2025 Conference Speakers 

Dr. Woolf (pronouns: she/her) is a veterinarian with a Master of Science degree
concentrated in Veterinary Forensics. Over the years, she has worked in private
practices and animal welfare organizations as well as owning her own relief
veterinary services business for many years. In 2014 she founded Woolf Veterinary
Forensics Consulting where she lectures internationally on animal abuse, the Link,
and veterinary forensics, as well as investigating and consulting on individual cases.
She also works for Veterinary Information Network (VIN) as a Topic Specialist
consulting on message boards, developing resources, and providing webinars on
animal abuse and veterinary forensics for VIN members.

Additionally, she writes articles for VIN members and the public. Dr. Woolf has published numerous articles
and a book chapter on animal cruelty topics, and was a 2018-2019 Don Low-CVMA
Practitioner Fellow at the University of California, Davis, School of Veterinary
Medicine in the Anatomic Pathology Department. Previously, she was an instructor
in the University of Florida Veterinary Forensic Sciences Online Graduate Program.
Dr. Woolf is a member of the American Veterinary Medical Association, the
International Veterinary Forensic Sciences Association (IVFSA), and a founding
member of the Alameda County Animal Cruelty Task Force. Previously she has
served on the boards of the IVFSA and the Contra Costa County Veterinary Medical
Association.

Mica Regan

My commitment to serving New Mexico’s youth and families began as a Program Assistant at NMKids Matter Inc., where I was fortunate to learn from visionary leaders who helped shape the kind of community-centered woman I aspired to be. I then served as the Multidisciplinary Team Coordinator for Valencia County with Valencia Shelter Services Children’s Advocacy Center, coordinating responses to crimes against children. During that time, I also supported survivors as a Victim Service Advocate for domestic violence and sexual assault.

Later, I joined All Faiths Children’s Advocacy Center, facilitating and supervising High Fidelity Wraparound services. This role deepened my commitment to working with core service agencies that approach healing and justice holistically for our most vulnerable community members.

I’m the proud parent of an intelligent, courageous college student and a delightfully quirky COVID-era puppy. I also proudly served in the United States Army, a foundation that continues to inform my values of discipline, service, and resilience.

Detective Kevin Carhart’s first job was in 2002 working as a veterinary assistant during high school. He began his career as an Animal Care Services Officer with Bernalillo County in 2012, where he gained advanced training and experience in animal cruelty investigations. In 2015 he joined the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office and worked on patrol for seven years, in addition to joining in multiple specialized teams such as the Emergency Response Team, Gang Recognition & Intelligence Patrol unit, and Public Information Officer. Detective Carhart became a Field Training Officer in 2019, and was responsible for training recent graduates from the law enforcement academy. He became a Detective with the Special Victims Unit in 2023 and helped design the goals and operations of Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office Animal Cruelty Task Force. Detective Carhart continues to manage the Animal Cruelty Task Force and is the lead investigator for animal cruelty in Bernalillo County.

Catherine Skinner, DVM,  was born and raised in Portland, Oregon. She graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in biology from St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota and then returned to Oregon to pursue her veterinary degree at Oregon State University Carlson College of Veterinary Medicine. She moved to San Diego for her postgraduate training and completed a yearlong Small Animal Rotating Internship at VCA Animal Specialty Group. Following her internship, Dr. Skinner worked as an Urgent Care veterinarian prior to transitioning to General Practice at Southpaw Vet in San Diego. Her particular interests include feline medicine and fear-free medicine.

Sue Skinner, MD, is a pediatrician who is board certified in both general pediatrics and child abuse pediatrics.  She is a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Oregon Pediatric Society & the Helfer Society.  She attended medical school in Portland Oregon and completed her residency in pediatrics in Tucson Arizona.  She worked in general pediatrics for a number of years, then began working in the field of child abuse and neglect in 1995.  Since that time, she has worked at three child abuse clinics in Oregon over the past 30 years. In 2009, Dr. Skinner was a member of the first group of physicians in the United States to obtain board certification in child abuse pediatrics.  Dr. Skinner enjoys teaching both to individuals and to large groups, she has lectured locally, regionally, nationally and internationally on many subjects related to child abuse & neglect.  She assisted in creating a training video for schools and developing guidelines for the state regarding the medical assessment of child sexual abuse.  She has worked at the county level on protocols and guidelines for how systems can best work together to respond to abuse and neglect.  She currently serves on the Professional Advisory Committee for the National Link Coalition and works part time at CARES Northwest.  Her interests are health care of children in foster care, physical abuse of school-aged children, environmental neglect & drug-endangerment, and the co-existence of animal abuse and child abuse.

