GUEST EXPERTS
Thank you to all the smart and kind people we spoke with for Dog Parkology.
Whitney Harris
Background:
Freelance writer and editor, who has been published by many dog magazines and websites.
She has contributed to publications such as Dogster, Men's and Women's Health, Parents.com, Brides, Yahoo, and more.
Expertise:
Harris has written about her experiences at dog parks living in different parts of the country, from Texas to New York, and how it’s impacted her connection to her neighbors and communities.
Location: Westchester, New York
Links: LinkedIn
Dr. Sharon Holland
Background:
Professor in department of American Studies at University of North Carolina.
Ph.D. English and African American Studies, University of Michigan.
A.B. English and African American Studies, Princeton University.
Expertise:
Dr. Holland has experienced both traditional dog parks and her own self-initiated spaces, like creating a makeshift area for her and neighbors to bring their dogs within her North Carolina community.
In her latest book, an other, Dr. Holland offers a new theorization of the human animal divide and centers ethical commitments over ontological concerns to spotlight those moments when Black people ethically relate with animals.
Location: Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Links: Sharon’s website: the professor’s table, Sharon’s book ‘an other: a black feminist consideration of animal life’
DR. Setha Low
Background:
Director of the Public Space Research Group at the City University of New York.
Distinguished Professor of Psychology, Anthropology, Earth and Environmental Sciences, and Women's and Gender Studies.
Author of several books, including Why Public Space Matters.
Ph.D. in Cultural Anthropology from the University of California, Berkeley.
Expertise:
Dr. Low has studied public space through decades of research, monitoring and understand how it contributes to a flourishing society through a social justice and democratic lens.
Location: New York City, New York
Links: Public Space Research Group
Leslie Lowe
Background:
Founder of Bear Grass Landscape Architecture, who worked on the design for the five-acre Hugh Rogers WAG Park in Montana.
MLA, Master of Landscape Architecture & Environmental Planning, Utah State University.
Expertise:
Lowe’s interest and appreciation of the outdoors gives her a holistic view of the ecosystems and native plants she works with, as she aims to make her landscape architect work as organic as possible to the surrounding environment.
The Hugh Rogers WAG Park she designed was named one of the Top 10 Best Dog Parks in the United States by USA TODAY.
Location: Whitefish, Montana
Links: Beargrass Landscape Architecture & Environmental Planning
Meredith May
Background:
Book author and former longtime journalist at the San Francisco Chronicle, where she was shortlisted for the Pulitzer Prize.
The book author of Loving Edie: How a Dog Afraid of Everything Taught Me to be Brave.
Expertise:
May’s book, Loving Edie, details her lessons from an extremely anxious and sensitive canine companion. She learned to not judge Edie based on her expectations or previous breeds, but understand that every dog is truly unique.
Location: California
Links: Author website, Instagram, Dog Save The People episode
Amanda McDermott
Background:
Creative Director at Dog Mountain.
Dog Mountain is an 150 acre unfenced dog park in St. Johnsbury, Vermont, which allows locals to spend personal time with their dogs. They also host community events for people and dogs to come together. The unique Dog Chapel on site, created by Founder and artist Stephen Huneck, gives people a chance to remember and celebrate their canine companions.
Expertise:
Through her two decades of work at Dog Mountain, wearing many hats, McDermott has played a key role in providing a community hub for both people and dogs.
Location: St. Johnsbury, Vermont
Annette McGivney
Background:
Award-winning outdoor journalist and author whose work has appeared in The Guardian, New York Times Magazine, Los Angeles Times, Backpacker, and Outside Magazine.
Author of several books, including Pure Land.
Guide for Season 2 of Dog Walk Meditation podcast.
Expertise:
McGivney advocates for exploring nature, ideally with a dog, to epigenetically plug to what our bodies needs most.
She believes nature can help in positively sustaining our mental health and helping to heal past trauma. And with our dogs at our side, we can more closely appreciate and connect with the environment around us in a more attentive way.
Location: Montezuma County, Colorado
Links: Author website, Instagram
Megan Mueller, PhD
Background:
Associate Professor of Human-Animal Interaction at Tufts University + Director of the Pets and Well-Being Lab.
Bachelor of Arts, Psychology, Tufts University.
Master of Arts, Tufts University.
Doctor of Philosophy, Tufts University.
Expertise:
The goal of the Pets and Well-Being Lab is explore the complex interactions between humans and animals, specializing in understanding human-animal interaction (HAI) in youth and families.
Location: North Grafton, Massachusetts
Links: Tufts Initiative for Human-Animal Interaction, Faculty profile, X
Teena Patel
Background:
Founder and CEO of Doglando, a dog training and behavior company based in Orlando, Florida.
