Meet the Wildlife Health Extern

Victoria Priester, a fourth-year veterinary student at Cornell University, has wanted to be a veterinarian for as long as she can remember. Growing up in the Maryland suburbs outside Washington, DC, she spent much of her time working on a horse farm in Maryland during high school. She also has deep family roots in agriculture through her family’s farm in Mississippi, cultivating experiences that shaped both her love of animals and her path toward veterinary medicine.

Her interest in wildlife health sharpened during college, when a conservation seminar assignment led her to research Gorilla Doctors. That project turned into a phone conversation with the program’s Executive Director Dr. Kirsten Gilardi in 2018, an experience that left a lasting impression.

“At the time, mountain gorillas were the only great ape species that were increasing,” Victoria recalls. “I thought it was incredible that preventive medicine and healthcare could help endangered species recover.”

When Wildlife Health Clicked

Wildlife health fully crystallized for Victoria during the summer of 2024 through Engaged Cornell, a One Health program in Uganda working with chimpanzees. Observing habitat fragmentation and close interfaces between wildlife, livestock, and people brought One Health concepts into sharp focus.

“That’s where I really put together how interconnected everything is,” she says. “I knew I wanted to do veterinary medicine that helps animals in their natural habitats, as well as people and the environment they share.”

Climate, Oceans, and Disease

During her externship, Victoria spent two weeks in the Wildlife Health Lab exploring disease ecology. For her extern presentation, she investigated sea star wasting disease, a massive mortality event linked to Vibrio infections and rising ocean temperatures.

More than a billion sea stars have been lost during the outbreak, underscoring how climate change can reshape disease dynamics. These patterns, Victoria notes, extend across marine systems.

“Marine mammals are sentinels,” she explains. “When wildlife is affected by harmful algal blooms or emerging diseases, it often signals larger environmental changes.”

A Broader View of Wildlife Medicine

One of Victoria’s biggest takeaways from this externship was gaining a clearer understanding of  wildlife medicine from the perspective of a government agency. Unlike traditional clinical settings, much of the work involves consultation, investigation, and population-level decision-making.

“Veterinarians are often reviewing videos, talking with biologists, and providing recommendations,” she says. “It’s a very different model from a rehabilitation hospital, and I’ve really grown to appreciate that perspective.”

She was also struck by the level of collaboration across organizations, from state agencies to rehabilitation centers and research institutions, noting the tangible shared goal of improving wildlife health.

Learning the UC Davis Approach to Wildlife Health

A defining part of Victoria’s externship experience has been participating in the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine’s “Wildlife Week”, a dedicated series of lectures and discussions led by experts across disciplines.

As an experiential learner, Victoria especially valued how the externship combines hands-on field experiences with dedicated time for structured, didactic learning.

“It’s been really helpful to step back from constant clinical rotations and focus on the bigger picture,” she says. “Having experts walk through diseases, diagnostics, and differentials gives you a stronger foundation for how to think about cases.”

Through sessions led by UC Davis faculty, agency veterinarians, and collaborators, Wildlife Week introduces students to the complexity of wildlife health, from disease ecology and diagnostics to management decisions at the population level.

That exposure has already begun to shift Victoria’s career perspective.

“Coming in, I thought I wanted to focus on clinical wildlife medicine,” she says. “But hearing from people designing studies and leading research has made me realize how important that work is. I want to be able to contribute to that too.”

The experience has strengthened her interest in advanced training pathways, including UC Davis’ Master of Preventive Veterinary Medicine (MPVM) program and potentially a PhD, pathways that reflect the increasingly interdisciplinary nature of wildlife health careers.

Memorable Field Experiences

Field responses left some of the strongest impressions. Assisting with the assessment of a severely compromised mountain lion alongside veterinarians, biologists, and researchers highlighted both the challenges and teamwork inherent in wildlife work.

“It was a testament to people with different expertise working together for the animal.”

Though not all cases end with recovery, the experiences reinforced the importance of science-based decision-making and coordinated care.

Why Wildlife Health Matters

For Victoria, wildlife health is inseparable from broader environmental and human health.

“Wildlife diseases can be early warning signs,” she says. “What affects wildlife can ultimately affect humans and domestic animals too. It’s all connected.”

This interconnectedness is what continues to draw her toward the field. Whether investigating disease outbreaks, contributing to population-level management decisions, or helping shape conservation strategies, wildlife veterinarians operate at a unique intersection of science, ecology, and public health.

“It’s not only about individual animals,” she adds. “It’s about understanding systems, protecting ecosystems, and recognizing how closely our health is linked with the world around us.”

Advice for Future Wildlife Veterinarians

Victoria encourages students interested in wildlife health to stay curious and proactive.

“Reach out and talk to people. You can learn so much by hearing different paths and experiences.”

She notes that the Karen C. Drayer Wildlife Health Center externship is especially valuable for those interested in free-ranging wildlife and population health.

Victoria’s externship experience reflects the interdisciplinary, collaborative nature of wildlife health and the sense of optimism that draws many students into the field.

“Hope is the baseline.”