The Coastal Team

Brian Evans, DVM, Founder

Dr. Evans is a San Diego native. He moved away to begin the pursuit of his undergraduate and veterinary degree from the University of California, Davis. He completed his B.S. in Biology: Neurobiology, Physiology, and Behavior. Throughout his time in Davis, he played for the men’s volleyball team, spent a quarter in Costa Rica learning tropical biology, then spent a quarter to be part of a research team in the jungles of Peru studying the Black and Chestnut eagle.

After receiving his veterinary degree, he set off to New York City to participate in arguably the most intensive internship in the country.  During the year, he was trained by some of the top veterinarians in emergency and critical care, internal medicine, surgery, ophthalmology, cardiology, neurology, pathology, and radiology. There he started his first mobile veterinary practice and traveled to each of his appointments with his black medical bag via the NY subway system.  Upon his return to San Diego in 2007, he re-started his housecall practice which then allowed him to open Coastal Animal Hospital. He founded The HANA Fund, a 501(c)3 non-profit corporation dedicated to providing free and low cost veterinary care to homeless and financially needy families. He is also the Clinical Director of Dutch and a veterinary advisor to MyPetPath. He was on the board of directors of the Independent Veterinary Practitioners Association and is the past president of the Leucadia 101 Main Street Association. He is also a black belt in the Korean martial art Tang Soo Do. He has a core belief in shopping local small businesses and would like to encourage those ideals and philosophies in the community. In his free time, he enjoys surfing, camping and hiking, and traveling. Dr. Evans lives in Leucadia with his family including his dog, Sia, 2 leopard geckos, and his 3 opinionated chickens.

Ryan Tedder, DVM, Associate Veterinarian

His professional interests include radiology and imaging, soft tissue surgery, and pet owner/ parent education. When he is not at the clinic, his wife and two kids keep him busy surfing and playing at the beach, hiking, mountain biking, splashing at the pool, and exploring museums.

Christopher Clark, DVM, Associate Veterinarian

Joseph Ecker, DVM, Associate Veterinarian

Dr. Ecker grew up in Encinitas and Carlsbad before he attended UC Santa Barbara, where he earned his undergraduate degree in Cell and Developmental Biology. Dr. Ecker then returned home and worked at a local biotechnology company for several years before graduating from Western University College of Veterinary Medicine in 2011. Immediately following veterinary school, Dr. Ecker completed a rigorous one-year rotating internship at the Veterinary Specialty Hospital of San Diego where he was trained by board certified experts in the areas of internal medicine, surgery, emergency, critical care, ophthalmology, neurology, dermatology, dentistry, radiology, cardiology and oncology. Dr. Ecker then chose to undergo additional training in surgery by completing a second one-year surgical internship.

Tiffany Sheldon, DVM, Associate Veterinarian

Dr. Sheldon is originally a Florida native from beautiful Miami Beach. Growing up she was, and still is, an animal lover and outdoor enthusiast.  In 2013, Dr. Sheldon obtained her Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine from the Louisiana State University. As a kid she enjoyed watching the Emergency Vets show on Animal Planet with Dr. Kevin Fitzgerald, and it was this show that originally inspired her to want to become a veterinarian. During her final year of veterinary school, Dr. Sheldon was fortunate enough to have her life come full circle and work directly with her idol, Dr. Fitzgerald, in an externship program at the very same hospital where the show was filmed, some 15 years later!

Rachel Plasterer, DVM, Associate Veterinarian

Dr. Plasterer is a California native who was born and raised in the Bay Area. In elementary school, her biggest dream was saving all the National Parks and as a 9-year-old used to tell everyone that she wanted to be the Secretary of the Department of the Interior…or a vet if that didn’t work out. She attended University of California, Davis for her undergraduate education receiving a bachelor of science in Wildlife Biology with a specialization in Wildlife Health. And yes, she does have plenty of cute duckling photos to share from her time in waterfowl research. She worked for a few years as a Wildlife Biologist, Veterinary Assistant, and Wildlife Rehabilitator prior to returning to UC Davis for her Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine.

