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MAKE A SNIFFERENCE - JOIN OUR PATREON FAMILY!
Our Team
The Conservation Dogs Collective team is a diverse, passionate group of dog lovers with backgrounds spanning dog training, scent detection, industrial design, marketing, communications, and biological sciences. During project development, we collaborate closely with our partners — offering guidance, advice, and training along the way. In the field, we serve as both guide and translator for our working dogs. And within the community, we champion the value of scent detection in conservation while promoting the kind of bond-building that strengthens the dog-human relationship.
Laura Holder, CPDT-KA, CNWI - Owner, Canine Keeper
Laura's lifelong fascination with canines, especially their unique ability to work alongside humans, inspires her every day in the field. She loves training and deploying the CDCI Finder-Keeper teams to support clients in their critical conservation efforts. Laura’s ability to bring people together for the greater good and natural leadership skills truly shine in her “let’s do it!” attitude. She understands the interconnectedness all species have with each other and is honored to be working alongside dogs to make a difference in the health of our planet.
Driven by her boundless curiosity about how dogs think, learn and detect scent, Laura has spent more than a decade as a professional in the fields of scent-detection, nose work and dog training. She is a Certified Nose Work Instructor (CNWI™) through the National Association of Canine Scent Work (NASCW) and a Certified Professional Dog Trainer – Knowledge Assessed (CPDT-KA) through the CCPDT. Laura has also trained for obedience and agility. In addition to her involvement with Conservation Dogs Collective, Laura is also owner of Connecting with Dogs, co-founder of the Force Free Trainers of Wisconsin, and has a long list of continuing education credits.
Her two Labrador Retrievers, Ernie & Betty White, are her current canine partners for detection work and she oversees the training for all of the organization's Finder-Keeper teams.
Pronouns: she, hers
Driven by her boundless curiosity about how dogs think, learn and detect scent, Laura has spent more than a decade as a professional in the fields of scent-detection, nose work and dog training. She is a Certified Nose Work Instructor (CNWI™) through the National Association of Canine Scent Work (NASCW) and a Certified Professional Dog Trainer – Knowledge Assessed (CPDT-KA) through the CCPDT. Laura has also trained for obedience and agility. In addition to her involvement with Conservation Dogs Collective, Laura is also owner of Connecting with Dogs, co-founder of the Force Free Trainers of Wisconsin, and has a long list of continuing education credits.
Her two Labrador Retrievers, Ernie & Betty White, are her current canine partners for detection work and she oversees the training for all of the organization's Finder-Keeper teams.
Pronouns: she, hers
Heather Mongiat - Canine Keeper
Dana Pelzer - Canine Keeper
Dana has a double degree in Horticulture and Agronomy from Iowa State University and moved to southeast Wisconsin for a job shortly after graduation. She grew up on a farm and has worked with plants her entire life. After learning about the tremendous potential in using dogs to help eradicate invasive species, as well as protect endangered species, she reached out to our organization and became involved in K9 Nose Work classes under the mentorship of our Executive Director, Laura. Dana possesses true passion for the outdoors and conservation and joined the CDCI team in 2024 with her two Finders, Skye & Summit to assist in our Blanding's Turtle project.
Dana currently resides in Wisconsin with her husband, Skye & Summit, and her farm cats.
Dana currently resides in Wisconsin with her husband, Skye & Summit, and her farm cats.
Clairess Frederick - Canine Keeper
Ever since she was little, Clairess has been surrounded by just about every pet you can think of—cats, fish, birds, turtles, frogs, snakes, gerbils—but never dogs. In 2015, she added her first canine to her life, Alvarado (Alva), and as the saying goes, the rest was history. She welcomed Harriet to her family and began learning about detection dog work in 2017 under the guidance of Laura. Clairess' natural ability to observe canine behavior, combined with her deep love for nature and conservation, make her a natural fit for CDCI's team. Clairess is certified in canine massage therapy and is currently seeking her CPDT-KA certification.
Katie Homan, PhD, CNWI - Canine Keeper, Volunteer Research & Program Coordinator
Katie’s love of dogs began at an early age with daily visits to the library to check out books on Labrador Retrievers. Now a philosophy professor, she continues this passion for learning about dogs in her research on the philosophy of dog and human play. She also teaches dog training classes and is pursuing trainer certification.
