Meet the Team!
Kate Graham
Owner, Director of Training
Kate has been involved in the canine industry for over 15 years, competing in conformation, obedience, rally, agility, tracking, nosework and hunt tests. She graduated from the State University of New York at Cobleskill with a bachelor's degree in canine sciences and went on to work with breeding programs for several national service dog schools. Kate worked at a private practice veterinary hospital as a head vet tech and reproductive services manager. During her time working at the veterinary hospital, Kate taught dog training classes for pet owners, focusing on basic obedience, puppy foundations, and competitive obedience training.
Since 2013, Kate has been breeding and training detection K9s that have been sold to police departments, government agencies, and search and rescue teams under the Katalyst Kennels name.
Kate is an active Associate Member of the North American Police Work Dog Association, International Police Work Dog Association, and various sport dog clubs, and holds her Certified Professional Dog Trainer credentials through the Certification Council for Professional Dog Trainers.
Kate is an active search and rescue handler with two operational dogs; Taboo, who is certified in human remains detection, and Wicked, who is certified in trailing and article search.
Senior Lead Trainer
Avery Schneider
Avery’s passion for dog training began at an early age when she participated in 4H and local training classes with her family dogs. Avery studied animal science and canine behavior at SUNY Cobleskill. She was an intern at University of Pennsylvania Veterinary Working Dog Center (Penn Vet Working Dog Center), where she assisted in the training of FEMA Search and Rescue Dogs. Avery served as a Canine Search Specialist on the Vermont State Urban Search and Rescue Team (VT-TF1) as well as on Colchester Technical Rescue. She brings experience as an instructor in police detection work; including five years as an instructor for canine teams at the Vermont Police Academy.
Avery currently serves as a Patrol Deputy at the Rutland County Sheriff’s Department in Vermont. Avery is a member of North American Police Work Dog Association and handles Charge, who is certified in human remains detection.
Olivia Hall
Assistant Trainer, Animal Caretaker
Olivia has worked for Katalyst Kennels since 2021 and has loved every second of it! She currently owns and competes with her Katalyst Lab, Marty, in AKC obedience, rally, and scentwork. Her interest in dogs comes from 9 years in the 4-H Dog Program.
Olivia is currently studying Criminal Justice with a concentration in Investigative Services at the University of New Haven and hopes to pursue a career in Law Enforcement.
Allison Romano
Program Facilitator & Office Manager
Allison has worked for Katalyst since May 2022 and throughly enjoys it. In addition to working at Katalyst, she majors in Nursing at Quinnipiac University. She also went to Wamogo and participated in their Vet Science program where her love for dogs blossomed. She has her own dog named Poppy and they compete in AKC obedience and rally.
Alli handles the receptionist side of things, like emailing and vaccines. She also schedules all of our classes and programs!
Leah Manual
Trainer, Animal Caretaker
Leah has worked at Katalyst since August 2022. She received her bachelors degree from SUNY Cobleskill in Canine Training and Management. While at SUNY Cobleskill she learned how to properly train canines for obedience and several different sports. She also studied the different individual behaviors of canines. In her final semester she was selected to be part of an amazing internship with New York State Fire, as part of the K9 ignitable liquid detection teams. She trained canines and their handlers for arson detection. Leah has two dogs of her own Brody and Fe. She competes in scent work with Fe.
Alex Esandrio
Trainer, Animal Caretaker
Alex has worked at Katalyst since January of 2023. Her experience working with animals began when she attended an agricultural high school. There she was introduced to a dog training course and had hands on experience handling, grooming, and training dogs. This sparked her passion and she continued on to pursue an education as a certified CATCH canine trainer. Afterwards she taught basic obedience classes, private lessons, and worked along side service dog teams for years. She has a dog of her own named Joy.
SUNY Interns
Katalyst Kennels is proud to host interns from the State University of New York (SUNY) at Cobleskill’s Canine Training and Management program.
Student interns spend a semester working at Katalyst Kennels to learn industry best practices and hone their hands-on skills. This program is the first four-year degree program of its kind in the country.
You can learn more about the SUNY program here: cobleskill.edu/academics/schools/agriculture-and-natural-resources/animal-science/canine-training-management.aspx