Jennifer Huizen hails from Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada but has been an American permanent resident since 2001. Jennifer attended Acadia University, where she obtained a simultaneous Bachelor of Science Honors Biology focused in microbiology and environmental science and a Bachelor of Arts Honors English focused in creative writing and postcolonial literature. She then attended the Atlantic Veterinary College in Prince Edward Island, Canada, where she completed two terms of a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) degree. After her second term in the DVM program she lived in rural Kenya for 3 months while running a pilot research program on cattle welfare for Veterinarians Without Borders. It was during this time that she recognized her greatest contribution to the welfare of animals would likely come through her writing talents, and withdrew from the DVM program to enroll in Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism. Jennifer graduated with a Masters of Science focused in Journalism in 2014 and has been working as a science journalist since that time. Her work has focused heavily on animal related issues, in particular those centred around the fields of conservation, animal rights and protections, international trade treaties, rescue and rehabilitation, and environmental and ecosystem health. Her work on the environmental and animal rights implications of NAFTA was included in the textbook Green Planet Blues Critical Perspectives on Global Environmental Politics, 6th edition.
Jennifer has possessed a strong, unwavering passion for animals of all kinds since a very young age. She began working at animal rescue and rehabilitation facilities as soon as she was old enough to volunteer. Her travels have afforded her an amazing array of opportunities to interact with a long list of wildlife in their natural habitats or rehabilitation centers, ranging from leopards and elephants to endangered birds of prey and dolphins.
Jennifer is ecstatic to have found Lewis & Clark’s groundbreaking program offering non-lawyers the chance to enter into the fascinating and evolving field of Animal Law. Upon graduation, she hopes to use her newly acquired skillset to work in a crossover position combining elements of public relations and communications with animal activism and legal analysis.