Lauren Colby McCormick, DVM, Associate Veterinarian

Dr. Colby grew up in Encinitas before heading to UC Davis to pursue a bachelor’s degree in Neurobiology, Physiology, and Behavior. She graduated from the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine in 2016 with a focus in small animal medicine. She next moved to New York City to complete a rigorous one-year rotating internship at BluePearl Pet Hospital where she was trained by board-certified specialists in internal medicine, critical care, surgery, radiology, cardiology, ophthalmology, dermatology, neurology, anesthesiology, and oncology.  Dr. Colby worked as a general practitioner in a private practice in New York City for two years before moving back to her home state of California. She spent four years building upon her medical, surgical, and dentistry skills at a private practice in Northern California before heading back to San Diego.

Dr. Colby has special interests in internal medicine and dermatology. She knows first-hand how meaningful the human-animal bond can be and is dedicated to providing excellent medical care to all of her furry patients.

When not at work, Dr. Colby enjoys hiking, baking, going to the beach, and spending time with her husband and daughter. At the end of a long day, she loves to curl up with a good book and her fluffy gray cat “Gray Kitty,” who she adopted while in veterinary school. 

Jonathan Hayles, DVM, DACVR, Consulting Radiologist

Dr. Hayles is a long time San Diego resident, completing a Bachelor of Science at UC San Diego in Animal Physiology and Neuroscience in 2000. Dr. Hayles completed the Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) program at UC Davis in 2006. After completing his veterinary degree, Dr. Hayles began a competitive one-year rotating small animal internship at the Veterinary Medical and Surgical Group (VMSG) in Ventura, CA. This year included intensive training by veterinary specialists in radiology, surgery, internal medicine, emergency and critical care and oncology. Directly following his internship, Dr. Hayles began a three year radiology residency at Washington State University (WSU) College of Veterinary Medicine. His training in diagnostic imaging was overseen by highly accomplished veterinary radiologists and included small and large animal diagnostic ultrasound, radiography, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), computed tomography (CT), fluoroscopy and nuclear scintigraphy. Concurrently, Dr. Hayles earned a Masters in Veterinary Science (MS) degree, with research focusing on abdominal MRI and correlations to abdominal ultrasound; specifically regarding adrenal gland anatomy.

Bill Herndon, DVM, DACVIM, Consulting Cardiologist

Dr. Herndon attended the University of Arkansas and the University of Central Arkansas obtaining a bachelor’s degree in biology (major) and chemistry (minor).  After graduating from veterinary school at Mississippi State University (2000) he completed his internship and cardiology residency training at the Ryan Veterinary Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia (2003). A portion of his residency included working at Cardiopet VRC in Little Falls, NJ (2001). Early in his career, he performed clinical research focused on evaluating new blood testing for dogs and cats with cardiopulmonary disease.

John Jeffreys, RVT, CVPM, PHRca Practice Manager

John is a Southern California native who was born and raised in Point Loma and moved to North County in 2004. John grew up surrounded by animals and has had a passion for them as long as he can recall. As soon as he was eligible to begin working in the field, he jumped at the chance and became a kennel assistant at the age of 14. John worked his way up through nearly every position within the hospital setting and has also worked in emergency and specialty practices. In January 2008, John paired his clinical experience with his background in microbiology and took his National and State Board Exams to become a Registered Veterinary Technician. John joined the Coastal team in 2011 as our lead technician. Over the years, he transitioned to working behind the scenes managing our growing practice and team. In 2017, John was selected as an Emerging Leader by his peers of the Veterinary Hospital Managers Association. This prestigious award recognizes proven leaders who are talented, ambitious and have a dedication to professional advancement. John joined an elite group in early 2018 when he earned his Certification in Veterinary Practice Management. John is very proud to be one of only several hundred people in the country to hold this designation. John lives in Carlsbad with his husband, their three dogs, “Finley,” “Arnold” and “Lil Mama” as well as their cats “Lynus,” “Herman,” “Doug” and “Bernie.”

Yami G, RVT, Hospital Supervisor, Carlsbad

Yami has worked within the veterinary field for several years, having joined our team the summer of 2012. Yami has been with Coastal almost since the beginning and is an integral part of the team. Since then, Yami has grown with our hospital into the lead veterinary technician and earned her veterinary technician license in July of 2017.  Yami has been a strong advocate for keeping Coastal at the forefront of exemplary veterinary medicine and is always looking for ways to improve patient care. While not at work, she is kept busy with her family adventures, hiking, camping, and finding new restaurants.

