Crisis One Health: Why Natural Disasters aren’t Natural and Animals are often The Missing Link

Speaker: Kelly Donithan VG12, Senior Specialist, Disaster Response - Humane Society International (HSI)

Too often the world has accepted “natural disasters” as inevitable consequences to the world we live in. However, while hazards are at times, a natural occurrence, the disaster only follows when communities, agencies, and societies as a whole are unprepared, ill-equipped and refusing to adapt to increasing threats especially as climate change continues to raise the intensity and frequency of such hazards. While animals deserve due attention and consideration during disaster planning and response, they are also a critical piece to ensuring whole-of-society approach to disaster risk reduction. Furthermore, multi-hazard planning and response is crucial when addressing complex situations like drought or conflict in species conservation.

Kelly Donithan travels around the world in response to disasters and other animal rescue needs. She holds a B.S. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from the University of Arizona and a M.S. in Conservation Medicine from Tufts Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine. She began her career as an Animal Care Specialist at White Oak Conservation. She worked as policy analyst with the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) before becoming the organization’s Wildlife Rescue Program Officer. She is currently on the Advisory Committee for Save The Snakes. She is an alumna of Class Five of the Emerging Wildlife Conservation Leaders (EWCL) program, where she co-founded the Painted Dog Protection Initiative. In 2015, Kelly moved to Vietnam to take on the role of bear manager at Animals Asia’s Vietnam Bear Rescue Center. After returning to the U.S. in 2017, Kelly worked as an independent consultant for various wildlife conservation and animal welfare organizations while pursuing a certificate in Sustainability and Behavior Change from University of California San Diego. She briefly worked at World Animal Protection as the Exotic Pets Campaign Manager before joining HSI. She lives with her family of rescued animals.

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