. 

Kelly O’Meara is Vice President of HSI’s Companion Animals and Engagement Department. She joined Humane Society International in 1999. She has oversight of companion animal related international projects, including HSI’s anti-dog meat and street dog campaigns. She leads the HSI anti-dog meat campaign and its focus and strategy on ending the trade in a number of Asian countries. She formulates humane and effective programs to address street dog population management issues throughout the globe. She also participates in leadership of our global disaster response and operations.

Ms. O’Meara holds a Bachelor of Science degree in natural resource studies and wildlife conservation from the University of Massachusetts. She has experience as a veterinary technician and has worked in local humane society animal shelters in the United States. She holds certificates from the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) in Large Animal Euthanasia and from Bristol University, England, for Animal Welfare Officer Training. She has co-authored various HSI reports and HSUS publications, including Dogs on Abaco Island, the Bahamas: A Case Study and State of the Animals.

Joanna Swabe, Ph.D. is the Senior Director of Public Affairs for HSI/Europe. She oversees the development and implementation of our animal welfare policies in the European Union and is responsible for coordinating HSI’s relations with the European Commission, European Parliament and Council of the European Union. Her primary task is to lobby these EU institutions to achieve legislative change and to get a wide variety of animal welfare issues on the agenda of EU policymakers.

Before joining HSI, Swabe worked for more than a decade as an academic researcher in the field of human-animal relations. She has published a variety of scholarly articles, books and research reports on our often ambivalent attitudes towards farm and companion animals, the ethical and social acceptability of killing domestic animals, veterinary public health issues and the historical development of veterinary medicine.

Swabe served as a Council member for the International Society for Anthrozoology (ISAZ) from 1996 to 2009. Furthermore, she was the Associate Editor of the journal Anthrozoös from 2002-2006 and continues to serve as an editorial advisory board member today.

In 2004, Swabe switched to a professional career in animal protection. From 2004-2007, she worked as a policy adviser for the Dutch anti-fur organisation Bont voor Dieren and later as scientific staff member for the Nicolaas G. Pierson Foundation, the scientific office of the Party for the Animals in the Netherlands. She initially joined HSI as a consultant on seals and fur issues in 2008, forming part of the team that successfully lobbied the EU institutions to achieve the historic ban on seal product trade in the European Union in 2009.

Swabe received her doctorate in 1997 from the University of Amsterdam for her thesis The Burden of Beasts, which explored the consequences of humankind’s increasing exploitation of and dependency on other animals; this was later published under the title of Animals, Disease and Human Society: Human-Animal Relations and the Rise of Veterinary Medicine. She earned her MA degree in social science from the University of Amsterdam in 1992 and a BSocSci(Hons) degree in sociology from the University of Manchester, UK in 1990.