Book Authors Archive

Ofra Layla Isler

January 22, 2025

Ofra Layla Isler is the founder of Art in Rescue, which honors the work of animal rescue through her hand drawn art. Inspired by the beautiful animals who are given second chances to live a life in peace, she brings her passion for art and animal rights together through Art in Rescue. Ofra has worked with various animal advocacy and conservation organizations. She lives in California with two rescue kitties. Ofra received her M.B.A. from Reichman University and her B.A.Sc. from California State University, Chico.

Christine Mott

January 22, 2025

Christine Mott is an attorney and animal advocate with over fifteen years of experience leading legal and policy efforts to protect animals. She advises alternative protein companies, animal sanctuaries and other animal protection and sustainability-focused organizations. Christine is a former Chair of the Animal Law Committee of the NYC Bar Association and has served on the boards of various animal advocacy organizations. Christine received her J.D. from NYU Law and her B.A. from Smith College. Christine’s work has been featured in the New York Times and various media. A native New Yorker, Christine currently lives in California with her family.

Angela L. Crawford

January 22, 2025

With 25 years of experience as a licensed psychologist, Angela L. Crawford, Ph.D. is passionate about sharing the benefits of a plant-powered, vegan lifestyle for emotional, mental, spiritual, and physical health. She writes, teaches, and speaks about thriving emotionally, living compassionately, and finding our unique purpose in contributing to a kinder, healthier world.

Dr. Crawford previously worked as a psychotherapist for over two decades, empowering clients to address stress and trauma, improve coping skills, and achieve holistic well-being. She holds certifications as a transformational coach, master vegan lifestyle coach and educator, and in plant-based nutrition.

Sarah Tomasello

January 22, 2025

Sarah Tomasello is an independent scholar who received bachelor’s degrees in Anthropology and Religious Studies and a Master of Science in Anthrozoology from Canisius College. Throughout her studies and publications, Sarah’s work has focused on the intersections between decolonization, animal rights, and wildlife conservation. She is especially interested in improving conservation initiatives so that they are respectful and inclusive of Indigenous communities, as well as more compassionate toward the nonhuman individuals they impact. Sarah has several publications in (critical) animal studies journals and books.

Mark Suchyta

January 22, 2025

Mark Suchyta is a teacher, activist, researcher, and artist whose work broadly focuses on how humans can better coexist with other animals and the rest of nature. His scholarship has appeared in scientific journals such as Social Forces, Human Ecology Review, and Agriculture and Human Values. He also works on a semi-annual zine series with his partner, Ren Suchyta-Korany, called A More-than-Human Society. Mark is currently a lecturer at Butler University in Indianapolis, where he teaches courses on environmentalism and human–animal relationships, as well as introductory sociology courses. When he is not busy working, Mark enjoys spending his time with his partner and his four rescued parakeets, Opa, Whimsey, Aspen, and Rainford.

Nathan Poirier

January 22, 2025

Nathan Poirier is a tutor and adjunct instructor at Lansing Community College, with graduate specializations in (critical) animal studies and women’s and gender studies, as well as advanced degrees in anthrozoology, mathematics, and sociology. Nathan co-edited the book Emerging New Voices in Critical Animal Studies: Vegan Studies for Total Liberation (Peter Lang, 2022) and has several interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary publications in diverse animal studies and environmental journals and books.

Erin Jones

January 22, 2025

Erin Jones holds a BSc in Anthropology and Psychology from Trent University, an MSc in Anthrozoology from Canisius College, and a PhD in Human–Animal Studies from the University of Canterbury’s New Zealand Centre for Human–Animal Studies. Erin’s primary research interests are the dog–human relationship, the power dynamics of petkeeping based on the paradigm of human exceptionalism, and concepts around canine consent. Erin is a certified dog behavior consultant and accredited dog trainer with the International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants, a certified professional dog trainer with the Certification Council for Professional Dog Trainers, and an accredited animal behavior consultant with Companion Animals New Zealand. She is the owner of Merit Dog Project, an educational platform for assisting dog caregivers and those involved in dog education, and an instructor at the IAABC Foundation.

Isabella La Rocca González

July 23, 2024

Isabella La Rocca González is an artist and activist based in the United States. Her work is part of a long tradition in art and photography: to bring to light and find beauty in the disregarded, hidden, or unconscious. As a first-generation American, she strives to reconcile values from her Indigenous Mexican roots with her European heritage. Her photographs have been exhibited internationally, including a solo show at the Center for Photography in Woodstock, NY. Her creative nonfiction works have been published in various venues, including the Women Eco Artist Dialog Magazine and the Everything from Nothing Journal. Her screenplay, Fugue 9, was chosen as a finalist for the 2008 Sundance Screenwriter’s Lab. She received her BA in fine arts from the University of Pennsylvania, and her MFA in Photography from Indiana University. After thirty years teaching art and photography on the post-secondary level, she has left academia to devote herself full time to her art practice and to growing a native pollinator garden.

Jess Bugg

July 23, 2024

Jess Bugg is a writer and artist based in Austin, TX. She blends her passion for ecology and animal rights with a love of storytelling. Bugg received her BA in visual communication from the Savannah College of Art and Design with concentrations in photography and writing. She received her MA in nature-culture-sustainability studies from the Rhode Island School of Design. She is trained in classical Pilates and teaches with a focus on chronic illness and rehabilitation.

Liz Tyson

May 14, 2024

Dr. Liz Tyson is Born Free USA’s Programs Director. She has helped animals across the globe. She helped to establish the very first locally run sterilization program for street dogs in the Middle East, worked with indigenous communities in the Colombian Amazon to end the hunting of wild primates, ran a UK charity campaigning to end the exploitation of animals in circuses and zoos, and helped design a new rehabilitation complex for rescued monkeys at Ensessa Kotteh, Born Free’s sanctuary in Ethiopia. In 2018, she earned her doctorate in animal welfare law.
In 2020, Liz published Licensing Laws and Animal Welfare: The Legal Protection of Wild Animals with Palgrave MacMillan/Springer Nature. The book outlines the findings of her doctoral research, which is the most comprehensive study of the legal protection of wild animals in English zoos carried out to date.
Liz splits her time between campaigning for wild animal freedom and overseeing the running of the Born Free USA Primate Sanctuary in south Texas. She lives in San Marcos, TX, with her daughter, Anna Patricia, and her two rescued dogs: Maya and Stanley Millett.