Meet the Team

With my career, I’ve gone “Full Circle” and had a wonderful journey thus far. I began my veterinary career with Makawao Veterinary Clinic after graduating from UC Davis Vet School. Working with Dr. Cleghorn and Dr. Rice fueled my interest in all creatures with an emphasis on equine health. Looking for another adventure, our family (my wife Shae and two children Rylie and Aiden) relocated to New Zealand in 2007 where I enjoyed my equine work especially with sport horses. 

Several times a year I returned to Maui to work for Makawao and Dr. Brian Atwell. In 2016, our family returned to Maui with one more little one, Arlo, and I rejoined the Makawao team full-time. With the unfortunate passing of Dr. Atwell, I elected to become the new owner in 2019 and manage the clinic with the longtime mission of compassionate care, excellent service, state of the art medicine/surgery, and the feeling of Ohana. Over the past several years my professional interests have expanded, and I devote much of my time furthering my expertise on small animal orthopedic surgery.

When it’s time to play, I can be found surfing, kiting, hunting and travelling with the family.

Dr. Butler came to Makawao Veterinary Clinic from Arizona in 2010. His undergraduate years at the University of Arizona, immersed in science, is where he began his road to Veterinary medicine. Working as a lab assistant, animal and human nutrition research became one of his early career interests. Later, at Colorado State University, Dr Butler explored all aspects of veterinary studies, including exotics, food animal, and small animal practice. Small animal and exotic practice in Arizona from 1991 to 2010 provided many opportunities to educate clients and help their patients. Wellness care, nutrition, dermatology and alternative medical therapies all allowed Dr Butler to improve and expand his ability to care for the patients here on Maui when he arrived.At our hospital Dr Butler is the Senior associate. He cares for dogs, cats and occasional pocket pets. He is skilled at ultrasound and internal medicine assessment but also consults on surgical cases,  assisting the staff and fellow veterinarians that benefit from his extensive experience. While work time is critical, free time to read on the beach, relaxing with friends at the winery, or exploring the trails and parks with his dogs Mika and MIki keeps Dr. Butler's spirit and energy rising.

Dr. Kehaunani Noa was born and raised in Makawao.  She is a 2003 graduate of Kamehameha Schools Kapalama.  She has a degree in Animal Science from Cornell University and received her DVM from Colorado State University in 2012.  She spent the first 3 years of practice in Waimea on the Big Island of Hawaii.  In 2015, she moved back to Maui and joined the Makawao Veterinary Clinic team.  Since that time, her interests have shifted from mixed animal practice, (horses, goats, cattle, dogs, and cats), to primarily small animal practice, (dogs, cats, and chickens).  Her special interests include canine reproduction, soft tissue surgery, and backyard poultry medicine.

In her free time, you will find her chasing her two little boys around, tending her roses, or rough housing with her French Bulldogs, (Tater and Ava).  Her horse is retired and just gets food and love these days.

Dr. Lisa Stephens was born and raised in small farming communities in Missouri. She was the first in her family to attend college. Attending Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri from 1995-1999 she obtained bachelor's degrees in Biology, Health science, and equine science. While at Stephens College she broadened her equine experiences by riding and showing 5 gaited saddlebreds, hunter/jumpers and Western pleasure while maintaining her barrel horse. She trained horses during undergrad and vet school. She also worked for Equine Medical which fed her interest in equine reproduction. Dr. Lisa attended the University of Missouri College of Veterinary Medicine graduating in 2003. Following graduation, she completed an internship at Equine Sports Medicine and Surgery in Weatherford, Texas. She stayed at ESMS for 6 years running the ICU, performing surgeries, anesthesia, teaching interns/externs, running the hyperbaric chamber, emergency, medicine, lameness, and reproductive services.

Dr. Lisa then started her own equine ambulatory practice in Weatherford focusing on reproduction and neonatal care with wellness, emergency, sale x-rays, and lameness also very prevalent. Her clientele ranged from the top cutting horse, reiners, cow horses, and rodeo horses in the world to the backyard pony. During this time Dr. Lisa raised, sold, and had horses in training for reining, cutting, and roping.
In 2017, Dr. Lisa decided to start providing large animal veterinary relief at Makawao Vet in the off-season from foaling/breeding. Seeing the need Dr. Lisa went to chiropractic school and became certified to adjust not only horses but also cats and dogs. In July 2021, Dr. Lisa “retired” and moved to Maui full time. She now works three days a week at Makawao Vet as a large animal Veterinarian and multiple species chiropractor along with class IV laser treatments. Dr. Lisa is also helping Kauai equine and chiropractic patients. She is willing to fly to Oahu and the Big Island as needed.

Dr. Sarah Woodworth is originally from Southern California and grew up playing in the ocean and catching lizards in the desert. She began working at an avian and exotic animal practice at the age of 14. She received her Bachelor of Science degree in Entomology from the University of California, Davis, and then earned her DVM from UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine in 2010. After over 10 years of working at small and exotic animal practices in Northern California, her family decided to make a lifestyle change and relocate to Maui.

