Blogs from the Field
A healthy future for wildlife, people, and planet.
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....
October 23, 2025
On the recommendation of Cornell’s Dr. Martin Gilbert, I reached out to Dr. Ashley Reeves, the research veterinarian for the East Foundation, a private nonprofit focused on land stewardship...
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)...
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....
August 26, 2025
What does it mean to care for 1,376 wild animals over the course of a summer? This past summer, I found out firsthand as a hospital extern at WildCare...
June 05, 2025
As a young child, an eager zoo camper, and later a teen volunteer at the Maryland Zoo in my hometown of Baltimore, I was always drawn to the lemurs in the zoo’s collection...
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)....
August 23, 2024
I grab a pair of gloves from the hospital and walk out into the tank area. I am not sure why I put gloves on - 90% of the time they get soaked anyway. As I approach the tank, the other veterinary extern heads into the storage area to grab a net. Turns out there is no need....
July 26, 2024
In October 2023, I had the opportunity to travel to Tasmania, the island state of Australia, to learn more about one of its most iconic species, the Tasmanian devil. Tasmanian devils are the world’s largest carnivorous marsupials, and they play a key ecological role as scavengers and in suppressing populations of invasive species....