Blogs from the Field
A healthy future for wildlife, people, and planet.
May 07, 2025
I entered veterinary school with a strong interest in pursuing a career in zoological medicine. Over the past few years, I’ve been committed to exploring various aspects of the field and making the most of the many opportunities Cornell has to offer....
September 12, 2024
I have always been passionate about wildlife conservation and have been pursuing that career path throughout my veterinary studies. I have used most of my school breaks to go abroad and gain clinical experiences working with a variety of endangered species (notably in South Africa, Costa Rica and my most recent trip to Namibia)....
June 11, 2024
Many have watched episodes of the Animal Planet docuseries “The Zoo,” getting a behind-the-scenes glimpse into the phenomenal conservation, science, and education agenda that is carried out at the Bronx Zoo. As someone interested in zoological medicine, I had always dreamt of training with the Bronx Zoo Zoological Health Program....
January 19, 2024
I had the opportunity to spend this past summer as a wildlife population health extern at the Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study (SCWDS). SCWDS is a collaborative wildlife health partnership based at the University of Georgia (UGA)....
January 03, 2024
My heart hammers in my chest as I unlock the door to the enclosure, my eyes hunting through the mesh to find the animal inside. It’s not just the heat making my palms sweaty as I open the door and duck inside; it’s not just the exercise making me short of breath. Of all the animals in the clinic, this is the one that terrifies me the most: the one-armed, two-toed sloth named Ace....
December 20, 2023
On an early Saturday morning in late September 2021, I was half-awake when I logged in to attend the virtual Veterinary One Health Association Symposium. The first presenter was Dr. Laurie Marker, who I then learned was the Founder and Executive Director of the Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF)....
November 21, 2023
Did you know that the second most common cause of injured sloths coming into rescue centers is electrocution? If not, you are in the majority. There is little to no literature about sloth electrocution in the academic world, even though it is such a pervasive problem.
November 08, 2023
For my last summer before clinical rotations, I wanted to gain experience with marine animals. I was accepted as an intern with the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) Marine Mammal Rescue & Research (MMRR) program in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, a unique geographical area where tides and coastlines can suddenly trap a dolphin or whale in inches of water....
October 11, 2023
We strap on our snorkel gear and jump into the blue. It only takes a few butterfly kicks to reach a citadel bustling with life. Within seconds, we are greeted by branching, massive, and laminar structures formed by hundreds of genetically identical individuals....
September 13, 2023
It was 5:30 am and I was already sweating when I stepped out of my wooden sleeping hut and into the steamy dawn at Nepal’s Chitwan National Park. It was already 85°F but would reach 105°F before noon. I was up before the sun to complete my summer intern research project - a census of free-roaming domestic dogs in the park’s buffer zone....