Sarah C, RVT, Hospital Supervisor, Encinitas

Sarah joined Coastal at the beginning of 2019, bringing more than 18 years of RVT experience to the team.  After earning her B.S. in Psychology from Frostburg State University, Sarah moved to San Diego where her love of animals helped her earn an A.S. degree in Animal Health Technology from Mesa College in 2001. She became a Registered Vet Tech that same year and has been making a difference in the lives of the animals she helps ever since. Outside of work, Sarah enjoys spending time with her awesome husband Sean, watching football and weekend adventures near her seaside home in Carlsbad. She is also the proud mom to several rescues including three cats, Evy, Roo and Ouisa, and four spoiled dogs: Guapo, Miller, Susan, and Sydney.

Laurie E

Like everyone in the veterinary field, Laurie has been an animal lover as long as she can remember.  She started in the veterinary field back in high school and then graduated from vet tech school where she took her experience from Colorado to Northern California.  She worked as a vet tech for several years until she stepped away to raise her 2 sons and take on family endeavors.  When she stepped back into the veterinary world, she became a patient care advocate (fancy name for receptionist) and worked in a hospital in Northern California until the call of the beach and ocean lead Laurie to make a move to Oceanside.  A referral from one of Dr. Evans’ former veterinary school classmates landed Laurie on the Coastal Animal Hospital doorstep where she loves working with the Coastal Family and all of the furry friends (and their people) that come through the door.  

In her spare time Laurie loves to bike, hike, run and walk her dog Cilla along the beach.  She is also a HUGE sports nut and loves to watch/go to basketball, baseball and especially football games.  She is the most fanatical Minnesota Vikings fan you will ever meet and is also the commissioner of her fantasy football league.  That being said, most times you will find her with Mike (her partner in crime) at the beach taking in ocean/wave therapy.

Leighton G

Leighton has always wanted to work with animals. She graduated from Pima Medical Institue with Honors from their Veterinary Assistant Program in 2008. She dreamed of living in sunny San Diego ever since she was a little girl visiting her family every summer and made that dream a reality in 2010. Once she arrived in California she had the opportunity to learn about marine wildlife and conservation while working in the education department at Sea World for two years. As enjoyable as it was, she wanted to get more experience working with smaller animals. Through the years she worked at two different hospitals in North County but the opportunity for growth and advancement at Coastal Animal Hospital was too good to pass up so she joined the team in January of 2021 as the front desk lead. Outside of the clinic, Leighton loves to spend time with her husband Richard, reading books, going on walks, watching movies and hanging out with friends. Leighton is the proud pet parent to a handsome, toothless tuxedo cat named Murphy.

Reese P, RVT

Reese is a San Diego native who joined Coastal Animal Hospital in May of 2013. She has been involved in the veterinary field since 2010 when she joined the Mesa College Animal Health Technician program here in San Diego. After graduating from San Diego State University, Reese decided to pursue a career she would love. She went back to school and received her degree in Animal Health Technology in 2012, and passed the California State Exam to become a registered veterinary technician (RVT) in October of that same year.  Reese has special interests in anesthesia, dentistry, and pain management.  Reese lives in Encinitas with her family and socially-challenged “pup” Gemini.

Kayla T, RVT, CCRP Canine/Feline Certified Physical Rehab

Kayla was born and raised in Fallbrook, CA surrounded and loved by her horses, dogs, cats, birds, and wildlife.  She grew up competing in rodeos and always had a passion for animal care.  After pursuing her dream, she graduated in 2011 as a Registered Veterinary Technician and now has extensive knowledge and experience in emergency medicine, exotics, rehabilitation, and general practice.  After owning two boxers with many orthopedic issues, she developed an interest in physical therapy for animals.  In 2018, she graduated from a program at the University of Tennessee as a Certified Canine Rehabilitation Practitioner.  She has a soft spot in her heart for boxers and horses.  When she is not working, you can find her working on her artwork business, relaxing at the beach, camping, traveling, and spending summer days on the boat fishing with her husband.  She couldn’t be happier to be a part of Coastal’s team and to care for you and your fur-babies!

