By Carolina Baquerizo, Cornell DVM '24

This past spring, I completed a preceptorship at White Oak Conservation in Yulee, Florida with support from the Cornell K. Lisa Yang Center for Wildlife Health’s Student Support Fund. White Oak Conservation is an Association of Zoos & Aquariums-accredited facility in northern Florida dedicated to “saving endangered wildlife and habitats through sustainable assurance populations, expanding education initiatives, and responsible land stewardship.” I had previously interned with the South-East Zoo Alliance for Reproduction and Conservation (based at White Oak) in 2021, where I completed a research project on assisted reproduction in cheetahs. I was excited to return to join the veterinary team for a six-week preceptorship.

As the White Oak preceptor, I was exposed to capture and anesthesia protocols, diagnostic tools, and preventative care for various wildlife species. My training involved participating in immobilizations in the field and at the medical hospital to provide veterinary care to animals in the collection. I also practiced catheter placement, blood collection and hand injections, and improved my ability to interpret blood work, interpret radiographs, and discuss treatment plans. At the end of my preceptorship, I gave a presentation to the veterinary and husbandry teams on trace minerals and nutrition in exotic hoof stock. I also lived onsite with animal husbandry interns from across the United States and made many new friends and connections in the zoological world.

The mentorship I received from the veterinarians, technicians, keepers, and educators was invaluable. I appreciated the ability to engage hands-on and for always feeling welcome in each procedure. My experience at White Oak reaffirmed my goal of becoming a wildlife veterinarian, and helped me gain real confidence in my ability to make the best medical decisions for patients, prior to graduating as a veterinarian.

Carolina Baquerizo, DVM ’24, recently graduated from the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine. She received her BS in Biological Science from Florida State University. Carolina began volunteering at Zoo Miami when she was 15 and has had multiple zoological internships since then. Her recent projects include work in Zimbabwe, Uganda, and the United States. She aspires to be a wildlife veterinarian working towards ex situ conservation goals focused on assisted reproduction in zoos and in situ goals focused on human-wildlife conflict and One Health.