Meet
Our Veterinarian Team!
Meet the Veterinarians & Team of Wilvet South 24 Hr. Urgent Care! We’re pleased to provide exceptional vet care for your pets!
Get to know our team!

Dr. Dan Lewer
Originally from St. Paul, MN, Dr. Daniel Lewer earned his B.A. in Biology from Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, MN. After undergraduate schooling, Daniel followed a lifelong passion for studying marine mammals. He did so for almost three years, where his main job was to photograph and assist in the deployment of tracking devices on great whales, seals, and sea lions. His passion for marine mammals and cats and dogs carried him into veterinary school, where he obtained his doctorate in veterinary medicine at Oregon State University in 2008. Upon graduating from OSU, Dr. Lewer practiced both within a mixed animal practice on the beautiful Oregon Coast and provided veterinary care for all the animals at the Oregon Coast Aquarium. Dr. Lewer has subsequently treated and published on how to treat species of all varieties, including but not limited to cats, dogs, seals, sea lions, sea otters, and various avian and reptilian species. He is a member of the Oregon Veterinary Medical Association, the American Veterinary Medical Association, the International Association for Aquatic Animal Medicine, the Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care Society, and the American Animal Hospital Association.

Dr. Emily Kalenius
Dr. Emily Kalenius is a lifelong Oregonian. She graduated first in her class from Oregon State University College of Veterinary Medicine in 2008. She has lived in the Corvallis area since moving with her husband to start veterinary school in 2004. She has two daughters, a dog, a cat, and a hamster. Dr. Kalenius’ areas of interest include emergency and critical care, internal medicine, cardiology, and ultrasound. Dr. Kalenius started at Willamette Veterinary Hospital in Corvallis in 2013 and continues in her capacity as Medical Director there. She was thrilled to be part of the Wilvet expansion into Salem. As an owner and Chief Medical Officer at Wilvet Salem, Dr. Kalenius enjoys working as an ER clinician, training interns, coordinating continuing education, and working to continuously improve Wilvet’s high standards of medicine – every patient, every chart, every time! When not at work, you might find Dr. Kalenius enjoying the great outdoors — running in the McDonald Forest, downhill skiing, and hiking with her family.

Dr. Laura Couser Bennett
Dr. Laura Couser Bennett has been practicing emergency medicine since 2016 and has been at Willamette Veterinary Hospital in Corvallis from May 2018 until the opening of Wilvet South.
Dr. (Couser) Bennett grew up in Tennessee & Georgia and received her undergraduate degree in Biology at Georgia Tech. Craving a change of scenery, she moved to Pullman, WA, to attend veterinary school at Washington State University. She fell in love with the Pacific Northwest, and upon graduation, she moved to the Willamette Valley, where she has been ever since.
Her professional interests include feline medicine & low-stress handling, pain management & anesthesia, surgery, and wound management.
Outside of work, she enjoys reading, gardening, camping, and spending time outside with her husband, Tim. They live in Eugene with their cats Artie, Lonnie, & Diego.

Dr. Erica Harmon
Dr. Erica Harmon was born on Kodiak Island in Alaska but was raised in Prescott, Arizona. She received a Bachelor of Science degree from Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff. She worked as a veterinary technician throughout her undergraduate and doctorate programs. She received her Doctorate in Veterinary Medicine from Oregon State University in 2013. She then returned to Arizona for nearly five years, working at a small animal practice in Glendale. After this, she returned to Oregon and has been practicing emergency medicine. She is excited to take on the role of an owner and medical director at Wilvet South, where she can further her goals of supporting a healthy, compassionate veterinary care team to provide emergency and urgent care needs to the pets of the greater Springfield area.
Dr. Harmon shares her home with her partner (he is also a veterinarian) and their three dogs and three cats. She knew from a young age that she had a passion for animals. She enjoys many forms of crafting in her free time, such as crocheting, scrapbooking, and jewelry making/beading. She also enjoys spending time outside with her dogs, fishing, gardening, camping, and lounging around her house with her cats and plants.

Maribel Martinez
Maribel joined our team in June 2010. She was born and raised in Las Vegas, NV. She graduated from Oregon State University with a degree in Zoology. She is the youngest of five children and has had many pets. She is currently sharing her home with her fiancé, Nick, her three cats: Azriel, Booties, and Mau Mau, and her spunky Jack Russell Terrier, Biter.

Dr. Aimee Reed
Dr. Aimee Reed enjoys working with animals of all kinds and will provide excellent care for your exotic pets. She has worked
as a zookeeper, a wildlife rehabber, an aquarist, a teacher, and a biologist before attending the UC Davis School of Veterinary
Medicine. After vet school, she arrived in Oregon to study viruses at Oregon State University, then also became a Certified Aquatic Veterinarian in 2014, then Board Certified Veterinary Microbiologist in 2016. She has traveled and
given lectures in aquatic animal medicine and microbiology at many places worldwide. Her veterinary experiences
vary, as she has worked in zoos, aquariums, farms, small animal hospitals, aquaculture facilities, and private consulting firms. She lives in Corvallis and has a horse and two cats.

Dr. Melissa Wilberger
Dr. Melissa Wilberger was born and raised in Springfield, Oregon, and started her veterinary career as a veterinary assistant after high school. She received her Bachelor of Science from Pacific University in 2006 and completed her Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine at Oregon State University in 2012. She soon returned to Springfield and worked in a small animal practice for nine years. There she developed her interests in ultrasound diagnostics, Veterinary Orthopedic Manipulation, and surgery. She has since decided to join Wilvet South to immerse in emergency and urgent care medicine.
Dr. Wilberger and her husband enjoy the antics of 3 children, and their modest zoo consists of dogs, a cat, horses, cows, a turtle, and even a few fish. She enjoys horse riding, playing musical instruments, reading, wakeboarding, and enjoying life with her family.