Andrew Campbell is an expert on family violence and the associated risks of harm for adults, children, and animals residing in homes where this violence occurs. Andrew has a master’s degree in Public Health and has given over 200 family violence/community violence related presentations for multi-disciplinary groups across the United States and around the world. His academic publications include papers cited by the FBI, CDC, United Nations, and in over 1,600 international academic papers and research studies. He is the author of the books, Not Without My Pet: Understanding the Relationship between Victims of Domestic Violence and Their Pets, released in September 2021, and Taking Back What Abuse Took: A Public Health Based Approach to Healing From Abuse, released October 2024.

Melissa Riley, Ph.D

Melissa E. Riley, Ph.D., is an enrolled member of the Mescalero Apache Tribe, and the Sexual Violence Project Coordinator at the Coalition to Stop Violence Against Native Women. She is an educator, researcher, and community development specialist with deep roots in Native American communities. She earned her Ph.D. from New Mexico State University, where she also taught and worked with university-tied programs such as the New Mexico Rural Health Association, where she developed an Opioid Curriculum specific to New Mexico tribal communities.

Dr. Riley has dedicated her career to serving Native American and Alaska Native communities. Her extensive experience spans various crucial areas, including social work, victim services, and tribal community development.

Dr. Riley has managed significant federal projects within the Department of Justice and Office for Victims of Crime, focusing on counseling and faith-based services for crime victims in Indian Country. Her work has involved assessing grantee needs, evaluating training and technical services, and analyzing performance measures for project sustainability.

In addition to her consulting work, Dr. Riley has served as the director of the Native American Social Work Studies Institute at New Mexico Highlands University. In this role, she addressed the critical shortage of social workers in Native communities by developing relevant coursework, training opportunities, and outreach programs for high school students.

Dr. Riley’s expertise extends to curriculum development, policy creation, and direct service provision for numerous New Mexico Tribal communities. Her commitment to improving social services in Native communities is further exemplified by her work in developing sexual assault protocols and behavioral health policies that enhance victim service response and increase prosecution rates.

She is currently the Board Chair for the New Mexico Breastfeeding Task Force, Secretary for Health Climate New Mexico, and an Advisory Board Member for the Indigenous Knowledge Roadmap Project at New Mexico Highlands University, where she is also a visiting faculty member in the School of Education.

Rosemary Cosgrove-Aguilar has been a Criminal Judge at the Metropolitan Court in Albuquerque for the last eleven years.   Since 2016, Judge Cosgrove-Aguilar has been the presiding judge for the Domestic Violence Solutions, Treatment and Education Program (DV STEP) for post-conviction high-risk high-needs domestic violence offenders.  She has spoken nationally regarding DV STEP and the importance of prioritizing survivor safety in domestic violence cases. 

 Prior to her appointment to the Metropolitan Court, Judge Cosgrove-Aguilar was a Domestic Violence Special Commissioner at the Second Judicial District Court for ten years.  She has been an adjunct professor for the University of New Mexico School of Law since 2009.  Judge Cosgrove-Aguilar has been a member of the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges’ Domestic Violence Committee since 2018.  She is married and the mother of a thirteenth generation New Mexican.   

Judge Cosgrove-Aguilar received RETAIN recommendations from the independent Judicial Performance Evaluation Commission in 2018 and in 2024.  

Internationally acclaimed lecturer, author and educator Phil Arkow is coordinator of the National
LINK Coalition – the National Resource Center on The LINK between Animal Abuse and
Human Violence – and edits the monthly LINK-Letter. He chairs the Latham Foundation’s
Animal Abuse and Family Violence Prevention Project. He teaches at the University of Florida
and Harcum College. He has presented over 400 times in 17 countries, 38 states and 9 Canadian
provinces, and has authored over 100 key reference works on human-animal interactions and
violence prevention.
He co-founded the National Link Coalition, the National Animal Control Association, and the
Colorado and New Jersey humane federations. He has served with the AVMA, the ASPCA,
American Humane, the Delta Society, the Animals & Society Institute, the National Sheriffs
Association, the National Coalition on Violence Against Animals, the National District Attorneys
Association, the Academy on Violence & Abuse, and the American Association of Human-
Animal Bond Veterinarians. He received a Lifetime Achievement Award from New Jersey Child
Assault Prevention.