Campus Cats Executive Board

Kelly Bettinger, Vice-President, Treasurer, and Founder

Kelly A. Bettinger, retired research professional from the University of Georgia’s Department of Plant Biology, received her B.S. in Wildlife Management from Virginia Tech in 1989, and her M.S. in Wildlife Biology from Oregon State University in 1996. Her particular area of interest includes inventory and monitoring and developing protocols. She has more than 14 years of experience in avian inventory and monitoring and taught an annual workshop for fellow wildlife biologists on avian monitoring techniques and birding by ear. Over her career she has been involved in inventory and monitoring projects on both coasts targeting sea turtles, spotted owls, marbled murrelets, painted buntings, snag-nesting purple martins, bird communities in managed forests, and wild horses on a barrier island, as well as in efforts to conduct vouchered inventories of plant communities in national parks in the southeastern U.S. She wrote several species accounts for the Breeding Bird Atlases in both Oregon and Georgia, and was a member of the team that researched and published the book, Wildlife Habitat Relationships in Oregon and Washington.  She is a strong advocate for the humane and proven technique of TNR as the best solution we currently have for reducing community cat populations and subsequently reducing conflicts with wildlife but, she believes just as strongly that there need to be standard protocols established for TNR. She is on the advisory board of the National Feline Research Council.

Lisa Donovan, President

Lisa Donovan is a professor in the Department of Plant Biology at the University of Georgia. By day, she conducts research investigating the ecology and evolution of stress tolerance in plants. By night, she practices feral cat management on the University of Georgia campus and in the surrounding community. Lisa feels strongly that TNR is an effective way to humanely reduce the number of feral cats, a vital part of larger community efforts needed to take care of all cats in Athens, Georgia. More responsible pet ownership, a functional and cooperative animal control unit, animal rescue groups, and TNR where appropriate is desperately needed in order to meet CZA’s goal of humanely reducing and maintaining a low feral cat population in Athens.

Lori Carson, Board Member

Lori Carson is a retired physician, gardener, sewist, animal lover and die-hard Dawg fan. She received her B.S. in Biology from what was then North Georgia College in Dahlonega and her M.D. from Medical College of Georgia in Augusta. She grew up nearby in Royston, Georgia and remembers the many feral cats that were always present on her grandparents’ farm. Most were “dropped off” in bags or pillow cases during the night by people who probably knew that her grandmother would feed them. Over the years she has shared life with 12 cats and 5 dogs, and fostered dozens more. She believes community cats deserve to have the best life possible and supports TNR as an effective and humane way to care for these creatures she finds so fascinating.

Linda Wistrom, Barn Cat Program, Board Member

Linda Wistrom is a practicing CPA, with over 20 years of experience in a mix of public and industry accounting, most recently as a Senior Management Consultant, and specializing in process improvements. Linda’s passion for TNR began in a large urban setting – the city of Houston, Texas – where she worked for Friend for Life Animal Shelter, the city’s first no-kill shelter. She was a proud leader of Houston’s no-klll revolution, which was based in community outreach and education, providing free spays/neuters and active TNR particularly within lower-income neighborhoods. After relocating to the contrastingly rural Athens area, Linda began volunteering at local county shelters, and quickly realized that feral cats had no safe way out of the shelters. Luckily, Campus Cats was looking to expand its Barn Cat Program. With some creativity, and convincing of shelter staff, management, low-cost veterinarians, and barn owners – beginning in 2018 — feral cats are now sterilized, vaccinated, and adopted into barn homes as working cats, rather than euthanized, when they are not able to be TNR’d back to their original territory. As of late 2024, this passion for saving lives has led to more than 1,700 cats being pulled from area animal control shelters and placed as working cats instead of being euthanized as unsocial/unadoptable.

Dee Palmer, Board Member

Former crazy dog lady (still have 4) now turned crazy (not old) cat lady owned by more than two dozen cats at present and a firm believer in TNR to reduce feral cat populations not only on campus but all over. Spay/neuter and education are the keys to reducing the number of unwanted cats and dogs in this country. From many years ago just feeding stray cats on campus and unaware of the plight of feral cats to practically having TNR tatooed on my forehead to tell the world how I feel about ferals and cats in general. Spend days at UGA helping kids of all ages learn to read and nights looking after the furries and feathereds in my life and being the Neuteress of the Night in training. 🙂

Lisa Lowe, Board Member and C0-Founder

Lisa received her B.S. Degree in Psychology from Michigan State University and her M.A. Degree in Psychology from the University of West Georgia. She has had a lifelong interest in animal behavior and the natural environment. It was when she and her spouse were living in an Athens apartment complex that she discovered a hungry little white feral kitten pawing at a ketchup packet in the parking lot. This event would put her on a journey of learning about feral kittens, feral cats, and eventually the successful strategies for caring for, preventing, and reducing the numbers of homeless felines in an effective and morally responsible way. She originally started a “Feral Cat Caregivers Club” and listserv to connect with others who were also trying to help feral kittens and cats in the Athens area, and especially those on the UGA Campus. When she met Kelly Bettinger, she knew a successful non-profit organization could be created, with a focus on reducing the campus cat population using TNR. And that hungry little white kitten? He and his twin brother and gray sister lived long happy lives, and Lisa and her spouse have continued to appreciate how they taught them about themselves and all cats on a daily basis.

In Memoriam: Lisa Kaufman, Board Member (2014-2018)

Lisa rescued her first feral cat in 1991 and hasn’t stopped since. Growing up in Colorado, Lisa always considered herself a “dog person.” She worked for a number of years as a certified dog trainer. But now, with every new cat she helps, she has come to realize that yes, in fact, she is just another “crazy cat lady!” She is now up to seven cats total – six ferals and one friendly – and one very tolerant German shepherd (also a rescue of course!) Lisa began as a volunteer with Campus Cats and became a board member in August 2014.