Dr. Brittany Watson is the Director of Shelter Medicine and Community Engagement at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine and Co-Head of the Behavior, Welfare, and Human-Animal Interaction Research Division. She is an Associate Professor in Clinical Shelter Medicine in the Department of Clinical Sciences & Advanced Medicine. She currently manages medical, surgical, and educational training of veterinary students through electives and primary care, shelter medicine rotations and courses, and community outreach initiatives. Course techniques involve integrating community needs, best teaching practices, and organizational leadership strategies. She involves veterinary students in authentic learning experiences including medical shelter exams, at-home visits with community partners, continuing education to shelters, one-health approaches to problem solving, outreach to local school classrooms, and shelter population management.  She also teaches in the online Animal Welfare and Behavior Certificate and Master’s Program at Penn Vet.  Dr. Watson is a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Preventive Medicine. 

She was previously the Veterinary Director of Continuing Education Initiatives at Charleston Animal Society (CAS). She received her BS in Biology and MS in Education at Duquesne University, VMD at the University of Pennsylvania, and her PhD in Educational Leadership at the University of South Carolina. Her dissertation focused on examining the impact of humane education and science outreach programs on the knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors of high school students participating in the VSI: Veterinary Science Initiative Program.