Annissia Justice has been involved in Search and Rescue since 2018. She joined the North Carolina Troopers Association K9 Search and Recovery unit (NCTAK9) in 2022 and currently serves as the director of the team. In addition to her SAR work, Annissia owns and operates Cultured Canine, a professional dog training company she founded in early 2020.

With over 10 years of professional dog training experience, Annissia trains hundreds of companion dogs each year and has achieved notable milestones in the field. Her accomplishments include training one of only two dogs in the country at the time to detect chlorinated water leaks for a local water company, demonstrating her advanced expertise and innovative approach to canine training.

Annissia is also an evaluator for AMPWDA and NASAR in both Area Search and Human Remains Detection. Currently partnered with K9 Dahlia, a certified Human Remains Detection (HRD) dog, she brings dedication, professionalism, and skill to
every mission.

Inspired by her service in the US Air Force, Diana Bunch embarked on her search and rescue career in 1998. She currently serves as the President of Legacy K9 Search Team and Board Member for the National Network of Canine Detection Services. Diana’s previous roles include Operations Chief and K9 Trainer with the KlaasKIDS Regional Search Team; K9 Handler and Ground Searcher with Colorado K9 Search and Rescue; and K9 Handler and Ground Searcher with Montgomery Search and Rescue.
 

Throughout her career, Diana has been deployed to assist local, state and federal law enforcement agencies. She has received numerous accolades for her search and rescue efforts, including the 2022 Civilian Service Medal from the Escambia
County Sheriff's Office and being named Volunteer of the Year by the KlaasKIDS Foundation in both 2019 and 2020. Diana holds a master’s degree in Adult Education from Troy University and is a retired Chief Master Sergeant with the US Air Force.

Diana maintains her NASAR SARTECH II certification as well as numerous other training requirements. She has trained numerous canines throughout her SAR career in area search, trailing, and human remains detection. She currently has a
certified Human Remains Detection K9 and a certified Trailing K9. Diana is passionate about teaching and sharing her knowledge within the search and rescue community. Before stepping into her role as an instructor, Diana had the privilege of serving as an instructor assistant to numerous well-respected SAR professionals, gaining valuable experience and insight from their expertise. Diana teaches at a variety of seminars throughout the US each year. She looks forward to this year’s seminar, eager to engage with fellow professionals and continue her commitment to enhancing SAR training and education.

As a lifelong dog lover my training started in 1998, working with breed rescue groups training, rehabbing dogs with behavior issues and trained, certified and worked a therapy dog with special needs children and senior citizens.
 

2010 I began teaching pet dog classes including agility, rally and evaluating CGC testing.
2012 I found the SAR world and was immediately fascinated with every aspect of the working dog world and giving back to the communities.
2014 My first CSAR in Missouri!
2015 I started attending and certifying my dogs through AMPWDA and have since moved from being a trainer to be a Master Trainer.
2018-2019 (off and on currently) training dual and single purpose K9’s for LE in narcotics and accelerants, explosives, bite work, tracking, obedience from start to finish and helping teach the handler school to prepare handlers learn to handler their k9 and for their cert.
2021- began training and working my own explosives K9
 

I enjoy helping handlers develop and progress through their training. I love to continue to learn and share any knowledge that I can pass on that could potentially make another team as successful as they can be!  
In my working K9 career I have trained and deployed with 4 partners including x-trained live find/hrd, also certificating her in disaster type II with NSDA, an article detection dog and a trailing dog.
I currently have a 4-year-old certified GSD (Jude) in HRD, and have 3-year-old Malinois (Jynx) explosives certified.

Trisha Danula has been a career firefighter for Fairfax County Fire and Rescue since 2002. She has been a canine handler for the department’s K-9 unit since 2013 deploying both live find and HRD dogs for local law enforcement agencies in the surrounding metropolitan area.
 

