President:
Dr. Cheryl Lewis |
Dr. Cheryl Lewis works at the Millwoods East Veterinary Clinic. She is a past volunteer of the Edmonton Association of Small Animal Veterinarians and returned to join the executive in 2017. She is an avid gardener and wildlife enthusiast and volunteer. |
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Vice President
Dr. Daryl Meger |
Dr. Meger is a 1995 grad from WCVM with a wide variety of experience. Currently, he is doing locums in the Edmonton area. In his spare time, you'll find him gardening, hiking, traveling, playing guitar and enjoying the great Alberta oudoors. |
Secretary:
Dr. Christie Gingras |
Christie graduated from WCVM in 2000, and began her career at the Spruce Grove Veterinary Clinic shortly thereafter. She enjoys internal medicine, ophthalmology, dermatology, dentistry and soft tissue surgeries. She served on the Animal Cancer Therapy Subsidization Society (ACTSS) for 4 years as a board member in its early days.
Christie and her husband have a busy family with 2 children, a golden doodle, orange tabby, and 2 Guinea Pigs. She enjoys watching and supporting her kids in their sports and music. She loves travel, photography, camping, hiking and anything in the great outdoors. When she has a minute to herself, Christie enjoys yoga, workouts, and a glass of red wine. |
Treasurer:
Dr. Lisa Collis |
Dr. Lisa Collis (drcollis@telus.net) is a 2004 WCVM graduate. She has developed a professional interest in dermatology (skin disease) and in the medical conditions of older pets, especially feline and canine diabetes, thyroid, pancreatic and kidney disease.
Raised in Brandon, Manitoba, Lisa earned her Bachelor of Science in Zoology from Brandon University and her Master of Science in Anatomy and Cell Biology from the University of Toronto working in the research department of the Hospital for Sick Children. She graduated from the Western College of Veterinary Medicine in Saskatoon and worked at the Delton Veterinary Hospital from 2004 until April 2020.
Dr. Collis previously served as an EASAV director as the CE Chairperson and the President (2010-2011). She was one of 22 recipients of the 2010 CVMA's Emerging Veterinary Leaders Awards. Since 2011, she has served with the University of Calgary as an Adjunct Professor, teaching a small animal medicine community rotation for 4th year veterinary students. In 2018, Dr. Collis was elected to serve as Member-At-Large for the Executive Committee of the Canadian Academy of Veterinary Dermatology.
Dr. Collis currently practices as a locum veterinarian in Edmonton, Alberta. In her spare time, Lisa enjoys biking, gardening, camping and hiking, yoga, sewing, baking, playing the piano and reading a quiet book. |
Director
Dr. Robert Coppock |
Bob began his career as a clinical pharmacologist immediately upon graduating with a DVM from the Michigan State University. His early work was to develop Telazol and Ketamine. Soon after, Dr. Coppock bought a practice whereupon a case of cattle feed contamination sparked an interest in toxicology. He became board certified with the American Board of Toxicology (DABT) soon after. Bob taught veterinary pharmacology and assisted in analytical toxicology and field investigations for the Oklahoma State University while completing his Master's Degree, which studied the humane use of drugs in euthanasia. After Okahoma State, Bob worked for the FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine where he helped organize the Toxicology Emergency Response Team.
From there, Dr. Coppock moved to the University of Illinois and began the Flying Poison Doctors Program, which allowed a practicing veterinarian or government agency to request a field investigation team in cases of suspected animal poisoning. Bob is an instrument-rated pilot and would fly the team to farms undergoing investigations! He was also one of the driving forces behind the database for the Animal Poison Control Centre. He went to complete a PhD in Toxicology, followed by a board certification in Veterinary Toxicology. He became the head of Clinical Investigations (later called Toxicology) at the Alberta Environment Centre, now known as the Alberta Research Council, in Vegreville. While at the Council, his research focus was on the effects of oil and gas field substances on cattle.
Bob has authored and co-authored over 200 scientific publications, over 40 book chapters on veterinary toxicology and nutraceuticals and he has served on the Board of Scientific Reviewers for the American Journal of Veterinary Research.
