Last month, I was deeply honored to receive the 2026 Nathania Gartman Heroes Award from the Association of Professional Humane Educators (APHE) during the organization’s conference in Oakland.
Humane education has been an important part of my work for many years through animal welfare, writing, outreach, public education, and helping people better understand and live alongside animals in their communities. Over the years, I’ve seen how humane education can open conversations not only about animals, but also about empathy, safety, responsibility, and community.
But the truth is, humane education was not originally the direction I expected my career to take.
When I first started in animal welfare more than 35 years ago, much of my work focused on public relations, fundraising, development, and special events. About 14 years into my career, while working at the San Antonio Humane Society, we hosted a veterinarian from Africa who interned with us for several weeks.
Wanting to show her some of Texas’s wildlife, I took her to a local wildlife area. What I failed to consider was that she was from Africa. In hindsight, our quiet Texas wildlife — mostly glimpses of birds, deer, armadillos, and the occasional warning about rattlesnakes — was probably not going to be all that impressive to someone accustomed to seeing truly magnificent wildlife.
So there I was, enthusiastically trying to point out movement in the brush while she politely scanned the landscape, wondering where all the animals were hiding.
Then she said something that completely changed my perspective.
She explained that where she came from, children learned about wild animals from a very young age, including how to safely coexist with them. She talked about children knowing how far away to stand from a rhino so it would not charge. Then she said: “Here, you live so closely with animals… but where is the education that teaches children how to be kind and safe around them?”
That moment stopped me. Because she was right.
At the time, we had no humane education programs at our organization — and none in the schools. I went back to my executive director and said, “We need to do more.”
That conversation eventually led to the creation of Camp Humane, a summer camp that has been running for the past 21 years. And, it helped shape the direction of my work moving forward. Humane education became woven into nearly everything I did after that, from my syndicated pet column to outreach programs and my work with Spay Neuter Network, where I’ve had the opportunity to help grow humane education programs reaching thousands of children across Texas each year.
Receiving an award bearing Nathania Gartman’s name makes this recognition especially meaningful to me because it was around that same time that I had the opportunity to meet her while teaching workshops at Best Friends Animal Society in Kanab alongside Michael Kaufmann, currently the Director of Farm and Wildlife with Green Chimneys in Brewster, New York.
I didn’t know Nathania well, and I can’t say I remember every detail vividly, but I do remember her presence — calm, thoughtful, kind, and fully engaged with the people around her. She carried herself with warmth, curiosity, and grace. After the workshop, the three of us walked through the canyon together to a cave with an underground pond and ancient handprints etched into the rock.
What stayed with me was not just what she taught, but how she moved through the world.
She embodied humane education.
Because kindness does not simply happen. We teach it. We model it. We carry it into the world through our actions, our words, and the way we treat others — both human and animal.
And when we do that — especially with young people — we do more than change how they see animals. We help shape a more compassionate world.
I’m deeply grateful to the APHE, to the many educators, shelters, organizations, colleagues, and community partners I’ve had the privilege of working with throughout my career, and to everyone who continues helping create positive change through humane education.
This recognition means more to me than I can fully express, and I’m honored to be part of a community that continues carrying this important work forward.
