Blogs from the Field
A healthy future for wildlife, people, and planet.
June 10, 2026
I was still in pajamas when I ran down to the beach. Drone in one hand, a drybag slung over my shoulder, I picked my way over slick, uneven rocks from the cabin to the shoreline....
May 11, 2026
by
Victoria Priester
California is home to an extensive array of landscapes and wildlife: deserts with bighorn sheep and kit foxes, coastlines home to marine mammals and shorebirds, dense mountain forests hiding prowling mountain lions, and mountain meadows where wolf packs run....
May 01, 2026
As a Disease Investigations extern at the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, I worked with a team of veterinary pathologists and research associates to learn firsthand how studying the cause of death in an individual animal can help improve the health and welfare of the remaining population....
April 07, 2026
Thanks to Cornell’s Expanding Horizons program, I had the opportunity to complete a project at The Sloth Institute in Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica. TSI is a non-profit organization dedicated to rescue, rehabilitation, research, and public education, with a strong emphasis on sloth health, behavior, and overall well-being in both wild and rehabilitation settings....
March 30, 2026
The AQUAVET® I program provides valuable hands-on experience in aquatic veterinary medicine to fill a critical gap in traditional veterinary curricula. Seven students from the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine had the opportunity to attend this incredible program last summer....
March 19, 2026
Since the start of my veterinary education at the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine, I knew I wanted to work with unique species. I made sure to take advantage of every opportunity available to me...
March 10, 2026
Each spring brings familiar and unfortunately common threats to wildlife conservation along the California coast. Northern elephant seal pups, born in the first months of the year, are weaned from their mothers, leaving them vulnerable as they learn to find food on their own....
March 02, 2026
by
Victoria Priester
The phone rings. There are 3,500 shorebirds suspected to be affected by the crude oil spill. This was a fictional but realistic scenario I faced on my first day at the 2025 Wildlife Disease Association Conference in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada....
February 20, 2026
This past summer, I traveled to Australia to serve as a veterinary student extern at the Taronga Wildlife Hospital located in Taronga Zoo Sydney....
February 11, 2026
Aquatic veterinary medicine began as a dream for me, a field hidden behind the scenes, largely unknown. Still, I knew that someone was providing medical care for the animals at the zoos and aquariums I often admired and learned from throughout my life....