Joan is a scientist with 20 years of experience in the application of scientific principles to study design and data interpretation. Joan holds a Bachelor's degree in Biology and Chemistry from the University of Waterloo and a Master's degree in Biochemistry from MacMaster University. She operates a private consulting practice in the fields of human health and environmental risk assessment. 

Joan has trained dogs using positive reinforcement methods for more than 10 years and more recently has instructed others in clicker training techniques. She has worked with animal behaviorists and has used clicker training methods with pet dogs and puppies, problem dogs, shelter dogs and service dogs. Joan is the producer of the popular Clicker Puppy DVD and a member of the Karen Pryor Clickertraining Clicker Expo faculty. She is a pioneer in the field of clicker training rabbits and has co-authored an article about clicker training rabbits in the Jan 2005 issue of Rabbits USA with Teresa Lewin. Joan and Teresa also have a book to be published in the Fall of 2005 called Getting Started - Clicker Training Your Small Pet to be published by KPCT. Joan contributes regularly to the dog and humane education literature and has had articles published in the CAPPDT Forum, the APDT Chronicle, Dogs in Canada, the Newf News, Canadian Parents On-line the Latham Letter, Animal Wellness, Pets Quarterly, City Dog and Great Canadian Home and Cottage Magazine.

Joan works with experts Theresa McKeon and Karen Pryor to develop methods for using clicker training with child athletes. This cross-over to human training using the clicker is called Tag Teaching and Joan is active in the promotion and development of this new method. She is in the process of co-authoring a book on this method with Karen Pryror and Theresa McKeon.

In addition she is active in dog bite prevention and has given many seminars on this topic. Joan is the president and cofounder of Doggone Safe. She is the co-inventor, along with animal behaviorist Teresa Lewin, of the family fun board game Doggone Crazy!, a game that teaches children to read dog body language and act safely around dogs. Joan has been nominated for the Dog Training Excellence and the Education 2005 Award by the International Positive Dog Training Association. She lives in Campbellville, a small village in Southern Ontario, with her husband, Dave, two daughters, two cats and two bunnies.

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