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Cornell University

Cornell K. Lisa Yang Center
for Wildlife Health

Blog

Blogs from the Field

A healthy future for wildlife, people, and planet.

A sea turtle positioned at the entrance of a CT machine.
Aquatic Animal Health Zoological Medicine The Student Experience
Aquarium
Aquatic Animal Health
Aquatic Animal Medicine
Aquatic Medicine
Mississippi Aquarium
College of Veterinary Medicine
Student
Student Experience
Student Experiential Learning
Student Learning
Externship
Veterinary Externship
Student Support Fund
Cornell K. Lisa Yang Center for Wildlife Health’s Student Support Fund
Applied Research
Hands-on Experience
Aquatic Animals
Kemp's Ridley Sea Turtle
Dolphins
Necropsy
Anatomic Pathology
Coral
Coral Health
Coral Reef
Coral Reef Ecology
African Penguins
Aquatic veterinary medicine
Release
Wildlife Release
The International Association of Aquatic Animal Medicine Conference

Practicing Aquarium and Rehabilitation Medicine in Mississippi

December 02, 2025
This past spring, I had the opportunity to travel to Gulfport, Mississippi, where I served as a veterinary student extern at the Mississippi Aquarium. It was my first time working at an aquarium, and I loved it....
Erica smiling while squatting down in front of a rhino, touching it through a fence.
Zoological Medicine The Student Experience
Cornell K. Lisa Yang Center for Wildlife Health’s Student Support Fund
Student
Student Experience
Student Learning
Student Experiential Learning
Student Support Fund
Fossil Rim
Fossil Rim Wildlife Center
Zoological Medicine
Zoological Health
Veterinarian
Wildlife Veterinarian
Hands-on Experience
Fieldwork
Diagnostic Tools
wildebeest
Cheetah
Hoofstock
Disease Prevention
Greater One-horned Rhinoceros
American College of Zoological Medicine
Applied Research
Bongo
Free-ranging Wildlife Conservation
Field Anesthesia
Translocation
Wild Felids
Bongos
Preceptorship

Expanding Upon Field Medicine: My Clinical Externship at Fossil Rim Wildlife Center

October 29, 2025
With aspirations of working as a veterinarian in a safari park, I approached the externship with the goal of gaining hands-on experience in field anesthesia and procedures performed under semi-free-ranging conditions....
A person wearing blue gloves is focusing on a tan gerbil as they perform a blood draw from its tail.
Planetary Health The Student Experience
Kruger National Park
Organization for Tropical Studies
Cornell Expanding Horizons
Parasite
South Africa
Skukuza Science Learning Initiative
Fieldwork
microscopic
mice
Hemoparasites
Bird
Bird Host
Zoonotic Disease
One Health
Disease Transmission
Snail
Parasitology
Freshwater
Disease Ecology
Host Ecology
Molecular Diagnostics
DNA
DNA Samples
PCR
Cornell K. Lisa Yang Center for Wildlife Health’s Student Support Fund
Student Experience
Veterinary Student
Foot and Mouth Disease
Ecosystem
Hands-on Experience
Infectious Disease Modeling
Pathogen
dehorning

Parasites, Preservation, and PCRs: A Wild Summer in the South African Bush

October 15, 2025
I had the opportunity to spend two months in the middle of Kruger National Park (KNP) in collaboration with the Organization for Tropical Studies (OTS)...
Victoria is wearing a white lab coat and blue gloves as she measures the girth of a seal using a yellow measuring tape in a clinical lab setting. The seal is lying on a metal examination table. The room is well-lit with industrial-style overhead lights and contains medical equipment.
Wildlife Pathology The Student Experience
Seals
Wildlife Pathology
marine mammal
Strandings Investigation Program
Utrecht University
Externship
Veterinary Externship
Student
Student Experience
Veterinary Student
Free-ranging Wildlife Conservation
Marine Mammal Stranding
Necropsy
Postmortem Examinations
Histopathology
Dutch Wildlife Health Center
Hands-on Experience
Anatomic Pathology
Pathology
Infectious Disease
Cornell K. Lisa Yang Center for Wildlife Health
Student Support Fund
Cornell K. Lisa Yang Center for Wildlife Health’s Student Support Fund
SOS Dolfijn
Stranding

Using Veterinary Pathology to Investigate Marine Mammal Strandings in the North Sea

September 16, 2025 by Victoria Priester
Every seal or porpoise that strands tells a story of the life it lived and how it died, though some findings from necropsies make more complete stories than others....