About Us

Who We Are

City Wildlife was created to address the need for wildlife rescue and rehabilitation in Washington, DC. Over the past several decades, urban development has reduced local wildlife habitat and wild animals have had to adapt to living in close proximity with people. Each year, hundreds of wild animals in DC are unintentionally harmed by people and the urban environment.

Our goals are:

• To manage a rescue center to assist sick, orphaned, and injured wild animals and return them to the wild;
• To promote the enjoyment of native wildlife and harmonious co-existence with wild animals; and
• To protect the District of Columbia’s wild places for animal habitats.

What We Do

Prior to our opening in 2013, there was no wildlife rehabilitation center in Washington, DC. The nearest wildlife rehabilitation center was an hour away and many injured animals in the District were not able to make the journey.

In 2007, City Wildlife founders Anne Lewis and Jim Monsma came together to try and figure out a way to fill this gap in animal care.

Why We Need You.

 

City Wildlife relies upon grants and personal donations to sponsor our work. We need the support of the local and national community to help keep our doors open and fund our education and outreach programs as well as the center itself.

We rely heavily on volunteers to help us with Lights Out, Duck Watch, educational outreach, and animal care.

Meet Our Staff and Board

Paula Goldberg, Executive Director
Emory Univ. School of Medicine (Physician Assistant Program)
Trinity College (A.B., Biology)
Licensed Master Wildlife Rehabilitator (MD)

Paula joined the staff in February 2014 after five years on the Board of Directors. After several decades as a health care provider in the world of human medicine, she enjoys applying her medical skills and expertise to advance urban wildlife rehabilitation. Sharing the wonders of the natural world and working with vulnerable animal populations are very important to Paula, who also volunteers at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History and pursues natural history field studies and educational programming on her own locally and in New England. Paula and her husband Jeff Goldberg have three grown children and a house full of pets.

Kristy Jacobus, Clinic Director
Tufts University (D.V.M.)

Kristy is a 2014 graduate of the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University. Following graduation, she completed a one year rotating internship in small animal medicine and surgery at the University of Pennsylvania and then a one year wildlife and conservation medicine internship at the Tufts Wildlife Clinic. Kristy has had a long standing interest in wild animals.  She worked as a keeper at the Bergen County Zoo in Paramus, NJ and Smithsonian’s National Zoological Park before she decided to attend veterinary school. In her spare time, she enjoys swimming, SCUBA diving, and watching Netflix.

Charlotte Lambert, Animal Care Manager
University of Delaware (B.S., Wildlife Ecology and Conservation; B.S., Agriculture and Natural Resources)

Charlotte graduated in 2017 from the University of Delaware with a double major in Wildlife Ecology and Conservation and Agriculture and Natural Resources. After graduation she completed several jobs including a seasonal position at Tri-State Bird and Rescue. She is an apprentice wildlife rehabilitator and wants to continue helping injured and orphaned wildlife. Charlotte enjoys traveling and the outdoors. She studied abroad in 2016 to Tanzania and hopes to go back soon!

Kim Hodlin, Director of Communications
University of Maryland – College Park (B.S., Biology: Ecology and Evolution)

Kim graduated from the University of Maryland, College Park where she majored in Biology with a concentration in Ecology and Evolution and minored in Creative Writing. While at college, Kim interned at Zoo New England and The Maryland Zoo in Baltimore. Since graduating, Kim has interned at Ducks Unlimited and worked at animal hospitals in both Boston and Washington, DC. Kim has a strong interest in conservation and wildlife rehabilitation.

Peggy Hammond
Licensed Master Wildlife Rehabilitator (MD)

Peggy began as a City Wildlife volunteer and joined the team as an apprentice wildlife rehabilitator in October 2013. Peggy earned her Master Wildlife Rehabilitator’s License in early 2016. In addition to hands-on training at the clinic, Peggy regularly attends wildlife courses and workshops such as “Wildlife 911”, “Wildlife Examinations & Stabilization”, and “Wildlife Capture, Restraint, Handling, & Transportation”. Peggy is driven by her philosophy that humans share a natural connection with animals, and that helping them helps all of us; she derives great satisfaction in providing a valuable service to those without a voice of their own. Peggy also enjoys restoring natural habitats using native plants; she has participated in creating healthy ecosystems around the city through District Department of Energy and the Environment (DOEE) and the Audubon Society’s Backyard Habitat Workshops. She is the mother of two grown sons.

During the week, Mackenzie is an anesthesia and ER veterinary nurse at a busy small animal hospital in DC. She works at City Wildlife on Sundays, expanding her skill set to be able to treat the area’s wildlife. Mackenzie is passionate about environmental conservation, wildlife medicine and rehabilitation, wound management, and is really into turtles. Mackenzie has over six years of veterinary nursing experience and has traveled abroad on
veterinary relief trips in Nicaragua and Grenada. She also enjoys yoga, gardening, and cooking.

