Dr Patricia Pendry is a Professor of Human Development, Graduate faculty member in the Prevention Science Program at Washington State University in Pullman, WA and former President of the International Society of Anthrozoology (ISAZ). Funded by the National Institutes of Health and the Waltham Petcare Science Institute, she conducts randomized controlled trials in real-life settings to determine the effects of animal assisted interventions (AAI) with equines, canine and felines on children, adolescents and young adults’ physiological and affective regulation, mental health and academic success. Drawing from literatures from human development, anthrozoology, prevention science, and animal behavior, she focuses on basal, diurnal and momentary activity of the Hypothalamic Pituitary Adrenal (HPA) axis, executive function and moment-to-moment emotion states of humans. In addition to examining the efficacy of AAIs, her research examines the active components and mechanisms that facilitate treatment effects, including the quality of dyadic and triadic interactions between animals, their handlers and AAI participants. Her educational background includes an undergraduate degree in Psychology and a Ph.D. in Child Development and Social Policy from Northwestern University, IL. She teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in Research Methods, Stress and Coping, Child Development, Program Evaluation and Policy Issues in Human Development. Having emigrated from the Netherlands in her twenties, she is a life-long equestrian and animal lover, and lives ‘in the country’ where she ‘parents’ four children, dogs, horses, cats, and chickens, and occasionally sheep.