A few years ago, I founded Family Spirals® and its Center for Families & Animals™, which also hosts the Green Pet-Burial Society, addressing how families shape our interactions with animals at home and in the world. They reflect a lifelong interest in how the lives of humans and other animals intersect, overlap, and merge.
Growing up in the suburbs of Long Island, NY, I was intensely curious about how my dog experienced his life—especially knowing that his ancestors were wild dogs who’d roam for miles. To explore this more deeply, as an undergraduate I pioneered the transdisciplinary field of animals and culture studies (widely known by its variants: anthrozoology, human-animal studies, multispecies ethnography, and so forth). It was rooted in cultural anthropology, and I earned the first BA and MA in the field, and taught the first such program at Miami-Dade College.
In addition to my academic work, I have been an executive in behavioral health nonprofits, and continue to serve as an independent consultant specializing in strategic planning, executive coaching, and program and fund development. Among my clients was the Animals & Society Institute, where I facilitated its advisory committee and served on the editorial board of the journal, Society & Animals. I also guided the launch of a small, short-lived museum in Los Angeles focusing on society and animals.
The Animals & Culture Collective™ not only preserves and protects digital projects that explore our interspecies relationships, it creates opportunities to participate in artistic and other creative projects that broaden inquiry, deepen expression, and build community in this fragile world.
Eric Greene, Founder
February 18, 2025
Animals & Culture Collective™ 