Dr. MacNamara earned her MSW from Columbia University, and her PhD at the University of Denver. Dr. MacNamara has 30 years’ experience designing goal-directed human-animal activities that result in measurable client change and developing and delivering staff training to support these programs. As Vice-President for Programs for Delta Society (Pet Partners), Dr. MacNamara developed internationally recognized standards, and volunteer and professional training for animal-assisted interventions (AAI). She served as a consultant and founding instructor for the Veterinary Social Work Certificate from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville and has published chapters and articles on human-animal relationships and AAI. She is an Associate Professor of Social Work at Appalachian State University; her research interests include the influence of climate change on rural sustainable development; and community and organizational factors influencing the place and consequence of human-animal relationships. She is a member of the Special Commission to Advance Macro Social Work Practice.