Dr. Alcántar

Dr. Kaitlynn Samborsky
Dr. Kaitlynn Samborsky originally hails from Ohio but has lived around the world. Dr. Samborsky initially worked as a zoo keeper and helped reintroduce wildlife to their native homes. She developed a passion for veterinary medicine through these experiences, so she returned to school. Kaitlynn received her Veterinary Medicine Doctor in 2021 from St. George’s University. After graduating, she moved to Corvallis as a Small Animal Rotating Intern at Oregon State University. She moved to Southern Oregon to work as the Veterinary Intern at Wildlife Safari. In her downtime, Dr. Samborsky loves kayaking, hiking, and, most of all, chilling at home with her pet fish (Mike and Hermione) and snails (Gus and Gary).

Dr. Crystal Cisneros
Bio Coming Soon!

Dr. Craig Seyler
Outside of work, he enjoys biking (dirt and road), hiking, and rock climbing. The most important work he does is doing his best to raise three fun and crazy kids with the help of his tuxedo cat Benji, and his wonderful wife.

Kaylah Tartaglio
Kaylah is excited to be immersed in the veterinary medicine world. She is a science student in college and loves to learn. She is the middle of five children and grew up with various pets. Kaylah is a dog mommy to her sassy and sweet 17-year-old childhood dog, Allie. Kaylah shares a home with Allie and her fiance, Tommy.

Sonya Curtis
CVT
Sonya was born and raised in California. She has worked in numerous clinics all over the United States, but is more than happy to call Oregon her home. She obtained her CVT status in 1987, and has been working as a CVT ever since then. She did take a couple of years off to serve in the United States Navy. She has had multiple pets over the years and they were all rescues. She currently has only 1 four legged kid, her name is Magic. She loves going to the coast during the summer and walking on the beach. In the winter she loves going to the mountains and snowmobiling. When not doing that, she loves doing woodworking.

Hilary Garibay
My name is Hilary Garibay. I am a relief ER/ICU nurse. I’ve been an ER veterinary nurse for the past six years. I am married to my high school sweetheart of 29 years. Have two human kids and one fur child named Ripley. I love veterinary medicine and fur babies!

Rosie Bullock
Rosie joined Wilvet South as a Veterinary Nurse upon its opening in November 2022. She comes from a history of working in human emergency medicine, public health, and general practice animal medicine. Rosie has been enrolled in a Veterinary Nursing program for three years. She is drawn deeply to veterinary medicine’s ability to offer a meaningful reprieve of injury, discomfort and illness to our furred, scaled, and feathered friends. Rosie grew up in Boston and eventually headed north to Vermont to study environmental health issues and continue waiting for her acceptance letter to wizarding school, where she hoped to train in the care of magical creatures. Rosie then turned west to Oregon, where she has happily lived for ten years. She can usually be found close to a beast, a book, and a double bacon cheeseburger.

Sarah Pruett
Sarah is a vet assistant who loves dogs. She has two dogs of her own; a bull terrier Tucker and a German shepherd border collie mix, Cooper. She loves vet med because she loves all the animals she sees. She also loves learning how to help them.

Sam Brockey
Customer Experience Representative
Sam is new to vet med and started exploring the field last year in Medford, OR. She enjoys the atmosphere of Wilvet South and how everyone is so willing to teach her new things. Her favorite thing so far in vet med is that she gets to see real cases and actually help out with the care of the patients.
Sam is originally from Southern Oregon but moved to Eugene mid-July of this year with her wife Kelci. They have two dogs of their own, a 13-year old McNab and a 7-year old Bullmastiff mix that love camping and exploring the Eugene/Springfield area.

Katherine Wyatt-Lopez
Veterinary Nurse
Kat Wyatt-Lopez has had a life long love and fascination with animals of all types (furry, scaly, feathered, and everything in between!) Kat started her career in veterinary medicine in 2013 and it was then she knew she had found her calling. Since then, she strives to help provide the best care possible for every patient, every time. Kat enjoys doing veterinary charity work and has participated in World Vets spay and neuter clinic in Peru and also assisted in surgery for a Trap, Neuter, Release program in El Paso, Texas. Kat is feline friendly certified by the American Association of Feline Practitioners and has been trained in veterinary dental radiology and comprehensive oral health assessment and treatment by the Veterinary Dentistry and Oral Surgery specialty center in New Mexico.

Brooke Taliaferro
Brooke has worked emergency, speciality, and day practice medicine. Her love for ER medicine has won. Brooke has a horse named Pheonix & a rottweiler named Maive. She is a psychology major. In her free time she loves serving the community by volunteering through shelters and the parks department. In addition she enjoys backpacking, marketing, hiking, and horseback riding. Brooke is also running our blood program, social media, and mental health program!

Mackenzie Hancock
Veterinary Nurse
Mackenzie Hancock is an animal lover at heart. She grew up in the Eugene area while raising her lab puppy Alice. Seeing Alice grow up ignited her love of all animals. Mackenzie has been in Veterinary Medicine for 3 years and is currently studying to become a Vet nurse. When she isn’t caring for animals, Mackenzie likes hanging out with friends, walking her dog Alice, and traveling. She loves the process of being in a fast-paced environment with animals and seeing the joy on their faces when leaving the clinic.

Mary Peterman
Veterinary Nurse Assistant
Mary is a vet assistant with a passion for animal care. She grew up in rural Illinois on a small acreage farm and graduated from Western Illinois University with a Bachelor’s in zoology. From 2019-2022 she lived all over the country before settling here in Oregon with her cat and dog. Mary enjoys working with all animals, from livestock to exotics. In her free time, Mary goes hiking with her dog and enjoys painting.

Julie Preston-Sauter
Bio coming soon!