In his spare time, he has volunteered on both legislated and non-legistlated AbVMA committees for over 15 years and is a member of the Canadian Veterinary Reserve. |
CE Chairperson
Dr. Teresa Bousquet |
Dr. Bousquet grew up taking horseback riding lessons and owning a myriad of pets (a cat, fish, gerbils, anoles, degus, and even a llama!) When she was in high school, she adopted her beloved Mini Rex Rabbit, Hazel (named after the main character of “Watership Down”). It was Hazel that made her decide that what she really wanted to be was an Exotic Animal Veterinarian.
Dr. Bousquet attended the Western College of Veterinary Medicine (WCVM) at the University of Saskatchewan. While she was there, she did everything “exotic” that she could – being a member of the Wild and Exotic Animal Medicine Society (WEAMS), taking multiple rotations with the Zoo/Exotics/Wildlife Service, an externship at the Calgary Avian and Exotic Pet Clinic, as well as rotations in Laboratory Animal Medicine and Game Ranching. After graduating in 2007, she moved to Edmonton to pursue her career in small and exotic animal medicine.
Dr. Bousquet has served a number of years on the Board of Directors of the Association of Exotic Mammal Veterinarians (AEMV), as a Member at Large, and Chair of a number of committees. It was her honor to serve as President of AEMV in 2020-2021. She is also a member of the American Association of Fish Veterinarians (AAFV), and the Association of Reptile and Amphibian Veterinarians (ARAV). In addition to her deep passion for exotic animal medicine, Dr. Bousquet also has a strong interest in Behavioral Medicine. She loves reading and learning about the fascinating world of behavioral modification, enrichment, positive reinforcement training, etc. She believes that having a better understanding of pets’ psychological needs makes the Human-Animal Bond so much stronger. In her spare time, Dr. Bousquet enjoys traveling, scuba diving, birding, gardening, quilting, puzzles, escape rooms and reading. She absolutely loves all things Harry Potter, and is a proud Hufflepuff! Dr. Bousquet lives with her husband, Peter, her Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, Myshka, her cats, Eeyore and Katniss, and her guinea pigs, Luna and Tonks. |
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Executive Assistant
Mrs. Smokey Walters |
Smokey graduated from the Animal Health Program at NAIT with Honours in 1997. She also holds an advanced french bilingual diploma and has completed a few University courses, over five hundred hours of veterinary continuing education and courses in administration, bookkeeping, health sciences, mental health first aid, ASIST and more.
Smokey worked as an RVT in small, exotic and mixed animal practice for twelve years before she became the Executive Assistant for the Edmonton Association of Small Animal Veterinarians (EASAV). Since that time, she has enhanced collegiality in the Edmonton area by founding and managing the following EASAV programs: The Dr. Milton Ness Memorial Teddy Bear Hospital at the Edmonton Valley Zoo's Dreamnight at the zoo event, where over fifty veterinary professionals come together each year to give kids a taste of what it is like to work with animals and be a veterinary surgeon, an Edmonton-based Pet Body Donation Program, to facilitate and enhance wet-lab experiences for local veterinarians and technologists and the EASAV Peer Support Group, a now virtual nationwide veterinary professional peer support group which meets monthly, to help veterinary professionals in need of support.
With the belief that it takes a community to support families and society, Smokey has been an active volunteer since the age of 15 when she began teaching karate, practicing environmental stewardship and organizing suicide prevention workshops and committees in high school. An avid musician and trumpet player, she has played music both professionally in latin dance bands, productions such as Peter and the Wolf and Singin' In the Rain and probono for the Loyal Edmonton Regiment Band, Remembrance Day ceremonies at Legions, communities and schools and in Christmas concerts in the community. Her volunteerism has included stage management at the Yardbird Suite and service on committees of the AAAHT (now known as the AbVTA) and the AbVMA. She has been a soccer coach, a running room instructor and an active volunteer for her children's Parent Associations and School Councils for the past 13 years.
In her spare time, Smokey enjoys playing lead trumpet in the C-Jam Big Band, canoeing, walking, sewing, gardening, baking, canning, cooking and training her dog! |