In addition to working with dogs and cats, Dr. Woodworth has a special passion for exotic companion animal species such as reptiles, birds, small mammals, and fish. 

Dr. Woodworth enjoys spending time with family, water activities, and Taekwondo.

Dr. Marina Boucher grew up in North Carolina, spending many hours performing horse husbandry to support her passion for Western riding. She graduated from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, where she became interested in the One Health Initiative while researching honey bee behavior. Relocating to Florida, Marina worked for the South Florida Wildlife Center before specializing in birds of prey at the Frost Museum of Science. She then fulfilled her lifelong dream of becoming a veterinarian by obtaining her degree from the University of California at Davis. During this time, she worked on a project to improve animal health and food production in Nicaragua and volunteered at an animal clinic in Costa Rica. Upon graduation, she began practicing at the South and Central Maui Animal Clinics. Marina loves surfing, so the opportunity to practice in Maui is truly ideal, and she is grateful to serve the pets of Maui while experiencing Hawaiian culture.

Christy Haines grew up in Upcountry Maui and graduated from Seabury Hall in Makawao. She has a degree in biology from the University of Virginia and received her DVM from Colorado State University. She then completed an equine internship at Blue Ridge Equine Clinic, a referral and surgical center for horses in Virginia. She moved back home to do her part to take care of Maui’s community in 2021. She currently treats large animals (horses, goats, sheep, alpacas and cows), and is trained in acupuncture for both large and small animals. She is also available to help elderly or sick patients pass on with dignity with in-home euthanasia.

Christy loves spending time with her horse, Gavin, and her dog, Dash. She grew up riding hunter jumpers on Maui and switched to playing polo in college and veterinary school. Now she and Gavin mostly enjoy riding through the fields near the clinic. She also enjoys stand-up paddle boarding with her family and snowboarding when she has the chance.

Dr. Lauren L. Knobel came to Maui from Oahu in 1970 growing up in Olinda and eventually settling in Kula. She completed her undergraduate degree at Mills college in Oakland in 1984, receiving her Doctorate in Veterinary Medicine in 1990 from Colorado State University as a Hawaii state sponsored WICHE student. As a practice owner in the Bay Area , Dr. Knobel has strong interests in practice development, client education, internal medicine, dentistry, behavior, and rehabilitative medicine.

Since her return to Maui early this year to be closer to family, she enjoys gardening, sailing, spending time with family and friends and has rediscovered her love of horses and trail riding. Her rodeo days may not be gone after all!

Growing up on a horse farm an hour from Montreal, Dr. Sarah Poitras-Wright always knew she wanted to be a veterinarian. Having a very strong passion for horses lead her to opt for an equine veterinary career.

She graduated from veterinary medicine at University of Montreal in 2006. During her summers she did multiple externships throughout the U.S. to master skills offered in different facilities, (Hagyard Davidson McGee, Tennessee Equine Hospital, Monocacy Equine, Cornell University).  In 2007 she completed her Equine Internship at the University of Montreal.
Her diplomas in hand, she opened her solo equine veterinary practice on the south shore of Montreal. Her practice grew rapidly with excellent client satisfaction ratings and clinical outcomes. 

In 2011, she was offered a position as an Equine Ambulatory Veterinary Clinician at University of Montreal where she could keep treating the clientele she had developed while being accompanied by last year students and interns.

During her 15 years of equine practice she accumulated a wide experience with lameness, ultrasound, radiograph, ultrasound guided injections, wounds, behavior issues, colics, dentistry, pediatrics, reproduction, skin issues, eye issues, metabolic problems, laminitis, etc…

Alongside with her veterinary work, animals have been a very important part of her life, from rescuing injured animals, to helping at a local dairy goat farm, she progressed to having a farm of her own with her husband and two children on the Southshore of Montreal with gardens, fruit trees, a maple bush, ponies, horses, a milking cow, milking sheep, rabbits, fantasy chickens, fantasy birds, hedgehogs, cats, gerbils, dogs, and bearded dragons.

In 2019, Dr Sarah and her husband visited Maui for the first time and fell in love with the Aloha. Dreaming about the island for two years, she accepted the Mixed Species Veterinary position at Makawao Veterinary Clinic. This position is fulfilling a long time dream of treating animals of any species: horses, dogs, cats, small ruminants, camelids, cows, chickens, pigs, and exotics… She is actualy offering services at the clinic as well as at client’s houses or farms in our new fully-equipped mobile unit for those beloved pets.

In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her husband, their two children, and their pet tortoises in their garden at their house in Makawao. The children love nature and animals just as much as their mother, and you can find them gardening, hiking, snorkeling and doing volunteer time in animal shelters or sanctuaries together