Welcome to our first edition of Tufts MAPP Matters, an electronic newsletter focused on the activities of the Center for Animals and Public Policy, its alumni, faculty, students and friends.  We hope that the newsletter will encourage you to keep in touch with your fellow alumni and to stay involved with the Center as we grow. 

Please drop us a line at capp@tufts.edu with ideas about what kinds of items you'd like to see us include in future issues.

Allen

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Allen Rutberg

Assistant Director, Center for Animals and Public Policy

This fall, Nevin Sabet VG'99 joined the CAPP Advisory Board as our newest alumnae representative. Nevin is currently affiliated with Cornell Veterinary School's Microbiology and Immunology Department. Additionally, she serves as a staff mentor for a student Social Justice club, about which she writes, "I have thrived in leading and learning from my undergraduate students. I believe the CAPP succeeded in teaching me how to pursue these interests in an academic and productive way...my experience in the Master's Program was a necessary bridge for my scientific and ethical and social justice pursuits." Nevin can be reached at nevsab02@yahoo.com or 607-229-0188.

The advisory board is also in need of an alumni alternate. Advisory Board representatives serve two year terms; alternates are encouraged to succeed the primary representative when his or her term expires.   If you are interested in the alternate position, please email capp@tufts.edu with your name, year of graduation from the Center, contact information (email/phone/mailing), a biographical sketch (four page maximum) and cover letter addressed to Dean Kochevar.

Our Animal Matters Seminar Series picks up again on Friday, February 17th! This semester, the talks will focus on issues surrounding food animal welfare. Our first speaker is Jackie Sleeper, Director of Certification at Certified Humane (www.certifiedhumane.org). All the talks are free and open to the public; see the full semester line-up here: http://www.tufts.edu/vet/capp/animal_matters/

Current MAPP students have just returned from their month-long winter externships. Externships are a time for our students to gain on-the-ground experience at a variety of non-profits and government organizations. This year's students completed their projects in locations as far-flung as Angola and China, and as nearby as Tufts Vet School! Photos and links are available on our Facebook page 

This fall, Tufts Center for Animals announced a call for proposals for competitive grants available from the Elizabeth A. Lawrence endowed fund for community outreach and the advancement of the human animal bond.  Dr. Lawrence's impact is reflected in the Cummings School's emphasis on the human-animal bond in the curriculum and in campus-community activities.  The Fund supports student and faculty-run community outreach activities and supports research projects that advance our understanding of human-animal relationships.

The board has approved four grants for 2012:

·         $836 to Linette Scibelli for the purchase of visual aids and props for K-12 educational outreach programming at schools and groups throughout the community.

·         $500 to Sue Brogan for the MA Equine Welfare Council to pay for a brochure, organizational meetings, and other promotional and educational materials to be distributed to the MA equine community.

·         $1,000 to Lisa Freeman and the Tufts Paws for People Reading Education Assistance Dogs (READ) Program, to pay for READ training and READ program registration.

·         $1,000 to Mary Koncel in support of her study on the adoption of gentled/trained wild horses from the Corolla Wild Horse Fund and the Young Horse Teaching and Research Program at Rutgers University.