Katie was introduced to Conservation Dogs Collective (CDCI) when she and her dog, Lily, began participating in nosework. She was fascinated by dogs’ abilities to sniff out amazing things and contribute to conservation work. She began volunteering with CDCI in the summer of 2022, regularly helping at events and lending a hand during bumble bee surveys, and is excited to continue learning from and with these remarkable dogs and humans.
Katie currently resides in Milwaukee with her husband, Zack, and dogs Lily, a black Lab, and JJ, a Pyrenees mix. She enjoys training and playing with the dogs, rock climbing with Zack, and finding creative outlets in baking pies and sewing.
Photo by: Unleashed with Love Photography
Katie was introduced to Conservation Dogs Collective (CDCI) when she and her dog, Lily, began participating in nosework. She was fascinated by dogs’ abilities to sniff out amazing things and contribute to conservation work. She began volunteering with CDCI in the summer of 2022, regularly helping at events and lending a hand during bumble bee surveys, and is excited to continue learning from and with these remarkable dogs and humans.
Katie currently resides in Milwaukee with her husband, Zack, and dogs Lily, a black Lab, and JJ, a Pyrenees mix. She enjoys training and playing with the dogs, rock climbing with Zack, and finding creative outlets in baking pies and sewing.
Photo by: Unleashed with Love Photography
Lindsay Hayward - Volunteer Program Coordinator
After getting her undergraduate degree in Vocal Performance, Lindsay realized that her love of conservation outweighed her love of singing opera. She returned to school at the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee and received her Masters of Biology with a focus in Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior.
In conjunction, she began working at a doggy daycare, and quickly rose through the ranks to become a manager specializing in canine behavior observation and modification. Pursuant to her fascination with working dogs, she enrolled her corgis in herding classes in 2013.
In 2016, Lindsay read an article about Tucker, the Labrador Retriever who specializes in sniffing out whale poop in Puget Sound. She realized this was the perfect field to combine her love of conservation and dogs.
Lindsay lives in Illinois with her husband Jake and her two sons, Hudson and Everett. She loves to garden, bird watch, and cycle, and trains her corgis, Devyn and Fletcher, in agility and nosework.
Pronouns: she, hers
In conjunction, she began working at a doggy daycare, and quickly rose through the ranks to become a manager specializing in canine behavior observation and modification. Pursuant to her fascination with working dogs, she enrolled her corgis in herding classes in 2013.
In 2016, Lindsay read an article about Tucker, the Labrador Retriever who specializes in sniffing out whale poop in Puget Sound. She realized this was the perfect field to combine her love of conservation and dogs.
Lindsay lives in Illinois with her husband Jake and her two sons, Hudson and Everett. She loves to garden, bird watch, and cycle, and trains her corgis, Devyn and Fletcher, in agility and nosework.
Pronouns: she, hers
Tracie Schweder - Marketing & Communications Volunteer
Growing up an avid camper, Tracie has always had a deep love for the natural environment and creation as a whole. That, coupled with her involvement in the growth of nonprofit brands such as Exploit No More, Camp Hometown Heroes, Gold in September, the JJ Watt Foundation, United Way and more, make her a great asset for CDCI and its continued growth.
Tracie brings 20 years of B2B and B2C branding, marketing and public relations experience to the organization with a passion to kindle fires in the hearts of diverse audiences; inspiring them to take action and be the change they desire to see in the world.
Like our other team members, Tracie also adores dogs and she comes from a long line of canine lovers! She and her family recently welcomed Lola the Labrador Retriever to their home after saying goodbye to their 10-year old Golden Retriever, Bela, who died of cancer in 2018. Of this Tracie shared, “The part of our hearts that she inhabited will forever remain hers… She made us better people.”
Pronouns: she, hers
Tracie brings 20 years of B2B and B2C branding, marketing and public relations experience to the organization with a passion to kindle fires in the hearts of diverse audiences; inspiring them to take action and be the change they desire to see in the world.
Like our other team members, Tracie also adores dogs and she comes from a long line of canine lovers! She and her family recently welcomed Lola the Labrador Retriever to their home after saying goodbye to their 10-year old Golden Retriever, Bela, who died of cancer in 2018. Of this Tracie shared, “The part of our hearts that she inhabited will forever remain hers… She made us better people.”
Pronouns: she, hers
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