Trisha has been a Canine Search Specialist on Virginia Task Force 1 since 2012. VATF1 is one of two teams in the country that deploy internationally with their canine partners. She has deployed to many natural disasters to include the Turkey earthquake, Hurricane Ian in Florida, Hurricane Helene in WNC. She has trained and deployed with her now retired Belgian Malinois Xandr in both disaster and area wilderness live find. Trisha has trained & deployed with her now retired German Shepherd Tuula in disaster, wilderness and water HRD. She is currently certified with her Belgian malinois Otso in HRD disaster, wilderness HRD and working towards water HRD this summer. Trisha has been training and certifying on water HRD since 2013. She has certified multiple times on water HRD and deploys regularly to recoveries in her local area and for FEMA.
Trisha is also a member on North Carolina Troopers Association K-9 unit as a land and water HRD handler. Deploying to the Texas Floods and other local searches.

Trisha is a HRD evaluator for American Rescue Dog Association. She is also a live find & HR evaluator for FEMA disaster. She is also a member of NASAR with a SARTECH II certification. She is in the process of being an HRD evaluator for International Police Working Dog Association. Trisha has been a trainer and mentor for new handlers for over ten years. She teaches at many various seminars for wilderness land, disaster and water HRD.

Cynthia Avery has over 23 years of law enforcement experience and is a retired detective from the Ann Arbor Police Department in Michigan. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Criminal Justice from Michigan State University.
Cynthia has been involved in K9 Search and Rescue since 2006. She currently serves as a Human Remains Detection (HRD) K9 instructor for the International Police Work Dog Association (IPWDA) and has contributed her time instructing and evaluating at seminars with the organization as well as independently, from Michigan to Florida. She is an active member of Lapeer County Search and Rescue and the Indiana Search and Response Team.
 

Cynthia has deployed with search teams in Michigan, Indiana, Virginia, and North Carolina, as well as independently through organizations including the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, the KlaasKids Foundation, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, and other law enforcement agencies requesting recovery assistance. To support handlers who may not have the financial resources to attend formal seminars, she focuses on providing free training workshops in her region of Michigan. Cynthia has held K9 certifications with IPWDA, NASAR, NNCDS, and NAPWDA in the disciplines of SAR Area Search (Air Scent), Article Search, and Human Remains Detection, including Advanced and Crime Scene HRD. Cynthia has trained and certified three HRD K9s. Her current working dog is a Belgian Tervuren, Nesia, certified in Land and Crime Scene HRD. Her second K9, a Border Collie named Luna, is also certified in Land and Crime Scene HRD.
 

In addition to her SAR work, Cynthia retired from instructing in the field of safety service background investigations, where she taught law enforcement agencies across the United States. She brings extensive experience in homicide investigation, violent death investigation, evidence preservation, crime scene processing, search and rescue report writing, and courtroom testimony to her SAR instruction.
 

Cynthia holds a Search Management certification from the Illinois Search and Rescue Council, with additional training in Search Management and Technical Search Planning, as well as a NASAR SARTECH II certification. Outside of law enforcement and SAR, Cynthia is a Master Falconer and a sub-permitted raptor rehabilitator. In her spare time, she trains dogs to hunt with raptors.

Instructor for The Center for Forensic Training and Education
Fire Science & Emergency Medicine– Sinclair Community College
Executive Director-K9 Karma
President– Ohio Disaster Search Dogs
Founding & Former Member, Search Team Manager; Canine Coordinator- FEMA: Ohio Task Force One
Former, Canine Search Specialist; Canine Evaluator – FEMA: Ohio Task Force One; California Task Force One; Indiana Task Force One
Former, Subject Matter Expert, Instructor– FEMA Canine Search Specialist Course
Region III Rescue Team-Member
Evaluator & Instructor – Indiana Homeland Security Search and Rescue
Tactical Medic & Instructor-Tri-Med Tactical

Athena Haus has 28 years of experience in the field of Search and Rescue with 26 of those in public service, as a Firefighter/Paramedic and Fire Officer. She was a Founding Member of FEMA Ohio Task Force One where she served as a Search Team Manager, Canine Coordinator and Canine Search Specialist when the team was in its infancy, helping to build the training program and current disaster site. She has also served as a Canine Search Specialist for FEMA California Task Force One and Indiana Task Force One, working both human remains detection and live find canines. Athena has deployed as a Canine asset with all three FEMA teams while she was a rostered member. She is the founder of K9 Karma, a canine training business, specializing in the working canine and behavioral canine issues.
 

