Robert GierkaRob Gierka, EdD, is an expert in the human-animal bond and pet loss, with extensive experience as a veterinary chaplain, community pet chaplain, and chaplaincy educator. He offers a wealth of scholarship across diverse fields, from existential psychoogy to human-animal studies, along with practical expertise in the emerging field of veterinary chaplaincy. Rob holds a doctoral degree in professional and continuing adult education from North Carolina State University (NCSU), with a research focus on the human-animal bond and pet loss. Rob's chaplaincy journey began in the 1990s, when he trained and worked as a hospital chaplain and as a community outreach minister for his church. In 2004, Rob expanded his chaplaincy work into the pet-keeping community by launching Pet Chaplain(R) (petchaplain.com). He gained hands-on veterinary experience serving as the on-call chaplain at NCSU's veterinary teaching hospital for nearly two years in the early 2000s. In 2006, he started a monthly pet loss support group in collaboration with the SPCA, which he continues to facilitate. The books in the Pet Chaplain Learning Series reflect Rob's scholarship and practical experience. They are based on the written lectures Rob and his coauthor Karen Duke co-developed for an online course in veterinary chaplaincy, which they co-facilitated for five years between 2018 and 2022. They welcomed students from around the world with diverse educational and professional backgrounds, marking a significant step toward developing this new and essential field of interfaith spiritual care. Read More Read Less