Laura joined the Saint Louis Zoo Institute for Conservation Medicine in 2019. As wildlife veterinarian, Laura helps conduct several of the ICM’s local wildlife health projects, co-teaches an undergraduate One Health course, and mentors ICM interns. She is broadly interested in figuring out how people, and their domestic animals, can more sustainably exist as members of healthy ecosystems alongside wild animals. Laura is particularly interested in the dynamics of disease transmission at the wildlife-domestic animal interface. She first met the ICM team in Kenya in 2012 and was able to assist with the start of their dromedary camel health project. She earned her veterinary degree at the University of California, Davis. Both prior and during vet school Laura worked on conservation projects both in the United States and internationally. Additionally, she led an international, multidisciplinary One Health outreach project during vet school. Prior to joining the ICM team, Laura spent five years in private practice in Oregon and Wisconsin. She’s happy to be returning to the world of wildlife conservation and excited to apply her veterinary skills to One Health challenges.

Education

DVM – University of California, Davis
B.A. – Biology, Middlebury College

Areas of Expertise

Conservation
Ecology
One Health
Clinical Veterinary Medicine