Dr. Maya Gupta earned her BA from Columbia University, and both her M.S. and PhD in clinical psychology from the University of Georgia. Her primary area of expertise is animal cruelty, including its connections to domestic violence and other forms of violence. She was a cofounder of the Section on Human-Animal Interaction in 2008, and has since served its Governing Body in a variety of roles.

She is currently Senior Director of Research for the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, where she leads a team focused on research and program evaluation efforts in the areas of cruelty/disaster response, public policy, community engagement, animal behavior, and equine and farm animal welfare.

She previously served as Executive Director of Ahimsa House, a Georgia nonprofit organization assisting human and animal victims of domestic violence, and as Executive Director of the Animals & Society Institute. She has also contracted for animal welfare organizations on program development and evaluation, served as a consultant for federal research on human-animal interaction, and provided expert witness services for animal cruelty cases.

Dr. Gupta is an adjunct faculty member for the University of Florida Veterinary Forensic Sciences Program and the Master’s Program in Anthrozoology at Canisius College, as well as a guest lecturer/supervisor for the Veterinary Social Work Program at the University of Tennessee. Her professional service includes roles on the Steering Committee of the National Link Coalition, the Animal Cruelty Advisory Council of the Association of Prosecuting Attorneys, the Board of Directors of Mojave Animal Protection, the Advisory Team of Pets for Vets, the Advisory Council of Ahimsa House, and the Advisory Committee of the Banfield Foundation’s Safer Together Initiative.