David Waltner-Toews is a veterinary epidemiologist specializing in diseases people get from other animals. A University of Guelph Professor Emeritus and founding president of Veterinarians without Borders-Canada, he was the recipient of the inaugural award for contributions to ecosystem approaches to health from The International Association for Ecology and Health. He is the author of more than twenty award-winning books of poetry, fiction, and science, including, in 2020, “On Pandemics: Deadly Diseases from Bubonic Plague to Coronavirus” and "The Inter-Pandemic Backyard Chicken Book: a retirement memoir, with chickens."