Kasey Birtz
Registered Veterinary Technician
Apprentice Wildlife Rehabilitator (MD)
New England Institute of Technology (A.S., Veterinary Tech.)

Kasey is a Registered Veterinary Technician and Wildlife Rehabilitation Apprentice. She graduated from the New England Institute of Technology with a degree from the veterinary technology program. She has worked in several small animal practices, including an emergency and specialty hospital. Kasey fell in love with wildlife medicine at the New England Wildlife Center in Massachusetts. Originally from Rhode Island, Kasey moved to DC to take the Animal Care Manager position at City Wildlife.

Will Sander, Consulting Wildlife Veterinarian
University of Wisconsin-Madison (D.V.M.)
Yale University (M.P.H)
Diplomate of American College of Veterinary Preventive Medicine

Will’s veterinary studies included work at wildlife centers in Ithaca, Raleigh, Boston, and Seattle, as well as with the start-up of a new wildlife center in Madison. His grounding in clinical medicine has included several years in veterinary practice focused on small animal/exotics. Desiring to achieve a broader impact, his interests turned from clinical wildlife and zoo medicine to a broader policy/public health perspective, addressing issues at the intersection between international sustainable development and wildlife conservation and disease management, which led to his MPH in global health. In addition to his work at City Wildlife, will was a AAAS Science and Technology Policy Fellow in EPA’s Office of water. Currently, he is a Veterinary Specialist Senior Consultant for Booz Allen Hamilton in support of Department of Defense’s international country health system assessments for both animal and human health. When possible, he loves to travel with his wife to new and exciting locations.

Karen Alroy, Consulting Wildlife Veterinarian
Tufts University (D.V.M., M.P.H)

Karen gained her training in wildlife and exotic animal medicine at numerous places including the Tufts University Wildlife Clinic, the National Aquarium in Baltimore, the Wildlife Health Center at U.C. Davis, and the Southeastern Cooperative for Wildlife Disease Study at University of Georgia. She conducted advanced clinical training in small animal emergency medicine as an intern at Friendship Hospital for Animals in Washington, DC, and advanced research training as a Fogarty Scholar at Johns Hopkins University.

In addition to treating orphaned, injured, and ill wild animals at City Wildlife, Karen enjoys teaching and training volunteers and being a part of public stewardship of the environment. She has strong interests in the connections between human, animal, and environmental health and conducts research on infectious disease and epidemiology. She is a AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellow at the National Science Foundation. Currently, Karen is employed at the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, GA.

Gregory Costanzo, Consulting Wildlife Veterinarian
Cornell University (D.V.M.)

Gregory graduated from Cornell University’s College of Veterinary Medicine in 2009. Following graduation, he completed a one-year internship in small animal medicine and surgery at Long Island Veterinary Specialists. He then worked as an emergency veterinarian at Southern Arizona Veterinary Speciality and Emergency Center in Tucson, Arizona while also volunteering at the Tucson Wildlife Center (TWC). Gregory is currently a staff veterinarian at Stahl Exotic Animal Veterinary Services (SEAVS) in Fairfax, VA.

Mary Ashley Laine, Consulting Wildlife Veterinarian
Virginia Tech (D.V.M.)

Mary Ashley graduated from Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine, Virginia Tech in 2014. She completed several externships in wildlife medicine, including at the Wildlife Center of Virginia in Waynesboro, Virginia, and the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute in Front Royal, Virginia. She worked as a Wildlife Veterinarian at City Wildlife from 2015 to 2016.
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Kuki Hansen, Consulting Wildlife Veterinarian
Glasglow Veterinary School (B.V.M.S.)
University of Minnesota (M.P.H.)

Dr. Hansen has worked with farm, companion, and exotic animals, but holds a particular interest in fish and marine mammals. Most recently, she has worked as an ocean and science policy fellow on Capitol Hill. She also volunteers with the Humane Rescue Alliance and PGSPCA. She graduated from Glasgow Veterinary School, Scotland in 2001 and holds a Masters in Public Health from the University of Minnesota and board certification from the American College of Veterinary Preventative Medicine.

 

Board of Directors

Anne Lewis, President
Maryanna Kieffer, Vice-President
Ginny May, Secretary
Lisa Olson, Treasurer
Lisbeth Fuisz
Peter S. Glassman, D.V.M.
Paula C. Goldberg
John Hadidian
Veska Kita
April Linton
Helen O’Brien
Mike Prucker