Robert E GierkaRob Gierka, EdD, is an expert in pet loss and has years of experience as a veterinary chaplain, community pet chaplain, and chaplaincy educator. Dr. Gierka holds a doctoral degree in professional and continuing adult education from North Carolina Stae University, with a research focus on the human-animal bond and pet loss. Rob got his start in chaplaincy in the early 1990s, when he completed an extended Clinical Pastoral Education unit at Rex Hospital in Raleigh, North Carolina, and subsequently served as a volunteer chaplain for two years. While in training, Rob also served for a year as a Stephen Minister and for three years as chair of the congregational care committee at Pullen Baptist Church in Raleigh. In 2004, he launched the Pet Chaplain organization and began providing interfaith spiritual support to pet keepers in his community. Between 2004 and 2006, he served as the on-call chaplain at the Veterinary Teaching Hospital at North Carolina State University, and in 2006 he launched a pet loss support group at the Raleigh location of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.In partnership with coauthor Karen Duke, Dr. Gierka developed and taught an online course in veterinary chaplaincy for five years beginning in 2018. He took a sabbatical to develop the Pet Chaplain Learning Series, which is based on the written lectures developed for the veterinary chaplaincy course. Read More Read Less