Hello! My name is Dr. Kerri Rodriguez, and I'm currently a postdoctoral research fellow with the Human-Animal Bond in Colorado at the Colorado State University School of Social Work. My research seeks to understand how companion animals, especially dogs, enhance human health and wellbeing among vulnerable populations. I recently earned my Ph.D. in Human-Animal Interaction at the Center for the Human-Animal Bond at Purdue University where I worked with Dr. Maggie O'Haire. My dissertation research quantified how service dogs may benefit the lives of their handlers with physical disabilities or mental disorders such as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD). ​