Pete went to the University of Maine at Orono and graduated in 1984 with a degree in Animal and Preveterinary Sciences. It was working on several research projects at the school's dairy that really sparked his true interest in working with dairy cattle. After spending a year milking cows at Beaver Dam Farm, in Lee, NH, he attended The Ohio State University's College of Veterinary Medicine, where he graduated in 1989. He was employed that summer by Northwest Veterinary Associates, Inc. and has since become a partner in the company.

Pete lives in Georgia, VT with his wife Susan, who is a small animal veterinarian, their two beautiful daughters, Hannah and Summer, their three dogs, Madeline, Pikachu, and Lizzie, two miniature donkeys and a dozen chickens. He enjoys cooking, music, and activities with the girls, including skiing and biking.

Clark graduated from Cornell College of Agriculture in 1965 and from the Cornell Veterinary College in 1969. He worked for a mixed small animal/large animal practice in Fulton , NY for one year and then started working here in Vermont for Dr. Milt Robison and the North Valley Vet. Clinic. He remained there until 1983 when he and several others in the practice left to set up the now Northwest Veterinary Clinic. In 1999 he sold his share of the business and became a semi-retired employee of the clinic. He currently does only part time herd health clinic work and consultations if someone requests. Clark is married to Jane Bower and has 2 children by a previous marriage. His hobbies are gardening, riding bike, and computer graphics with photography.

Kent graduated from Iowa State University, in 1974. His Father was the County Extension Director of Jackson Co. Iowa for 37 years and owned and managed beef and swine farms. He was an eight year 4-H member with various successes in judging and showmanship.

Special veterinary interests include reproduction/embryo transfer programs, parasitology, and calf and replacement heifer rearing. In the past, he was a consulting veterinarian for Formula One, the last veal feed company in Vermont from 1995 to 1999, and raised Reg. Holstein heifers from frozen embryo to springer stage from 1989-1997. For the past four years, he has served as herd health Veterinarian for the W. H. Miner Institute dairy herd, with involvement in the Institute's education programs for Agriculture and Environmental Studies college students, and contributes the monthly Vet's Corner in the Institute's Farm Report.

Kent has been married for to April for 30 years, who is presently employed as secretary for Franklin Co. Court Diversion. Their son, Grant, a U. Conn '03 Graduate is a Ph D candidate at Dartmouth in bio molecular chemical engineering. Their daughter, Laura, a U. Conn '04 Graduate is an administrative assistant at SWA in San Francisco.

Kent's hobbies include walnut grove culture and golf.

Dr. Kokaram grew up in a fairly small town outside of the capital city of the little Caribbean island of Trinidad and went to the University of Maine at Machias where he graduated in 2003 with a degree in Marine Biology and minor in Chemistry. From there, he went on to graduate from the Tufts Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine, in North Grafton, MA in 2007, joining Northwest Veterinary Associates, Inc. that spring.

Special veterinary interests include ultrasound and fetal sexing, herd health management and problem solving, small ruminant and camelid medicine.

Dr. Kokaram lives in Fairfield, VT with his wife, Sarah, who is an environmental consultant, their black lab, Clover, and calico cat, Khalie. When he isn't working or trying to revive his once budding cricket career, he enjoys volleyball, kayaking, hiking, camping, scuba diving, soccer, etc. or mucking around the garden with his wife.

Allison was born and raised in Rutland, Vermont. She graduated from the University of Vermont with a degree in Animals Sciences in 2004. Following college, she attended Tufts Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine and graduated in the spring of 2008. After graduation Allison attended the Cornell Summer Dairy Institute, an advanced training program for prospective dairy veterinarians, and joined Northwest Veterinary Associates that August.

Her special veterinary interests include calf care, sick cow care, and herd health management. She also enjoys working with small ruminants and camelids.

Allison lives in St. Albans and when she isn't working, enjoys spending time outdoors with her dog Sassy, as well as visiting nearby friends and family.

Terri Taraska is an associate vet at Northwest Veterinary Associates. After her graduation from Colorado State University she came back east to practice in Vermont. She has been with Northwest Vet since 1999. Terri has a strong interest in calf care and management of calves. In addition, she does work with the small ruminant clients. This includes a few goat producers and alpaca farmers.

Dr. Taylor is originally from Hebron, CT, where she worked on a dairy farm while growing up. She showed cattle in 4-H, raised her own show string, and even trained a team of oxen. Her love for dairy cattle sent her to Iowa State where she pursued studies in Dairy Science. In 2005 she graduated with a Bachelors of Science, and was accepted into veterinary school. In 2009 she graduated from Iowa State with her veterinary degree, and joined Northwest Veterinary Associates Inc that spring.

Jen has a special interest in embryo transfer work, transition cow health, overall herd health troubleshooting, and mastitis prevention.

Jen lives in Swanton, VT with her chocolate lab, Hershey. In her spare time she is an avid climber, enjoying both ice climbing and rock climbing depending on the season. She also enjoys snowboarding, kayaking, and hiking.

Steve was born in Burlington and raised in Essex Junction. His father was the Extension Service Veterinarian at the University of Vermont. After graduating from UVM, he managed a dairy in Northeastern Indiana for a couple of years before going to Purdue University School of Veterinary Medicine where he graduated in 1981. Since then, he has practiced in Franklin County, Vermont, where he is married and has two teenaged children. His wife, Sarah Downes, is a part time agriculture teacher at the Cold Hollow Career Center in Enosburg Falls.

Special interests in practice include herd health programs, problem solving herd problems, replacement management, and working with farm managers and workers to make a dairy more profitable.

When Steve is not working, he is a bit of a fitness nut: running regularly, strength training, biking, hiking, skiing, snow shoeing, camping, etc. Steve and his family are active in their local church, live in an old farmhouse in Enosburg, heat with wood, grow a big garden and a few heifers, and feel blessed every day!

Julie Bean has been working with Northwest Veterinary Associates for 18 years. She began as a part-time worker during her senior year of high school. A few years later it turned into a full time position. She has many different responsibilities in the office and the lab. She also assists with the phone answering every other weekend and some holidays. This involves taking calls from the farmers and relaying them to the veterinarians on call. She has been doing this aspect of her job for a year and a half.

Julie has been married for 12 years and has a five year old daughter. Other family members include a dog and a cat. She loves to spend time with her family, watching a good movie, taking walks, riding bikes, shopping and coloring with her daughter. She also likes to read, garden and decorate.

Debbie Choiniere has been with Northwest Veterinary Associates for five years. She works part-time 3 days a week. She is an assistant to Denise and Julie. Her jobs consist of diagnostic sample preparation to be shipped to various laboratories, cleaning surgical instruments to be autoclaved, preparation of certain medicines, waiting on clients, answering the phone and directing the veterinarians to farm calls via the radio. That's a small portion of her duties. The office workers work very well together, juggling the different jobs that need to be done.

Debbie is married, lives in Highgate and has a cat. She enjoys reading, gardening and yoga.

Denise Choquette has been employed at Northwest Veterinary Associates for 23 years as the Office Manager. She is responsible for taking your calls, bookkeeping and keeping a good inventory for your needs as well as keeping the office and veterinarians working smoothly. Denise comes from a Franklin County dairy family so she really understands your needs and concerns.

She is married and has two grown children. She enjoys ceramic classes, singing in the church choir, reading, crafts, gardening, and spending time with her family and two cats.