Lucy Spelman is one of 200 board-certified zoological medicine specialists in the world. Animals have always been part of her life, and her experiences with them include taking care of giant pandas in China, mountain gorillas in Rwanda and river otters in Guyana. She has worked as a zoo veterinarian, zoo director, wildlife veterinarian, media consultant, writer, public speaker and educator. In addition to writing various scientific articles, she is author of the National Geographic Animal Encyclopediaand co-editor of a book of short stories, The Rhino with Glue-on Shoes. She has also been filmed for television documentaries. Her work is based on a one-health approach; she believes the future of all wildlife depends on healthy interactions between animals, humans and the environment.
Spelman currently practices veterinary medicine in Rhode Island and teaches Biology of Human-Animal Interactions, Evolutionary Biology, Visualizing the Natural Sciences, Exploring the Art and Science of Biodiversity in Guyana,Living Systems Lab and Field, and South Africa: Art, Science, Biodiversity. In her 2015 Providence TEDx talk Art Can Save a Panda she made a case for greater public engagement in conservation through the arts. She shared examples of work by RISD students that show how art and science together reach a wider audience with a more inclusive message about the problems facing animals today – as well as the solutions. She also serves on the boards of the Wildlife Rehabilitators Association of Rhode Island, the Karanambu Trust in Guyana, South America, and Foster Parrots, Limited in Rhode Island.
After receiving her bachelor's degree in biology from Brown University (1985), Spelman earned her veterinary degree from the University of California at Davis (1990), completed a one-year internship in small animal medicine at Ettinger and Associates in Los Angeles, CA, and a three-year residency in Zoological Medicine at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, NC. In 1994 she received her board certification from the American College of Zoological Medicine. She worked for the Smithsonian Institution’s National Zoo from 1995–2004, first as associate veterinarian and then as director. She was a media consultant for Discovery Communications in 2005 and then moved to Rwanda where she served as field manager for the Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project from 2006–09. She returned to the US to teach at Brown University and then moved on to RISD in September 2010. She started work at Ocean State Veterinary Specialists in January 2011. In 2015 she founded Creature Conserve, a non-profit organization bringing artists and scientists together to study and respond to the problems facing animals today.
Academic areas of interest
Lucy Spelman enjoys teaching biology to any and all who are interested in animals, nature, health and wildlife conservation. Her passion for science education and outreach stems from her experiences as the director of the National Zoo at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC, and as the field manager for the Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project in Rwanda. She also has considerable experience in the realm of science communication, both as the subject of various news interviews and television documentaries, and as a media consultant for the Discovery Channel, Animal Planet and National Geographic. She is also a frequent public speaker. Her scientific research interest is in the area of one-health medicine, a growing field of study that examines the interactions between animal, human and environmental health. Her academic interest is in exploring new ways to bring artists and scientists together to engage the public in important issues such as biodiversity loss and climate change.
Courses
Fall 2024 Courses
SCI 1084-01 - BIOLOGY OF ANIMAL-HUMAN INTERACTIONS
This course, taught by zoological medicine veterinarian Dr. Lucy Spelman examines how we interact with animals-both domestic and wild-and how, in turn, these interactions affect us. Each week we focus on a different species, working our way up the taxonomic tree from corals to gorillas. We study the animal's basic biology, including its anatomy, natural history, and ecology. We consider the role it plays in human society, including as companions, as food, and, as sources of medicine and spiritual inspiration. We study how human activity is affecting its health and the ripple effect on our own health. We explore how agriculture, climate change, emerging diseases, habitat loss, hunting, and trade are driving many species to extinction. In the process, we discover that while many human-animal interactions are positive, many more are problematic, and that although we have solutions for most of these negative interactions, we often fail to implement them. Examples include excessive antibiotic use in cows, the continued loss of wetlands threatening frogs, and, the increasing number of coyotes favored by urban landscapes. We explore some of the underlying reasons for this inaction. In their final project, students identify a problematic human-animal interaction and explore solutions. This course is designed to encourage you to explore the range of biological complexity in the animal world, the many ways we interact with animals, both domestic and wild, and, the scientific basis of the interconnectedness of health. You will also have the opportunity to explore solutions for problematic human-animal interactions; it is possible to live in balance with animals if we make informed decisions. The material presented will challenge you to learn more about animal classification, zoology, ecology, food animal science, veterinary medicine, public health, and conservation biology. For your final project, you will research a problematic human-animal interaction, explore potential solutions, and create a work of art or design that inspires others to take action.
