Lucy Spelman Email & Phone Number

Lucy is a biologist with an unusual background: she is one of a handful of veterinarians certified in zoological medicine. Her patients have included a wide variety of species from all over the world ranging from beetles to elephants. She is also a writer and an educator with a keen interest in exploring new ways to use the arts to communicate and interpret science. In 2008, she published her first short story and, along with Ted Mashima, co-edited 27 others for "The Rhino with Glue-on Shoes" (Bantam Dell/Random House.) In October 2012, she published her second book in collaboration with the National Geographic Society's Children's Book Division, "The National Geographic Animal Encyclopedia." A new edition of this book is planned for 2021-22.Since 2010, Lucy has been part-time faculty at the Rhode Island School of Design in Providence, RI where she is currently Senior Lecturer; she teaches biology to art and design students both in the classroom and for RISD Global. She is also the Exotics Specialist at Ocean State Veterinary Services in East Greenwich, RI. She is a National Geographic Explorer and scientific expert for their Great Apes of Africa tour. She serves on the board of the Wildlife Clinic of Rhode Island and the non-profit she founded, Creature Conserve, Inc. For more see @creatureconserve on IG and FB, and www.creatureconserve.comLucy's passion for science education and outreach stems from her experiences as the director of the National Zoo at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC, as the field manager for the Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project in Rwanda. She also has considerable experience in science communication, both as the subject of news interviews and television documentaries, and as a media consultant for the Discovery Channel and Animal Planet. After receiving her A.B in Biology from Brown University (1985) and her D.V.M. from the University of California at Davis (1990), she completed her post-doctoral training at North Carolina State University and passed her specialty boards the next year (1994), becoming the 43rd member of the American College of Zoological Medicine and the first to achieve this status right out of her residency.Specialties: Clinical skills in zoological and domestic animal medicine, conservation research, zoo administration, scientific writing, documentary film production, online educational materials production, published author/non-fiction, undergraduate and graduate level instruction in biology, conservation, and art/sci both in the classroom and study abroad.

Listed skills include Science, Research, Teaching, Public Speaking, and 25 others.