Lori is the Founder and Executive Director of The Kimmela Center for Animal Advocacy, a non-profit organization focused on applying science and scholarship to animal advocacy efforts. Lori holds a Ph.D. in Biopsychology and, until recently, was on the faculty of Emory University for 20 years where she held the position of Senior Lecturer in Neuroscience and Behavioral Biology and Faculty Affiliate at the Emory Center for Ethics. She has authored or co-authored over 100 papers and chapters on topics from dolphin and whale brain evolution and intelligence to human-nonhuman animal relationships and, most particularly, captivity issues. In 2001 she and Diana Reiss published the first conclusive evidence for mirror self-recognition in dolphins. She was recently featured as a National Geographic Innovator and appears in several films and television programs including the influential documentary Blackfish, about killer whale captivity.