Free-Ranging Wildlife Pathology Fellow

As the inaugural Cornell K. Lisa Yang Center for Wildlife Health Free-Ranging Wildlife Pathology Fellow, Carmen Smith works to unravel the etiological factors and conditions responsible for unexplained wildlife mortality events, as well as on building sustainable capacity for wildlife pathology, disease surveillance and diagnostic testing around the world. Understanding the causes of mortality events can help to minimize or even prevent future impacts on vulnerable wildlife populations.

Carmen's pathology training was through the Eddie Gould Residency in Zoo and Wildlife Pathology, a collaboration between Cornell University’s College of Veterinary Medicine and the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Bronx Zoo, a program which emphasized disease investigation in domestic animals as well as in free-ranging and captive wildlife. Carmen’s special interests include developing molecular tools and diagnostic technologies. His previous research experience spans terrestrial and aquatic species, including projects related to Mycobacterium in marine species and isosporosis in passerine birds. As a veterinary student, Carmen worked alongside pathology faculty at IPB University in Bogor, Indonesia to help summarize the causes of mortality of free-ranging Javan and Sumatran rhinoceroses.

As a veterinary pathologist, Carmen acts as a disease detective, piecing together macroscopic, microscopic, molecular as well as chemical clues to unmask and identify pathogens or other causes of illness. In order to conserve wildlife, it’s critical to identify the causes of population declines. Carmen aims to use this unique fellowship to enrich our understanding of the threats facing the diversity of species and ecosystems our faculty and partners around the world are tirelessly working to protect.