Working Dogs for Conservation (WDC) is a 501(c)(3) tax exempt organization committed to developing and furthering the training and use of canine-human teams for non-invasive scientific inquiry, conservation, and management. We provide and promote fielding experienced dog/handler teams, training dogs and/or handlers, and program development and support.

Megan Parker, Co-Founder and Executive Director, grew up in Montana, where she was inspired to a career in conservation. She received her B.A. from Middlebury College in Vermont and her M.S. from Boise State University in raptor ecology and her PhD from University of Montana in Wildlife Biology on the scent marking behavior and territoriality [...]

Aimee Hurt, Co-founder and Associate Director, received a B.A. from University of Montana in biology, where her studies emphasized zoology, ecology, and entomology and she received a fellowship and endowment for studying the ability of dogs to differentiate the scats of two closely related species (black bears and grizzly bears). Aimee has worked with conservation [...]

Alice Whitelaw, Co-founder and Programs Director, received a B.A. in Biology from Warren Wilson College in North Carolina and a A.A.Sc. in Veterinary Medical Technology from Central Carolina Community College. She has worked as a field biologist for universities, NGO’s and state and federal agencies for over 18 years and has participated in wildlife research [...]

Deborah Smith, Co-founder and Conservation Director, received her B.S. in biology from Saint Mary’s College of California, her M.S. in integrative biology from the University of California, Los Angeles, and her Ph.D. in wildlife science from the University of Washington, Seattle. Since 1991, she has been active in wildlife research and conservation efforts throughout the [...]

Ngaio Richards grew up in a small rural village in Québec, Canada surrounded by forests and hills, where she developed a solid love of wild places and wily, elusive critters. A forensic ecologist and conservationist, her multidisciplinary background includes a BSc in Environmental Science from Acadia University in Nova Scotia and an MSc in Natural [...]