Sheryl Pierre

Sheryl Pierre has combined her career interests in psychology, education and animal welfare since graduate school. She earned a doctoral degree in Clinical and School Psychology from Hofstra University. Her grant supported dissertation research investigated the role of the presence of a dog in rapport development in initial social interactions. Sheryl went on to lead the Humane Education department of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), where, she developed and supervised both education and animal-assisted interaction programs. She presented at several animal welfare and education conferences—including American Humane Association, National Middle School Association, Youth Service America, New Jersey Education Association, New Jersey Association for Gifted Children and the Association of Professional Humane Educators conferences.

Teaching has long been a passion for Sheryl. She taught psychology courses ranging from Introductory Psychology to Senior Seminar at Hofstra, St. John’s, and Long Island Universities and Queens College of the City University of New York. Currently, in addition to her Humane Education and Animal Assisted Interventions courses at Canisius, she teaches within the Animals and Human Health Certificate Program of the Institute for Human-Animal Connection at the University of Denver.

In addition to her teaching roles, Sheryl is a staff psychologist at Dakhari Psychological Services, LLC. in Moorestown, NJ. Sheryl was elected to board positions within the Association of Professional Humane Educators (APHE), Humane Education Advocates Reaching Teachers (HEART), and the South Jersey Psychological Association and served as Membership Committee Chair for the New Jersey Psychological Association.

Awards

• 2014 New Jersey Psychological Association Member Recognition Award
• Dog Writers Association of America Book Award, Finalist

Publications

Dickstein, S. (March/April 2000) Pets in the Classroom. Early Childhood Education, New York.

Furstinger, N & Pipe, S, (2009) ASPCA Kids: Kids Making a Difference for Animals. New York: Wiley.