Inspiration
The initial Science of Nature event took place in June 2020 and was inspired by Julie Anne Lee of Adored Beast Apothecary. A qualified veterinary practitioner, Julie Anne is a graduate of the Vancouver Academy of Homeopathy and has studied with some of the world’s leading homeopaths, including vets Sue Armstrong, Mark Elliot, Peter Gregory and John Saxton. She is an associate member of BAHVS, the British Association of Homeopathic Veterinary Surgeons.
Julie Anne is also a pioneer in studying the dog’s microbiome and developing protocols for optimising gut health – all part of a rapidly expanding picture and understanding of the crucial role the microbiome plays in the health of all our animals and ourselves. In furthering a truly holistic approach to pet care, Julie Anne works with vets and practitioners from all over the world.
The need to come together for our animals’ health, our own health and the health of the Earth, was made all the more poignant and powerful by the death of Julie Anne’s mother during the 2020 lockdown. This led Julie Anne to gather together some of the world’s best holistic vets, practitioners and healers to discuss solutions to the stress experienced by our animals and ourselves. The talks were videoed and can be viewed in the links below.
Speakers and topics covered
Introduction and opening
Rodney Habib founder of Planet Paws, the world’s largest pet health page on Facebook, and cofounder of the Paws for Change Foundation which raises money through charitable donations to further education and research in the areas of animal nutrition and health. A filmmaker, speaker and blogger, he is well known for his 2017 documentary on the canine cancer epidemic The Dog Cancer Series.
Nutrition and stress
What if we could change the way we feel by changing what we put into our bodies?
Dr Karen Becker is a holistic vet whose skills include homeopathy, acupuncture and rehabilitation. Dr. Becker also lectures worldwide and writes about species-appropriate nutrition and is the veterinary consultant for Mercola Healthy Pets, the pet wellness website. She designs diets and pet health products to improve the wellbeing of companion animals worldwide. Dr Becker rehabilitates injured and orphaned endangered species through her non-profit organisation, Covenant Wildlife and is part of the Paws for Change Foundation team.
Dr Ian Billinghurst is the vet who pioneered raw feeding for dogs. His 1993 book, Give Your Dog a Bone, sets out the basic principles of canine nutrition, using raw, whole and commonly available foods, including raw bones, meat, offal, vegetables, eggs, yogurt and so on. His work on species-appropriate or evolutionary nutrition sparked a revolution in the petfood industry. He also wrote Grow Your Pup With Bones and The BARF Diet. Still lecturing, Dr Billinghurst is developing diets designed specifically to deal with a wide range of degenerative diseases.
Billy Hoekman is the Nutrition Science Director for Answers Pet Food. He is involved in formulation, research, product development, working with farms, and science education. He in also in charge of Answers Executive Veterinary Program and specialises in developing diets that pertain to specific disease conditions.
Julie Anne Lee – see above.
Dr Judy Morgan is a vet who currently operates two veterinary hospitals that offer an integrative approach combining holistic medicine with traditional Western techniques. Holistic practices such as chiropractic, acupuncture, food therapy, and herbal therapy, are utilized alongside conventional medicine to provide a full range of veterinary treatment. Another international speaker, Dr Moragn is also a best-selling author of four books on holistic pet care and dog nutrition.
Dr Rochelle Wilcox is a naturopathic doctor providing a wide spectrum of support: from helping to restore and rebuild the body, optimising overall health, and facilitating prevention of illness. Her practice largely focuses on stress management, detoxification and chronic illness including chronic pain.
Behavioural health
How to keep our pets and ourselves calm when we are experiencing stress, and what to do when we return to work (separation anxiety).
Malena DeMartini is renowned in the dog training world for her work on canine separation anxiety (SA) disorder. Her book, Treating Separation Anxiety in Dogs, has helped countless numbers of dogs and her recent online course for guardians called Mission: POSSIBLE has proven to be an invaluable resource in the industry.
Dr Isla Fishburn of Kachina Canine combines her knowledge as a zoologist, conservation biologist, shamanic practitioner and wolf handler to bring teachings about how to improve the emotional, physical, spiritual, nutritional and mental state of a dog. Her focus is on ecosystem health from the individual level up. She combines science with indigenous wisdom to better the life of dogs in all aspects of their wellness, including how the wellness state of a dog’s human can affect the dog.
Rawstruck treats Q and A on holistic pet health
Rawstruck Charly and Larry Pruden are pet health researchers who create fun videos that raise awareness about natural pet nutrition and wellbeing. RAWSTRUCK is based in Dubai and they have travelled around the world to interview renowned holistic and integrative veterinarians on the topic of pet health and nutrition.
Herbs and adaptogens for stress management
Derail stress with these take home tools for you and your pets.
Dr Karen Becker – see above.
Deb Gwynn is a certified herbalist and is the founder and remedy formulator of Glacier Peak Holisitics. She is a certified herbalist and has been designing herbal remedies for animals since 1996. She is also a pet food nutrition specialist.
Rita Hogan is a healer and herbalist with over 18 years of experience specialising in Holistic Canine Herbalism. She is an educator, speaker, writer, formulator and herbal medicine maker. Rita uses a combination of diet, flower essences, herbs and phytoembryonic therapies in her full-time practice.
Dr Rochelle Wilcox – see above.
Energy medicine for stress
Homeopathy for you and your pets and feline stress relief and flower essences.
Dr Sue Armstrong is a vet combining homeopathy, nutritional therapy and diagnostics to provide her patients with an integrative approach to healthcare. She’s also expanded her practice to include the study of CAM therapies and human health, culminating in her setting up Sue Armstrong Consultancy Ltd for humans and animals. Sue lectures internationally on holistic health. Her publications include Cancer in Animals Book 1 and the Little Book of Thinking Dog, and she is a contributor to Jean Dodds’ 2015 book, Canine Nutrigenomics: The New Science of Feeding Your Dog for Optimum Health.
Dr Jean Hofve is a holistic veterinarian and author with a passion for feline health and nutrition. She is an advisor to AAFCO, the organisation that sets standards for pet food production. In 1995, she founded Spirit Essences (now owned and operated by Jackson Galaxy), which makes flower essence remedies for many animal health and behavior problems. Her books include The Complete Guide to Holistic Cat Care: An Illustrated Handbook and Paleo Dog: Give Your Best Friend a Long Life, Healthy Weight, and Freedom from Illness by Nurturing His Inner Wolf, both co-authored with nutritionist Dr. Celeste Yarnall.
Positive environmental impacts and beyond
Julie Anne Lee – see above.
Carl Safina is an ecologist, award-winning author and conservationist. His work explores how humans are changing the living world, and what the changes mean for non-human beings and for us all. His work fuses scientific understanding, emotional connection, and a moral call to action. He spent a decade working to ban high-seas drift nets and to overhaul U.S. fishing policy. Carl is the first Endowed Professor for Nature and Humanity at Stony Brook University and is founding president of the not-for-profit Safina Center. He hosted the PBS series Saving the Ocean. His books include the classic Song for the Blue Ocean and Beyond Words; What Animals Think and Feel.
Shamanic wisdom and closing ceremony
Dr Isla Fishburn – see above.
Science of Nature Magazine
As a follow up to the weekend, a new magazine was put together, described in the introduction by Julie Anne Lee as:
“This magazine supports all people, all animals and the one thing that supports us all, our earth and nature. It will be an ongoing interactive magazine that looks at health and wellness as an entire ecosystem not just people or pets or environment, but as a larger, living, breathing ever-evolving publication, through The Science of Nature.”
This is the first edition: