Human Remains Instructors

Kathleen is the online program director for The Center for Forensic Training and Education.
Director – Calvary Canine
Evaluator – Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), National Search Dog Alliance (NSDA),
Alliance of Emergency Response Instructors and Examiners (AERIE).
Instructor – FEMA Canine Search Specialist

Kathleen has been training search and rescue dogs since 2003 and is a Canine Search Specialist for FEMA Missouri Task Force One and McLean County Illinois EMA. She has worked both live find and human remains detection dogs and provides K9 assets for local law enforcement and deploys around the country in response to natural and manmade disasters. Kathleen is an instructor and evaluator for multiple national search dog organizations and provides training instruction and certification for K9 teams. Kathleen is the owner of Working Dog Enterprises which specializes in advancing detection dogs through research and education. She is also the co-founder of the Center for Forensic Training and Education Online, an online course platform providing virtual training for SAR dogs. Kathleen also founded Calvary Canine, a non-profit that provides training scholarships to search and rescue handlers. Kathleen is committed to the education of SAR K9 handlers and their dogs and helping ensure quality canine resources are available to communities in their time of need. 

Susan has been involved with K9 search and rescue since 2002. A Certified K9 Handler since 2006. Trained and certified six K9’s; one for FEMA Urban Search and Rescue (live find), and five for Human Remains Detection (Nook-N-Cranny, Gabe, Biba, Tulsa and current partner Bosco). Participation in approximately 130 cases in Illinois, Missouri, Arkansas, Minnesota,Louisiana, Wisconsin, Wyoming, Tennessee, Colorado, Ontario Canada and Saskatchewan Canada. One of the founding members of Advanced K9 Services, based out of central Illinois.

I go by Su and I like to keep things light and fun. Training should be a positive motivational event that keeps all of us invested and coming back. There should be purpose to it that promotes learning for the canine and the team and provides challenges that sometimes result in failure. This is where the most growth occurs. Dealing with that in training translates to the real world.

I started in USAR with FEMA in 2003 in California. I have now certified three dogs for Live Find and after getting in on the ground floor of the HRD FEMA program I have certified two dogs in HRD. My LF and HRD dogs and I have been on several deployments to hurricanes starting with Katrina and, most recently, Ian.

Additionally, my HRD dogs have also been to mudslides and wildfires on the West Coast and have been involved in numerous local searches for missing people. We have had some success in both arenas.

After retiring my husband Jeff and I moved to Texas and now reside in Madisonville. I have transferred to the Nevada FEMA team and travel there monthly to train. My most recent deployment was as a part of that team.

I have a small dog training operation in Madisonville focusing on Live Find and HRD for FEMA handlers and task forces. I love to train dogs, especially puppies, and have never lost my enjoyment of watching the lightbulb come on and a dog rise to his potential. 

My HRD journey began in 2016 which was also the first year I attended CSAR. I am a member of NWI K9 Search and Recovery where I serve as Vice President and Training Coordinator. My K9 Pippa is certified with AWDA for Wilderness Human Remains Detection Land Type IV and Wilderness Human Remains Detection Water Type VI Open Water. We attend national SAR seminars annually and train with great mentors collected along the way. Prior to SAR I participated in dog sports with my retired Aussie Brady which led to instructing Barn Hunt and Scentwork at my Dog Club and Obedience and Agility at a

training facility. Through dog training I was invited to attend an HRD training with my 7 month old Aussie which led to my first CSAR seminar and attending every year it was held since then. In 2023 I applied for the CSAR Orval Banks Apprenticeship Program for the opportunity to work with Su Anderson in a teaching capacity after attending CSAR seminars with her and experiencing her common sense approach and hilarious delivery. My hope was that the experience would benefit my team, CSAR and ultimately the SAR community.  What I bring to CSAR as a trainer is a simple commitment to foundation, patience, independence, progression, stability, exposure and challenge.

Darrin Niemeier is a retired Captain from the Kansas City Missouri fire department. Where he served for 25 years. He joined Missouri Search and Rescue in 2009, being active in the different management committee roles where he is currently serving in the dispatcher position.  Since 2009 he has been actively working a Human Remains Detection K9 and is working his 4th HR K9. Darrin recently certified his 5 HR K9 and is currently training his 1st  electronics detection K9 .  He has conducted countless searches with MOSAR along with several searches across the country for federal agencies, many of which were criminal in nature.  

Darrin is the owner of Storm K9 Solutions, LLC which was formed for the purpose of bringing quality Search and Rescue training to teams across the country.  As a firefighter, he was an instructor at Blue River Community College where he taught fire fighting. This is when his passion and love for teaching was realized.   He learned a lot about the instructor-student relationship and how to communicate with  people at different levels to help them meet their objectives. He also learned the value of a strong foundation and mastering the basics in whatever discipline your learning. Darrin is a big believer in training each dog/handler team as individuals and adjusting training for them. This is reflected in his philosophy in dog training where a foundation and basics are the building blocks of success. 

Jakob is a firefighter/EMT in Lees Summit Mo. He’s been training dogs for 9 years. Including spend time working at the Warrior Dog Foundation kennel in Texas as well as being a trainer for Team Dog Training. Jake is currently working his certified HRD dog Negan. He is a member of Missouri Search and Rescue K9 and is currently serving as training officer. 

Inspired by her service in the US Air Force, Diana Bunch embarked on her search

and rescue career in 1998. She currently serves as the President of Legacy K9

Search Team and Board Member for the National Network of Canine Detection

Services. Diana’s previous roles include Operations Chief and K9 Trainer with the

KlaasKIDS Regional Search Team; K9 Handler and Ground Searcher with

Colorado K9 Search and Rescue; and K9 Handler and Ground Searcher with

Montgomery Search and Rescue.

Throughout her career, Diana has been deployed to assist local, state and federal

law enforcement agencies. She has received numerous accolades for her search

and rescue efforts, including the 2022 Civilian Service Medal from the Escambia

County Sheriff's Office and being named Volunteer of the Year by the KlaasKIDS

Foundation in both 2019 and 2020. Diana holds a Master’s in Adult Education

from Troy University and is a retired Chief Master Sergeant with the US Air Force.

Diana maintains her NASAR SARTECH II certification as well as numerous other

training requirements. She has trained numerous canines throughout her SAR

career in area search, trailing, and human remains detection. She currently has two

certified K9s in Human Remains Detection and has started training a trailing K9.

Diana is passionate about teaching and sharing her knowledge within the search

and rescue community. She looks forward to attending this year’s seminar, eager to

engage with fellow professionals and continue her commitment to enhancing SAR

training and education.

The arrival of an active German Shepherd puppy inspired Melody’s start in the world of search in rescue in 2016. After realizing she needed to do more with her pup, she began researching potential jobs for him and was drawn to search and rescue as an opportunity to give back to her community while working with her pup. Once she saw the amazing abilities of the K9s, along with the dedication and selflessness of their SAR partners, she

was hooked and has been active in search and rescue ever since. 

Melody is currently a member of Legacy K9 Search Team and also serves on the team’s Board of Directors and as their treasurer. She currently has two operational K9s. One is certified in trailing and the other is certified in land and water HRD. They have deployed on numerous missions supporting multiple law enforcement agencies including local, state, and federal agencies. Melody also serves as a CSAR Board member and an HRD

evaluator for NNNCDS. 

As a strong believer in continuing education, Melody worked at furthering her knowledge in K9 training and behavior throughout her career by mentoring under several experienced trainers and serving as an assistant instructor at multiple seminars. She looks forward to sharing the knowledge she has gained from her mentors and also looks forward to learning from the seminar participants as well.