VIP = Very Important Pets

Dutch Woynaroski

Dutch, adopted in 2018, is arguably the most adored pitbull on the planet. He spends his time barking at anything and everything happening outside, rolling over for belly rubs at the first sign of attention from a human, wearing bow ties, and taking long naps. Dutch has a long list of scientific accomplishments, including co-chairing the 2021 Vanderbilt Kennedy Center Science Day, serving as a member of the panel workshop on autism treatment efficacy at INSAR, and TA-ing numerous courses in the department. He is adept at pushing Dr. Woynaroski out of her comfy office chair during important zoom meetings.

Honey Funny Sunny Kaysili

Honey was born around July 2021 and was found with her two sisters in the wild. Now she has a 6-year-old human sister (or maybe a mother...). Interrupting Zoom and staring at humans or to the screen while someone is working on the computer are her attention seeking behaviors. She vanishes and reappears at will. You can notice her half ginger face peering out at you while you are finding your clothes, or she looks at you from a pile of smelly clothes while you are putting laundry in the basket. She also enjoys looking outside, watching you patiently while you are cooking, hiding toys or our little belongings under the rugs and around every corner of the house, and doing some light reading with Bahar.

Wally Feldman

Wallace “Wally” Rudolph Feldman was the last in a line of foster cats housed by Jacob/Dr. Feldman during lockdown in 2020 after his adopted senior cat, Momma, crossed the rainbow bridge. Wally was not happy at Williamson County Animal Shelter; they did not think that they would be able to adopt him out and actually clipped his ear just in case they decided to release him back into the wild. Within about 10 minutes at the Feldman household, he dropped the tough guy façade and was quickly declared a foster fail! He enjoys playing with toys, sleeping in the sun, and laying on keyboards during Zoom meetings.

Rosie Truesdell-Corbin

Rosie was found alone as a kitten in the summer of 2018, huddled underneath a bush to escape a horrible storm. While she never quite grew into her massive whiskers, she certainly grew to love the pampered indoor life with her cat-crazy grad student mom. When she's not busy plotting how to capture the nearest lizard or bug, she can be found relaxing in windowsills and curling up in her mom's lap. Like her other animal labmates, she will often photobomb any Zoom call she can (as she, too, craves scientific knowledge). While she's slow to warm up to you, a few slices of egg with cheese or some chicken will have her at least tolerating your proximity for a few extra minutes.

Rosie is currently working on her first manuscript, The Downstream Ethical Ramifications of Schrödinger's Cat and Similar Thought Experiments: A Feline Follow-Up Review.

Michael, Jim, Willie, Muhammad, Kareem, Serena, Wilt, Hank, Kobe, Simone, LeBron, and Candace

These wild goats live on the cliffside near Leela's house on Maui. Since 2024, their herd has grown from 4 to 12 and they've become quite comfortable around the Waterford household. Because they are black goats, Leela's dad named each one after a "Black G.O.A.T." (legendary African-American athlete). The goats enjoy basking on the sun-warmed concrete driveway, eating the garden succulents down to the root (while conveniently leaving all of the weeds), taking refuge from strong wind and rain on the lanai, and frolicking and grazing in the yard.