432: Chasing conservation: Forging a path to a career in zoo medicine

Well, I got to ask, because what's your favorite species? What's your why? What do you love?

Oh, man.

OK, I'm going to answer that in kind of phases.

Favorite species.

It's so hard for me to pick one.

I will say my favorite species walking the earth is the African elephant.

However, I don't really love working with them in zoos.

And so my favorite species to work with changes all the time.

You know,

when I was in my residency, I got to do a lot of work with bison and all of a sudden bison were my favorite animals to work with.

And then I had a really special case with a Kiwi and then a subsequent really special case with an alligator.

And so my favorite is always changing depending on what I'm working with.

I think I find myself getting most excited about new

species, something new that I haven't worked with in the past.

You asked about my why.

My why is impact.

I think that has been consistent for me throughout my training process and throughout my decision-making process after residency to not work in a zoo full-time.

I want to make an impact on conservation.

I want to leave this planet a better place than I found it.

And that is

very difficult.

Maybe I can settle for at least just not a worse place than I found it.

But if we can make a little bit of a positive impact, that is what drives me.

And that doesn't just mean going out there and saving a species.

That means inspiring people as well to care about the natural world around us.