Notes From the Field: Veterinary Medicine for Wildlife Conservation

Sharon Deem, DVM, PhD, DACZM

There are a number of field-based wildlife conservation projects with veterinary medicine embedded within. The scope within these projects may include proper animal handling and welfare, wildlife health monitoring, disease outbreak response, wildlife rehabilitation, wildlife translocation and reintroduction, cross-species disease prevention, and biodiversity protection, among others. Using three examples of projects that include veterinary medicine I will demonstrate how veterinary medicine has much to offer in projects from our own backyards to a global reach.  

Beyond Private Practice: Careers in Wildlife Health and Conservation

Sharon L. Deem, DVM, PhD, Diplomate, American College of Zoological Medicine Moderator for a panel discussion

Along with Christine Fiorello, DVM, PhD, Diplomate, American College of Zoological Medicine, Julie Sheldon, DVM, MS, DACZM, and Nicole Stacy, DVM, DrMedVet, DACVP

This will be a panel discussion with wildlife veterinarians working in the field today. The panel will include Sharon L. Deem, Julie Sheldon, Christine Fiorello, and Nicole Stacy. I will moderate and ask the panelists to share their experiences in careers that span from zoological institutions, wildlife rehabilitation centers, universities, and governmental positions. The luncheon will provide discussion for veterinarians that are considering a new direction in their career that may include wildlife health and conservation medicine approaches. The attendee will learn of the variety of opportunities in the wildlife health and conservation fields. There will be a chance for audience questions to the panelists, in addition to the questions I as the moderator will have pre-determined.

The Best Environmental Film of 2023 at the Cineum Cannes Film Festival, Stopping the Next Pandemic, will be aired in its entirety. Dr. Deem who is featured throughout the film will be joined by two other panelists, Drs. Jacco Boon and Krista Milich (WashU in St Louis) and Dr. Kelly Lane-deGraaf (Fontbonne U) as the moderator to discuss how we can all work together to stop the next pandemic.

Dr. Deem is on a panel with other TEDx St Louis speakers. The panel will discuss how to bring your one big idea to the stage. Dr. Deem will discuss One Health and how interconnected is the health of all life.

Dr. Deem was part of a panel discussion on how Mitigating the Impact of Pandemics on Emerging Markets. In her 15 minute presentation, Dr. Deem introduced the One Health movement and how preventing pandemics is the key to mitigating their impacts on emerging markets.

I will deliver 3 lectures at this year’s VMX conference in Orlando, Florida.

These include

8:00 - 9: 15 SPILLOVER AND SPILLBACK: LESSONS FROM A MULTIYEAR PANDEMIC

1:45 - 2:35 A ONE HEALTH APPROACH FOR UNDERSTANDING AND MITIGATING EMERGING INFECTIOUS DISEASES

4:00 - 4:25 EMERGING NON-INFECTIOUS DISEASES OF WILDLIFE

What is One Health? Why is it important? Because human and animal health and their shared environments are closely connected, One Health brings experts across fields together to study, plan, and work to improve health across species and nations. In this free 1-hr webinar, hear Sharon Deem, DVM, PhD, Dipl ACZM, Director, Saint Louis Zoo Institute for Conservation Medicine, discuss how veterinary medicine is impacted by global health and how it impacts the One Health initiative. Dr. Deem will discuss how veterinary professionals play a role in One Health, including how you can help counteract and prevent emerging diseases like SARS-CoV-2.

Register on Heska Website

View Recording Here

Join in on October 7th to learn about efforts in agriculture. I will speak on the One Health approach and how working together we can solve the current planetary health problems of today. I talk at 4:05 PM CDT!

Organized by Public Health Insight and Health Innovation Initiative, One Health Connect 2o21 brings together a panel of three world-leading experts from each of the domains of one health to highlight the importance of transdisciplinary approaches to address present and future challenges that threaten human, animal, and environmental health.

One Health in an Age of Climate Change, Extinctions, and a Pandemic | Sharon Deem

Director of the Saint Louis Zoo Institute for Conservation Medicine (ICM)

@deemsharon

Sharon L. Deem, DVM, PhD, Dipl ACZM is currently the Director of the Saint Louis Zoo Institute for Conservation Medicine (ICM), a role she has held since the ICM was founded in 2011. Sharon uses a One Health holistic approach for wildlife conservation, public health, and sustainable ecosystems to ensure healthy animals, healthy people, and a healthy planet.

In the talk she will offer the opportunities this pandemic gives us and how a One Health approach will allow us to contend with the triple threats of emerging infectious diseases, climate change, and the loss of biodiversity (wildlife species and wildlands). Never has resilience on a global scale been more necessary for human survival—just what the doctor ordered.

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/tedxstlouis-presents-resilience-a-virtual-tedx-event-tickets-115485806155?aff=ebdssbonlinesearch

PANEL: One Health and infectious control

A Time of Great Opportunities: One Health in the Age of Climate Change, Extinctions, and Pandemics

Presenter: Dr. Sharon L. Deem

For this webinar, Sharon will provide a brief overview of One Health—the collaborative effort of multiple disciplines – working locally, nationally, and globally – to attain optimal health for people, animals, and environments.  She will discuss the conservation and public health challenges that demand a One Health approach if we are to have solutions to these threats, and close with examples of the essential roles of veterinarians within One Health. There will be plenty of time for Q and A and discussion.

https://spark.adobe.com/page/OdjLlEJnLDoyx/

This presentation explores the Anthropocene Epoch and the conservation and public health challenges that threaten all populations.  We will emphasize the role of veterinarians in addressing these threats, including how we use our skills to protect animal health and welfare, work for resource conservation, and promote public health. In this talk, we will discuss the challenges and opportunities associated with practicing One Health in the Age of the Anthropocene.

In 5 minutes, I will present One Health and how to get it operating at your zoological institution. This talk is one of many 5 minute presentations which will be shared in an interactive and rapid format. Talks will generate ideas to stimulate wildlife conservation.

Deem will address the impact of environmental change and human interactions on the health of wildlife populations, and discuss her work as a practitioner of One Health: a transdisciplinary approach to promoting optimal health for people, animals and the environment.