When words fail, dogs do not
Training • Education • Trauma • Veterinary • Policy • Public Safety • Crisis Operations
NLTD is governed by a five-member Board supported by specialized expertise in canine training, education, trauma-informed care, veterinary medicine, and crisis operations. Board membership includes a veteran professional dog trainer, a retired educator/ professor, and an expert in counterterrorism, international policy, and interagency collaboration with law enforcement and military communities. Two specialized advisors—a veterinary expert and a licensed trauma and animal-integrative clinician—inform program development to ensure NLTD meets or exceeds national standards in Animal-Assisted Interventions (AAI) and Advanced Animal-Assisted Crisis Response (AACR).
This multidisciplinary leadership structure strengthens NLTD’s capacity to serve across schools, healthcare, senior care, and First Responder environments, and positions the organization to operate responsibly and effectively in both therapeutic and crisis-informed settings, today and into the future.
Ramie Blakeman
Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer
Ramie leads NLTD’s rigorous team screening, handler training, and bi-annual certification model, designed to meet national crisis standards while retaining a community service mission.
Blakeman’s professional background spans decades in counterterrorism, interagency coordination, and international policy, experience that shaped her understanding of crisis environments, psychological resilience, and public safety culture. Her first exposure to AACR dogs occurred after 9/11, observing their effectiveness with first responders and survivors — a defining moment that later informed NLTD’s crisis-capable program design. It is a deep privilege that her own dog, Napoleon, now serves as one of these dogs. Together, they have supported highly sensitive critical incidents across communities.
Her work blends operational rigor with compassion, equipping therapy dog teams to deliver structured emotional support across senior care, end-of-life settings, education, and disaster/crisis response.
Ron Murray
Co-Founder and Vice-President
As a dog trainer and animal behaviorist, Ron has spent more than twenty years helping people build healthier and more meaningful relationships with their dogs. He is the founder of Montana Murray Kennels, a premier canine training and boarding center near Bozeman, Montana, where he and his staff train more than 1,500 dogs per year and host a thriving community training culture.
Ron is the co-founder and Vice President of Northern Lights Therapy Dogs. With a deep heart of compassion for the hurting, Ron has worked his own dogs in Animal-Assisted Interventions (AAI) and Animal-Assisted Therapy (AAT) across Gallatin County. His current dog, Maverick, is one of NLTD’s top Advanced Animal-Assisted Crisis Response (AACR) dogs, serving in highly sensitive trauma-informed environments and critical incident settings. Ron’s commitment to excellence in canine training and handler development is fundamental in shaping NLTD’s gold-standard preparation for teams serving in both therapeutic and crisis-informed deployments.
Amanda Buckley
Treasurer
Amanda is a Digital Learning Designer with more than a decade of experience creating user-centered online courses and adaptive learning tools for universities and national organizations. Amanda has also taught in higher education as an Assistant Professor of Mathematics, giving her a front-line understanding of pedagogy, learning needs, and effective teaching strategies. She has designed and launched over 100 graduate-level courses across fields ranging from Criminal Justice and National Security to Public Health and Engineering, while also developing adaptive learning content for Cambridge University Press & Assessment and the American Psychological Association. Her work emphasizes instructional design, accessibility compliance, and educational innovation that improve learner engagement and measurable outcomes.
From NLTD’s genesis, Amanda has been deeply involved in volunteering, leadership, program development, and handler education—helping shape the organization’s growth and training standards. She is also an active NLTD handler. Tucker, her certified AAI dog, has become a quiet delight in Senior Care programming, while her young Cadet, Oslo, continues to explore the world and search for his “clutch.”
Amanda holds a Master’s in Mathematics Education from Rivier University and a Bachelor of Science in Operations Research and Industrial Engineering from Cornell University.
Dr. Chris Kimbrell
Veterinary Advisor
Dr. Chris Kimbrell is a practicing veterinarian at Hardaway Veterinary Hospital in Belgrade, Montana. The son of a veterinarian, Dr. Kimbrell was raised in his father’s veterinary practice where he first began cultivating his passion for caring for animals and their owners. He received his degree from the University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine and has been practicing in the Gallatin valley since 2021. Dr. Kimbrell’s professional interests include emergency and critical care, surgery, reproductive medicine, and palliative care. When not in office Dr. Kimbrell enjoys fly-fishing with his wife and fellow veterinarian Dr. Ellen Kimbrell, as well as his two French Brittanys Fen and Juice.
Brief Note:
Claire Lawrance
Advising Clinician
Claire Lawrance, LCPC is delighted to serve the Northern Lights Therapy Dogs team in an advisory Board Member position, bringing the knowledge from clinical practice as a therapist to support the human and canine teams in providing trauma informed care.
Claire began working with animals in a healing capacity in 2016, providing equine and canine assisted therapy to youth in residential treatment in North Dakota, and brought that work to Bozeman in 2019 through her private practice, Clarity Counseling. Claire specializes in working with trauma in her Private Practice here in Bozeman, and feels passionate about “helping the helpers-” providing support to other healing professionals in the community, often using the transformational power of animals.
When she isn’t providing therapeutic support, Claire might be wandering around the river with her hound mix, Cletus, working with her Mustang Zorro, biking Big Sky in the summer, or cuttin’ a rug on the dance floor at the Westerner.
www.claritycounselingbozeman.com
Brief Note:
Claire is so excited to be supporting the team in bringing animal assisted care to more of our community; and truly believes in the keen sense that these dog and human teams have to bring care where it is needed. Claire truly believes in the keen therapeutic power of these dogs, and feels it’s an honor to be involved in bringing canine assisted care to this incredible community.