For the past 20 years, she has traveled the country as an instructor, evaluator, and facilitator for search and rescue, as well as, tactical medicine classes and workshops. Athena specializes in live find disaster search and wilderness, as well as, human remains detection land and disaster. She has responded to countless disaster and missing person searches for local, state and federal agencies. She has managed several large-scale local incidents as the Commanding Fire Officer operating in a Unified Command Structure. She frequently consults as a subject matter expert for large scale disaster training exercises, providing guidance in search strategy and planning and resource management. During her years as a disaster and fire service responder, Athena repeatedly saw that there was a lack of resources and training opportunities to fully prepare canine handlers and teams to manage canine injuries. She established BARK; Basic Aid to Responder K9 program, partnering with Tri-Med Tactical, providing training at the Ohio Fire Academy, Ohio Tactical Officer Association, IDHS as well as other organizations. This training ensures that teams with canines embedded in the disaster and tactical environment have access to basic, real world, hands on canine medical training.

Jack Thorpe is a Deputy with the Nash County Sheriff's Office and retired Sergeant from the North Carolina State Highway Patrol (2023). A Search and Rescue K9 Handler since 2001, Jack has led over 600 Search and Rescue missions, resulting in 80 recoveries of bodies and evidence.

Currently partnered with K9 Fiji, a certified Human Remains Detection dog, Jack responds to critical cases such as drownings, suicides, and homicides. His expertise extends to training K9s for land and water detection, utilizing advanced tools like Side Scan Sonar to locate victims with precision.

Jack’s career highlights include lifesaving efforts such as delivering CPR, rescuing abuse victims, and contributing to high-profile cases, including the recoveries of Hania Aguilar and Mariah Woods, leading to justice for their families. His dedication has earned him prestigious awards like the Distinguished Service Award, the Governor’s Award for Excellence, and a nomination for America’s Most Wanted All-Star Award.

With his unmatched experience and commitment, Jack continues to serve his community, ensuring the NCTA K9 Unit remains a trusted resource for justice, closure, and hope.

My journey into dog training began out of necessity, addressing behavioral challenges with an adopted dog. This evolved into competitive obedience and ultimately a career focused on public safety canine work. To further my career goals, I earned my Master Trainer Certification through the Scandinavian Working Dog Institute in 2025.

With over 15 years of operational experience - including service as a police handler and deployments as a federal Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) team member - I strive to support agencies in building reliable, deployable canine programs. For the past 10 years, my work has included real-world finds in trailing and air scent searches, canine screening and successful placement into working homes and agencies, certification preparation and coaching for civilian dog teams and program development for public safety and conservation detection units.
 

My passion is team development: resolving training plateaus, strengthening handler-canine partnerships, and helping teams achieve success beyond certification in a positive and professional environment. Using objective criteria and goal-oriented progression plans, I help build confident dogs and handlers that are mission ready.

Train-Test-Trust.

Janet Siefert is a member of the Newbold Fire Department in northern Wisconsin with 26 years as a Firefighter/EMT, 18 years as a Lieutenant and 10 as a K9 handler and now Team Leader/Trainer, currently working her second and third GSDs (Pyro and Flare) in Tracking/Trailing, HRD and Water HRD.

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She is a Trailing Instructor with L.E.T.S. (Law Enforcement Training Specialists) and has certified current or past dogs with L.E.T.S., NAPWDA, and AWDA in Tracking/Trailing, Area Search, HRD and Water HRD. Trailing has and always will be her first love. She loves learning various styles and techniques to be able to have a full toolbox to solve the problems of the dog
in front of you, but as we all know the handler is usually the one that needs the most work! Spending that time learning everything about the dog you are working right now yields the best success. The more you listen to them, the more they will tell you! CSAR seminars are her favorite as the pressure is off from testing and it’s all about learning and feeling free to make mistakes to find what to work on next. As your current CSAR president, she looks forward to 2026 and what we all can learn to do better work.

With over two decades of experience in law enforcement and working dog training, Sinead Imbaro is a nationally respected Police and Military K9 Instructor specializing in detection, trailing and tracking, working-dog obedience, and search-dog
deployment.

