RESEACHER
SARAH BOWEN.
Sarah A. Bowen is is a passionate speaker, educator, and writer, known for advancing the field of non-denominational animal chaplaincy to provide emotional well-being support for animal-centered professionals in veterinary practices, shelters, sanctuaries and other human-animal contexts. Her research focuses on addressing moral distress and moral injury in interspecies professions through trauma-informed care.
A passionate speaker, teacher, and writer, Bowen is author of the award-winning book Sacred Sendoffs: An Animal Chaplain’s Advice for Surviving Animal Loss, Making Life Meaningful, & Healing the Planet (Monkfish Publishing, 2022) and a bylined columnist for Spirituality & Health magazine.
A pragmatic optimist, Bowen helps clinical and animal-care teams understand how clients’ cultural and spiritual worldviews shape their responses to diagnoses, life transitions, animal loss, and grief—equipping providers to overcome belief-related barriers while recognizing those same perspectives as potential resources in care.
She serves as Executive Director of the Animal Chaplaincy Training program, a faculty member at Omega Institute for Holistic Studies, and a contributing lecturer at the Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics.
She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Human Ecology from Michigan State University, a Master of Arts from Chicago Theological Seminary. In 2026, she will complete the world's first Doctor of Ministry in Animal Chaplaincy (Chicago Theological Seminary) and a Master of Science in Anthrozoology (Canisius University). Her educational endeavors seek to bring evidence-based insights about how people's worldviews and practices can be either barriers to multi-species justice or resource-filled strengths for well-being and advocacy.