Scholar Luminaries

Dr. David Wiebers is a physician, scientist, and founder of the All Life Institute whose work explores the connections between human health, animal protection, and environmental sustainability. In this conversation, he discusses factory farming, climate change, plant-based food systems, pandemic risk, animal testing, and the importance of compassion for all life.

Dr. Finkelstein is an adjunct professor in the Microbiology and Environmental Toxicology Department at the University of California, Santa Cruz with over 25 years of experience generating scientific evidence that results in tangible benefits to wildlife health.

Dr. Virginia Maxwell is a professor and interim dean at the University of New Haven whose work applies forensic science to the investigation of animal cruelty. A former trace evidence examiner with the Connecticut Forensic Science Laboratory, she focuses on improving crime scene investigation, evidence collection, and training in animal cruelty cases, as well as developing more objective ways to assess pain and stress in animals.

Dr. Elaine Leslie is the former Biological Chief for the National Park Service and serves on the Executive Council of the Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks. A conservation biologist who has worked with wildlife throughout her career, she focuses on protecting wildlife and habitats, biodiversity, habitat connectivity, invasive species, and reducing environmental threats such as lead exposure.

Dr. Rolf Peterson is a research professor at Michigan Technological University and a wildlife ecologist whose career has focused on wolves and moose at Isle Royale National Park. Through decades of long-term research, he studies predator-prey relationships, the ecological role of wolves, human-wolf coexistence, and how climate change and other environmental pressures are shaping the future of this unique ecosystem.