Expertise:
Patel has spent two decades studying enrichment through Doglando, looking at how we can best provide dogs to live in the most natural and fulfilling ways possible.
Location: Orlando, Florida
Links: Doglando, Personal site
Anjulie Rao
Background:
Journalist and critic who focuses on the built environment. In particular, she focuses on the intersections between architecture, landscapes, and cultural change in post-industrial cities.
Her bylines include Dwell, The New York Review of Architecture, The Architectural Review, and more.
Rao is also a lecturer at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, an Adjunct faculty member at the University of Illinois Chicago, and previously taught at the Illinois Institute of Technology.
Expertise:
Rao has studied the infrastructure of public space in cities like Chicago, among others, to better help understand and educate others about how public space “can become embodied, rooted in placefulness, and acknowledged as intrinsic to our communities.”
Location: Chicago, Illinois
Links: Personal website, Twitter
Dr. Camille Ward
Background:
Founder of About Dogs LLC, a certified animal behaviorist who works with humans and animals to establish quality relationships based on mutual trust and respect.
Master of Science (M.S.), Ph.D., Biopsychology, University of Michigan.
Expertise:
Dr. Ward’s work in canine social behavior problems focuses on relationship-building from the dog’s point of view.
Location: Ann Arbor, Michigan
Links: About Dogs website, About Dogs on Facebook, Greeting Behavior Between Dogs In A Dog Park research study
Ed Yong
Background:
British-American science journalist who reports for The Atlantic, where he won a Pulitzer Prize for his coverage of the pandemic.
Yong’s writing has also been featured in National Geographic, The New Yorker, WIRED, New York Times, and other publications.
Author of two New York Times bestsellers:
An Immense World on the sensory worlds of other animals
+ I Contain Multitudes on the partnerships of animals and microbes.
He was also awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in April 2024 for Science Writing.
MA, Natural SciencesMA, Natural Sciences - Zoology focus, University of Cambridge.
Master of Philosophy in Liberal Arts (MPhil), University College London (UCL).
Expertise:
Yong, was in the midst of writing his latest book, An Immense World, when a corgi named Typo came into his life as his first dog.
Through his experience with Typo at his side, Yong was able to see firsthand the vast differences in sensory experiences and capabilities of other animals like dogs.
He suggests that by being closer to our animals, we can better understand that nature is all around us, no matter where we go. And that if we can bridge the gap to feel closer to the natural world, we can feel more of an impetus to care for and protect it.
Location: Oakland, California
Links: Personal website
And thanks to our additional contributors who helped make this series possible!
Shuolei Chen
Background:
Assistant professor in Department of Landscape Planning at Nanjing Forestry University, China.
Master of Landscape Architecture, Urban Planning, Park and open space, Physical and Psychological health, Utah State University.
Expertise:
Chen is studying the implementation of dog parks in China and how everyone in the communities – dog owners and non dog owners alike – can benefit from the use of these public spaces.
Location: Nanjing, China
Links: Chen’s research, Benefits and Conflicts: A Systematic Review of Dog Park Design and Management Strategies research study
Sylvia Heisel
Background:
Co-Founder of DogPark Production + Designer.
Expertise:
With the company DogPark Production, which Heisel works on with her husband Scott Taylor, she has studied the creation and implementation of dog parks. In particular, they explore the creation and construction of off-leash play spaces from materials that are not only sustainable and recyclable, but that are actually more engaging and inviting for both dogs and their owners.
One of their projects was turning a North Carolina recreational children’s park into a canine amusement park, named DogWorld – complete with swimming pools and an 18-hole “dogstacle” course.
Location: New York City, New York
Links: DogPark Production, Personal site
Karen London, PhD
Background:
Certified Professional Dog Trainer and Applied Animal Behaviorist.
Adjunct Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Northern Arizona University
Ph.D. in Zoology, University of Wisconsin.
B.S. in Biology, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)
Author of six books about training and behavior, including her most recent, Treat Everyone Like a Dog: How a Dog Trainer’s World View Can Improve Your Life.
Expertise:
London began working with dogs in 1997, and has spent years working with people on the behavioral relationships with their dogs.
This includes people understand why their dogs act in certain ways at dog parks and how we can better understand our canine companions.
Location: Flagstaff, Arizona
Julie Urbanik, PHD
Background:
Qualitatively trained geographer who studies how place shapes the ethical relations between people, and between people and animals.
Ph.D. in Geography, Clark University.
Expertise:
Studied dog parks implementation within Kansas City in her A tale of tails: The place of dog parks in the urban imaginary research paper, evaluating how the distribution (or lack of) dog parks impacts communities for both dog parents and all residents.
Location: Kansas City, Missouri
Links: Personal website, Instagram