
Ann Linder Associate Director of Policy and Research
1585 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02138
Ann Linder is the Associate Director of Policy & Research. Her work for the program focuses primarily on zoonotic disease. Prior to this, she worked as a wildlife policy analyst for the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University focusing on applications of immunocontraceptive vaccines in free-roaming horses and cervids. She received her JD from Stanford Law School and holds a Masters of Science in Animals and Public Policy from Tufts University, where she now teaches Animal Law. Much of her work focuses on the intersection of animal law and criminal law, including both wildlife crimes and crimes of neglect or abuse against domestic animals. A Midwesterner at heart, issues of animal agriculture have also been close to home for her.
Linder spent time working with the Animal Protection Unit for the City of Austin, Texas after serving as a Legislative Policy Fellow for the Harvard Animal Law & Policy Program in 2018. Her work has been featured in Science and published by Harvard Law School, Stanford Law School, and Lewis and Clark Law School, as well as the New York Bar Association.
Below you can see three publications that are representative of Ann’s work and a selection of news and media stories related to her work with the Program.
REPRESENTATIVE PUBLICATIONS
- “Animal Markets and Zoonotic Disease Risk: A Global Synthesis of a 15 Country Study” (Harvard Law School, 2024)
- “Animal Markets and Zoonotic Disease in the United States” (Harvard Law School, 2023)
- “Blind Spots in Biodefense” (Science, 2023)
- “Legislative Analysis of HR 4879: the “Protect Interstate Commerce Act of 2018” (Harvard Law School, 2018)
- “The Black Man’s Dog: The Social Context of Breed Specific Legislation” (Lewis and Clark Law School’s Animal Law Review, 2018)
- “Mens Rea and McKittrick: The Unraveling of the Endangered Species Act” (New York State Bar Association, 2016)
Media Coverage

September 09, 2024 Bird Flu Has Already Appeared in New York’s Animal Markets. What’s Next?
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May 16, 2024 Mistrust Between Farmers and the Government Is Jeopardizing Bird Flu Response
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July 19, 2023 COVID-19 came from animals. Why aren’t we working to prevent new scourge?
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March 02, 2023 The US may be vulnerable to zoonotic diseases, NYU, Harvard researchers say
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February 17, 2023 U.S. Has ‘Blind Spots’ In Its Preparations For Zoonotic Diseases, Experts Warn
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February 16, 2023 America is still ‘fundamentally unprepared’ for zoonotic diseases – the biggest threat to humankind, says analysis by Harvard and NYU
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February 16, 2023 U.S. has ‘blind spots’ in its preparations for zoonotic diseases, experts warn
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February 16, 2023 US Still Unprepared to Handle Future Spread of Zoonotic Diseases With New Biodefense Strategy
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August 15, 2022 Exotic pets first brought monkeypox to the U.S., and 19 years later, we still barely regulate them
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