She currently serves in multiple specialized roles, including K9 Supervisor with Garrison & Sloan, overseeing narcotics detection operations at the Port of Miami and managing cruise line operations in collaboration with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). Her credentials include: Certified Police K9 Instructor, GAK9 Military K9 Trainer, Instructor at K9 Medic HQ, Military Fitness Specialist, Florida Task Force 6 (FL-TF6) Canine Search Specialist, NASCW Certifying Official, and she works nationally as a K9 Trainer and Consultant.
 

Several years ago, Sinead acquired her own working dog, K9 Magnus Ares, specifically for narcotics detection. Through deliberate, progressive training, she expanded his capabilities over time, ultimately developing a highly capable multi-purpose canine—an embodiment of her philosophy centered on layered training, operational versatility, and precision odor work.

Sinead travels extensively throughout the United States teaching narcotics detection, K9 Medic first aid, and trailing and tracking to law enforcement, military, and dedicated working-dog teams. Outside of instruction, she remains operationally active, currently working her youngest dog, K9 Wöden, in a professional narcotics detection capacity.

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As a Florida Task Force 6 Canine Search Specialist, Sinead and K9 Magnus Ares were deployed to the Champlain Towers South collapse in Surfside, Florida, where they assisted in search operations during one of the most significant disaster responses in U.S. history.
 

Sinead and her work have been featured by Good Morning America, NewsNation, NBC, CBS, ABC, BBC, ESPN2, American Working Dog Magazine, Working Dog Magazine, Unidad K9 Magazine, the American Kennel Club, Good Dog TV, and The New Yorker. She and Magnus also competed on Season 2 of America’s Top Dog.

Shay Cook has been working with dogs since 1986. She started in the Schutzhund world and then moved over to working with Guide Dogs for the Blind. In 1995 she started down the search and rescue (SAR) path. Her path in SAR is 1995 Area/Wilderness work, 1997 HRD to her training program and dabbled with Water, 2010 Trailing/Tracking, 2020 Disaster/FEMA with Live Find and 2024 started working with Avalanche dogs more. She is on her 5th SAR dog and currently has two working K9 partners. Zinka von Sontausen BN, TDX, HT, CGC, SAR Wilderness, PAM, Trailing Type 1/Terrain 1, HRD/Cadaver Type 1/Terrain 1 (2016-Present) and Wren von Sontausen BN, RV, TDX, SAR Trailing Type 1/Terrain 1, FEMA CA- TF4 (Live) (2020-Present).

She also started an insect detection business in 2007 finding vine mealybugs in vineyards. She took over the breeding program from her breeder (who retired) in 2023 with her current dog Wren. She currently performs search and rescue functions as requested for the State of California through CARDA, Alameda Sheriff Office, Marin County Sheriff Office, FEMA Oakland Task Force 4 and Yosemite National Parks. She is on the Board of Directors for CARDA as well as being Dispatch Chair and Training Group Leader for her local team. She is also the co-team lead for Yosemite National Parks K9 team (YODOGS).

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In her professional life she is the Assistant Director of the IACUC for UC Davis, and has a AS in Biological Health and Science, BS in Business Management, and Registered Veterinary Technician in the state of California.

Robin Houston is a highly experienced canine handler and instructor with over two decades of dedicated service in the field of search and rescue. For 20 years, she volunteered with the Missouri Search and Rescue K9 Unit (MOSAR), where she achieved national certifications with multiple canine partners in the specialized disciplines of live find area search, trailing, and human remains detection. Her work in the field reflects both her technical expertise and her commitment to public safety.

In addition to her extensive search and rescue background, Robin is a retired Major from the Kansas City, Missouri Police Department, where she served with distinction for 29 years. Following her retirement, she continued to serve as a Reserve Officer in KCPD’s Canine Unit for an additional five years, bringing her total years of service in law enforcement to 34.

Robin is passionate about helping handlers and their dogs become confident, effective teams. Her depth of knowledge and approachable teaching style make her a valued instructor and mentor.