Karina O

Karina’s love for animals started with her annual family trips to their ranch in Tepatitlan, Jalisco at the age of four. There she was surrounded by cows, horses, pigs, and even ostriches. She learned the hard work and responsibilities of each animal’s proper care. She attended Mira Costa college and earned her certificate of training to become a veterinary assistant. Her next goal is to become a Registered Veterinary Technician. She is the mother of a chihuahua, a jack russell terrier mix, a hamster, guinea pig, and two goldfish. She enjoys hiking, yoga, reading, and riding quads and jet skis.

Melissa J 

Melissa has been working in veterinary medicine for 12+ years, 4 of which have been with us here at Coastal!  Melissa is passionate about providing all our patients with the most comfortable and stress free visits possible, and really enjoys working with kitties of all sizes.  Melissa is claimed by 2 cats of her own: Lucy and Lennon who definitely keep her busy.  When not at work, Melissa enjoys trips to the beach, hanging out with friends and most all types of fitness activities.

Brittany G.

Brittany B, RVT 

Brittany is from San Diego and has been a vet tech for over 8 years. Her love for animals has been a constant since she was very young with always growing up having dogs and cats in the family. She started as a kennel attendant in her hometown Valley Center while in high school. That’s where her fascination for the veterinary field began. After receiving her Associates Degree in Mira Costa College, she moved to Covina to attend Vet Tech school at Carrington College. Brittany graduated in 2017 with an Associates Degree in Veterinary Technology and officially received her RVT license soon after. Brittany truly loves what she does in the field and could not imagine doing anything else. On her time she enjoys the outdoors, hiking, exploring new restaurants, watching movies, painting and reading.

Kim O 

BIO COMING SOON!

​Juliette V 

Juliette grew up in the central valley of California around cats, dogs, horses, and farm animals and has been an animal lover/advocate ever since. She has 20 years of dog and horse handling experience and has worked in the veterinary field since 2019. She got her start in veterinary medicine at an equine emergency hospital and moved to San Diego in March of 2021 for the opportunity to gain more experience in small animal medicine. In her spare time she is an avid outdoors enthusiast, and loves going on backpacking trips in the Sierra Nevada mountains, as well as spending time on the lake or at the beach with her extended family and friends.

Carlos J 

Carlos was born in Mexico but raised in Oceanside, CA.  He has worked at several Veterinary hospitals since he joined the field in 2005. Carlos enjoys helping clients as much as he does his patients.  He has a special interest in dentistry.  Carlos is currently finishing up his Registered Veterinary Technician education program to become eligible to sit for the National RVT Board exam.  Obtaining his RVT license is a personal goal he hopes to accomplish by the end of the year. Carlos has a soft spot for Chihuahuas as evidenced by the 3 that he owns.  In addition to his dogs, he shares his Carlsbad home with his partner, their 5 cats, 2 rats and 3 goldfish.  When not at work, Carlos enjoys watching movies, drinking wine or just hanging out with his friends.

Sydney E

Sydney’s passion for animals began at the age of 5 when her mother began taking her across the border to Tijuana to feed all the homeless dogs she could find. At 15, she began taking college classes which allowed her to graduate from high school 2 years early. Having started as an English major, she realized her love for animals was stronger and took a break from school to work at an animal hospital. Over the past 2 years Sydney has learned a lot about the veterinary field and animal care gaining new skills such as dog grooming and has even rescued a couple of cold-blooded friends that now call her apartment “home”. Sydney’s goals are to travel the world, camp all over the US, and most importantly advance in the veterinary field. On her days off Sydney enjoys going to concerts, weightlifting, getting tattooed, and taking herself to new restaurants!

Tamara R., RVT

Tamara was born and raised in Oceanside. She has always had an interest in working with animals. It wasn’t until a stray dog came roaming into her front yard that this interest furthered. Tamara and her family happily welcomed this stray into their home, naming her Bella. Unfortunately, they soon realized that she was very sick with parvovirus. They took Bella to their local veterinary hospital where they decided they were not going to give up on her. Throughout Bella’s treatment and recovery, Tamara developed a very strong interest in veterinary medicine. Not only did Bella survive parvovirus, she is now a happy and healthy senior dog. Tamara began her first job in the veterinary field in 2013 and achieved her goal of becoming a registered veterinary technician in 2018. In 2021, she became a part of the Coastal Animal Hospital team. She is an advocate for fear free practices and is always striving to learn new ways to help comfort your fur baby in stressful times. Outside of work, she enjoys spending time with her family and working out.

