World Animal Awareness Society Appoints Chief Operating Officer & Regional Directors in USA & Canada

Sept. 19, 2010 - PRLog -- Executive Director Tom McPhee has promoted Michelle Way to the position of Chief Operating Officer (COO) and appointed 9 Regional Directors with a focus on forwarding the mission of the World Animal Awareness Society.  Jane Allen, Peter Crowe, Fred Groeger, Jennifer Hays, Kristen Marciniak, Rachel McKay, Michele McKnight, Murdo Messer, and Esther Regelson, all members of the World Animal Awareness Society were selected as Regional Directors.  This group of diverse, talented individuals, were selected to serve the Society based in part to ongoing involvement and a unique set of skills each brings to the WA2S family.

Each Regional Director has a host of prior accomplishments and skill sets that fit the needs and responsibilities of the position including: prior animal related expeditions, certified animal disaster response, emergency animal rescues, EMTs, photojournalists, film documentarians, digital graphic arts, musicians, and event organizers.

Regional Directors in the U.S. currently represent the following geographic areas – Jane Allen and Fred Groeger - Ohio.  Virginia - Peter Crowe.  Jennifer Hays - Illinois  Rachel McKay – Philadelphia,  PA.,  Esther Regelson - New York City,  Kristen Marciniak - Colorado.

Regional Directors in Canada represent the following geographic areas. Michele McKnight - Vancouver, BC. and Murdo Messer - Nova Scotia and North Eastern Canada.

Michelle Way: Chief Operating Officer – Michelle is an entrepreneur, emerging explorer, and student of human nature.  Michelle Way earned her B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Lawrence Technological University (LTU).  She spent close to a decade studying human behavior in the Biosciences Division at the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI).  Michelle’s responsibilities at the University of Michigan included development of laboratory facilities, analysis and reporting of data, writing technical reports, supervising research assistants, biosciences experiment design and development of test methods.  Michelle also worked as a design engineer for Toyota USA.  She has had more than a dozen technical papers published through UM, LTU, and SAE and has presented her research at the SAE World Congress and is a published photographer.  Michelle has volunteered countless hours for service organizations and animal related non-profits.  

Michelle will help further the Societies mission daily by planning & organizing events, coordinating with volunteers and contributors on all expeditions, recruiting partners and volunteers, as well as a host of other operational tasks.

Tom McPhee: Executive Director and Founder -  Tom McPhee is an award winning producer and director of film, TV, multi-language interactive media, as well as a specialty film/media distributor.   He is the owner of two media companies, Cave Studio and Man Smiling Moving Pictures.   Tom also served as producer and host/character in 2009 for two animal centric TV shows affiliated with The Pet Network of Canada.  Tom traveled to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina to help provide relief to those affected.  While in New Orleans Tom discovered an entire world he had no idea existed--a world most people are not aware of---the world of animal rescue.  This discovery led to him producing and directing the award-winning documentary An American Opera and set Tom on a quest to witness the many ways humans and animals co-exist.  Through the World Animal Awareness Society, Tom scours the nation for stories to film about this relationship.  Tom has experience working in post-disaster environments and responds well with impromptu decision making required in these situations.  He participates in short course Q&A sessions that involve documenting disasters.   Tom recently participated in the relief efforts that occurred shortly after the earthquake in Haiti and is now leading the ALL EYES ON THE GULF Expedition chronicling the effects on Life in the Gulf after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

The World Animal Awareness Society is a non-profit incorporated in the state of Michigan, Domestic Nonprofit ID#70640K.  The WA2S.org is a qualified organization according to Internal Revenue Service and is currently in the process of receiving 501c3 status.  All donations are tax deductible.  The mission of the World Animal Awareness Society is to focus a lens on a wide range of human-animal interactions in order to have a filmed record of our behavior in expectation that it will create a window to observe human evolution. The moving image is arguably the rawest, most powerful educational tool we have to witness our behavioral patterns, attitudes and interactions and aid us in our continued growth. The World Animal Awareness Society - WA2S.org specializes in footage concentrating on contemporary human-animal events. Headline stories such as the roundup of wild mustangs, the proliferation of puppy mills, the animal fur trade, factory farming, animals affected by natural or man-made disasters as well as less covered events such as animal hoarding are produced.  The World Animal Awareness Societies most recent expeditions: covered the animal relief efforts in the disaster zone in Haiti after the devastating earthquake of February 2010, as well as the current oil spill in the Gulf regions May 2010 to present day and the effect on the wildlife. Visit the World Animal Awareness Society website to learn more.  http://www.WA2S.org

Contacts:
Tom McPhee, 646-546-5640, tommcphee@wa2s.org
Michelle Way, 310-734-6886, michelle.way@wa2s.org

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World Animal Awareness Society - WA2S.Org, a non-profit, incorporated in the state of Michigan for the purpose of filming contemporary human-animal interactions at the point of intersection, to be shared with the world.