Todd Raak has been involved with Search and Rescue since 2015.
Todd trained and nationally certified with his bloodhound Letti multiple times and deployed on numerous searches with her. He has worked as search manager, assisted with the training of other K9s in various disciplines relating to search and rescue. He completed all required course work - NIMS, First Aid/CPR (Certified), Hazmat, Crime Scene Preservation and Search Management. He was active with the search team until 2019 when he stepped away.
 

He continued to help work and train dogs with his wife who is also an active K9 handler and trainer. Todd has been a trainer and evaluator for multiple organizations, organizing training courses and setting up evaluations during workshops and national conferences. His passion for trailing and K9s is obvious to anyone he meets. His preferred teaching style involves breaking things down into individual components/steps and scenario-based training, allowing the dog/handler teams to successfully put the pieces together. He is an excellent communicator and enjoys sharing his knowledge with other handlers and watching dog’s work.

Darcy is a founding member of the North Alabama Search Dog Association. She is running her fourth SAR dog, Blue, a yellow lab, in area/airscent and HRD. She has previously served on the NASAR Canine committee as the Eastern Field Project Coordinator and is currently a NASAR K9 Evaluator for area and land and water HRD.

Darcy has a long background in training dogs, having gotten titles in obedience, agility, tracking and most recently with her non-SAR dog, nosework. She has served as NASDA’s lead trainer since its inception and has taught at a variety of seminars around the country in area, HRD and water HRD.
 

She continues to expand her knowledge base with new seminars each year and has most recently become a canine cognition testing instructor.

Janet Geist is a member of the North Alabama Search Dog Association. She started out as an area search handler with her first dog Jester (mix) and cross-trained into HRD. Her current dog Barrington (Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever) is NASAR certified in area and HRD. She added a new puppy, Donkin (N.S.D.T.R), this summer to train in area and HRD upon Barrington’s retirement. Janet has been training in live area and cadaver work since 1996, and has also trained and certified her previous partners Chaos (Belgian Malinois) in area and Tusket (N.S.D.T.R) in HRD. Janet has certified all of her dogs through NASAR and is a NASAR evaluator for area and HRD.

She is an avid hiker and outdoor person and enjoys combining that with her love of working dogs. She has a background as a dog obedience trainer and instructor. Janet has taught at several seminars, including previous CSAR seminars teaching beginner and intermediate area, and water hrd.

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Janet has been a member of CSAR for many years, having served on the board and past president.

Karen Paquette began her SAR career in 2003 in Tucson, Pima County, AZ, and deployed on numerous searches in wilderness, urban, water, and support of law enforcement investigations. She is now training with her 6th canine partner learning about tracking/trailing.

Karen served as Training Director with Pima County’s volunteer K9SAR team (2014-2024) and serves on the team’s Board of Directors. Karen has assisted with Forensic Anthropology Center at Texas State (FACTS) K9 workshops since 2013 serving as wrangler, assistant instructor, and instructor.

Karen retired from the field of education after 25 years, working mostly in Special Education with students with behavior and emotional disorders, developmental disorders, and learning disabilities. She also worked in leadership capacity as a teacher mentor, teacher coach, curriculum support provider, behavior interventionist, and specific academic interventionist. Karen and husband, Mark, have four children and seven grandchildren.

Neil has been involved in the Training of dogs for over seventeen years, including Search and Rescue K9’s. Starting in the UK where he was an operational handler for over ten years with NSARDA and a national assessor helping in the training and certifying of multiple dogs on various teams around the UK.
 

He moved to Flathead Valley, Montana, USA in 2018, with his family and owns All Day Dog Adventures. He trains dogs full time, including Basic Obedience, Behavioral modification, Scent work, Tracking & trailing and the SAR disciplines of Live Find Air scent, HRD, Tracking and Trailing. He is still an operational SAR handler with dogs currently certified in Air scent, HRD, Tracking and trailing through NAPWDA and NSDA. Neil is an NSDA Evaluator in Air scent, Trailing and HRD.

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Over the last 7 years he has taught multiple SAR K9 seminars all over the country including Alaska, Texas, Idaho, Washington, Montana, Arizona, Missouri, South Carolina, Southern California, Pennsylvania, Utah.
When not working K9’s you will find Neil in the backcountry hiking, camping, and skiing Big Mountain with his family and dogs.