Michelle B

Michelle grew up in Del Mar and lives locally in Encinitas now. With her love of animals, Michelle got into animal health sales after graduating from SDSU with a Business Marketing degree. She sold to small animal and equine veterinary hospitals for about 25 years in CA and AZ. With a break from sales, she got her Certificate in Social Media for Business from Mira Costa College. Then an opportunity came up to manage a Veterinary Hospital in Del Mar for 3 years. Making a change but staying in the veterinary field, she started working as a Client Service Representative. Wanting to be at a top rated, progressive hospital, Michelle found Coastal Animal Hospital. She loves her co-workers, clients and the wonderful variety of patients! She says, “It’s so rewarding being a part of helping improve and enrich dog and cat lives every day.” She lives with her husband Warren, her Rhodesian ridgeback Roxy and her Siamese cat Bridget. They enjoy spending their time with family, exploring San Diego, tai chi chih, gardening, biking and most of all taking their camping trailer out visiting local lakes and mountains with their dog Roxy.

Kailey M

Kailey started in the veterinary field in 2017 as a kennel tech and fell in love on the first day. She worked her way up to vet assistant and from there spent years training in the field to become a veterinary technician. Her love of animals stemmed from being surrounded by her family’s dogs and going to her Aunt’s ranch to ride horses almost every weekend growing up. Her favorite hobby is Axe throwing and she also enjoys spending time with her friends and family or exploring around San Diego. Kailey is passionate about animals and the veterinary field; her goal is to become a Registered Veterinary Technician in the future. Kailey is happy to be a part of our team and can’t wait to meet you and your furry family member!

​Elvys F

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​Jessica “Sprout” S, RVT

Sprout has had a love for animals her whole life. She love Orca’s and started her pre-veterinary path with marine biology and oceanography at Mira Costa. After 2 years she moved up to Orange County and started her 23+ year. She has 16+ years in general practice with 12 of those being with avian and exotics and another 9-10 years in ER and Specialty medicine. She received her RVT license in 2008 and is considering going for her specialty license for ER/critical care. She has been an instructor and a mentor and loves helping, teaching and training. She is a mama to a crazy English bully named Gravy, a Heinz 57 Corgi mix named Bolt, and two Tuxedo litter mate foster fails, Harley and Atreyu. She also is proud of her biggest beast of all, her thoroughbred mare – Honour. She grew up with horses and loves to ride.  A self proclaimed desert rat, she also loves to offroad and ride her quad. She also love to relax and color or oil paint and enjoy the sun and the sand.

Ashley G

Ashley has always had a special place for animals in her heart since she can remember. Since she was little she would say that her dream job was to work with animals. Ashley started working in the veterinary field in September of 2021 as a kennel technician and is now working up front as a receptionist. She grew up with all sorts of pets ranging from dogs, cats, lizards, tarantulas, snakes, ferrets, hedgehogs , fish, turtles, birds, etc. Her family has A LOT of patience with her always bringing home hurt/stray pets whenever she could. Ashley hopes that in the future she gets the opportunity to become a Veterinary Assistant or Technician. In her free time you will find her and her husband Abel cruising down the coast on his motorcycle or at car meets. They also love spending time outdoors with their fur baby Milo or with Jewels (Turquoise Green Cheek Conure).

​Ava P

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​Brandy E

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​Karie E, RVT

Karie, originally from Los Angeles, received as A.S. in Animal Health Technology at Mesa in San Diego in 2021.  She then received her RVT license in October of 2022 but has had a passion for animals since a very early age of whelping puppies. She is a proud mother to Makayla, a spunky 9 year old redhead, Marvel a Tijuana rescue and Hunter a sassy orange DSH. Karie makes jewelry for ETSY in her free time, enjoys playing soccer and loves to hike and be in nature as much as possible.

​Leslie M, RVT

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