Lucy H. Spelman grew up with a menagerie of animals on an old dairy farm in rural Connecticut. While in middle school, she looked forward to “old clothes Wednesday,” a day set aside by one of her teachers to explore the nature trails across the street. She earned a bachelor of arts in biology from Brown University, then her veterinary degree from the University of California at Davis, and completed her post-doctoral training at North Carolina State University. Board-certified by the American College of Zoological Medicine in 1994, Dr. Spelman’s work experience includes nearly ten years with the Smithsonian's National Zoo, half as a clinical veterinarian, and half as its director. She joined the Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project in October 2006 as its Africa-based regional manager. Dr. Spelman enjoys sharing her work with others through all forms of media. In addition to writing, she has been filmed at work with animals in more than a dozen cable television documentaries, and as served as a consultant for various media and education divisions of Discovery Communications, Inc. “We’re all in this together,” she says of today’s conservation challenges.

Ted Y. Mashima is a veterinarian committed to teaching and training future health professionals.  He has practiced zoological medicine, worked for nonprofit educational and environmental organizations, and mentored hundreds of veterinary students and veterinarians.  Dr. Mashima received a BA in zoology from University of Hawaii at Manoa and a DVM from Colorado State University.  He completed post-graduate training in zoological medicine at Kansas State University and North Carolina State University.  Dr. Mashima is board certified by the American College of Zoological Medicine and the American College of Veterinary Preventive Medicine.   His publications include a highly successful pocket formulary now in use by thousands of zoological medicine veterinarians around the world.  For seven years, Dr. Mashima was the associate director of the Center for Public and Corporate Veterinary Medicine (Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Maryland), which is a national resource to train veterinary students and graduate veterinarians for career opportunities outside the realm of traditional private clinical practice, including zoological medicine.  He previously served as a consultant to the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation and projects director for the National Association of Physicians for the Environment.   In 2007, Dr. Mashima led the Asian & Pacific Islander American Scholarship Fund as its president and executive director.  He recently founded Mashima Communications, LLC, which provides consultative services in communications, development and strategic planning for nonprofit organizations.  “I live vicariously through the people I mentor, helping them attain their dreams of making this world a better place for animals, people, and the ecosystems they share.”