Overview of the Envirovet Summer Institute

Our Vision is active, cohesive, impassioned and effective multidisciplinary teams of health and environmental professionals working together to ensure the sustainability of animals, humans and ecosystems.

Our Mission is to educate, inform, engage and inspire veterinarians of all backgrounds and nationalities to become integral members of teams protecting animal, human and ecosystem health in the one living world we share.

We Achieve our Goals by:

• Training current and future veterinarians in all aspects of wildlife and ecosystem health through 8-week immersion style summer courses;

• Ensuring that Envirovet participants have a global understanding of the challenges and solutions at hand by training veterinarians and veterinary students from around the world side by side;

• Partnering with the world's leading experts and  institutions to provide Envirovet participants with real-world, hands-on learning;

• Exporting our methodologies and perspectives to other part of the world by facilitating the establishment of regional Envirovet programs.

Our Approach is to hasten exploration, understanding, and conservation of the living resources on Earth by applying the practical and solution-oriented perspective of medicine to ecosystem health challenges.

Our Role is to demonstrate and inspire effective partnerships among veterinarians and all other health and environment-related disciplines that address current and emerging ecosystem health issues.

Envirovet embraces this vision and is committed to orienting the future of our enterprise to support this remarkable endeavor.

Each participant will be linked to cutting-edge leaders in a wide variety of relevant disciplines. A strong emphasis will be placed on collaborations to restore self-sustaining wildlife populations by addressing issues where natural areas interface with areas devoted to agriculture, forestry, mining, urban development, and other forms of human enterprise.

The Envirovet Summer Institute is divided into two sessions. The first session is entitled "Terrestrial and Aquatic Wildlife and Ecosystem Health Issues and Techniques for the Developed World With Outreach to Developing Countries." Components of this session will take place in Florida and Georgia. The second session is entitled "Terrestrial and Aquatic Wildlife and Ecosystem Health Issues and Techniques for the Developing World" and will take place in a developing country.

The first two sessions of Envirovet Summer Institute provide 4 weeks of intensive lecture, laboratory and field experiences related to understanding wildlife health in the context of overall ecosystem health. The University of California-Davis, School of Veterinary Medicine, Wildlife Health Center and The University of Illinois Department of Veterinary Biosciences will plan and administer this first session of Envirovet Summer Institute.

Topics of emphasis will include: terrestrial and aquatic ecology, population biology, epidemiology, infectious and toxicologic diseases of terrestrial and aquatic wildlife, wildlife immobilization, mapping, environmental laws including those related to wildlife conservation and environmental pollution, conservation strategies (e.g., ecotourism, Endangered Species Act litigation, habitat restoration), translocation medicine, conservation genetics, theriogenology, communication skills, advocacy and grantsmanship. Students will be introduced to field and laboratory techniques including wildlife capture and immobilization, necropsies and sample collection, telemetry, and using global positioning systems (GPS) and geographical information systems (GIS). Each lecture, laboratory or field exercise will be led by one or more highly-regarded experts, skilled in teaching, who is involved in the a subject area on a daily basis as part of their regular jobs. In this way, students will gain first-hand knowledge of the myriad ways in which they can play a significant role on ecosystem health teams.

The first session is approximately two weeks, and is held at White Oak Conservation Center, near Jacksonville, Florida, which is supported by the Howard Gilman Foundation. Veterinarians and other experts, primarily from North America, provide instruction on largely terrestrial topics. A range of political, economic and sociologic factors that influence ecosystem stewardship are addressed. In addition to classroom and laboratory sessions at White Oak, students will spend time on St. Catherine's Island (Midway, Georgia) applying various field techniques to examine and support the health of the unique ecosystem and species of this barrier island. Envirovet participants interact and assist with programs of St. Catherine's Island Center.

The second sessoin is approximately three weeks, and is held at Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute (HBOI), located on the Indian River Lagoon, one of the most biologically diverse estuaries in North America. HBOI is comprised of state-of-the-art oceanographic, aquacultural, biomedical, and environmental research facilities as well as a full-service conference facility with on-site housing for visiting faculty members and graduate students. Students learn techniques for ecological assessment and interact with species ranging from invertebrates to fishes, amphibians, reptiles, birds and marine mammals. The Institute is a center of excellence for deep-sea exploration and offers vessels and labs needed for ecosystem and aquatic animal health assessments.

--Session Three - The Developing Country Session--
Terrestrial and Aquatic Wildlife and Ecosystem Health
Issues and Techniques for Developing Countries

Tanzania (mainland and island of Zanzibar)

July 19 - August 10, 2010

Each Envirovet Summer Institute features a large number of superb teachers and role models. All faculty are hand-picked, based on established expertise and career productivity, to bring essential real world perspectives and commitment to students. Their specialties range from biomedical and ecological sciences, to policy, law, economics, ecotourism, game ranching, agriculture, aquaculture, engineering, and sustainable development. They represent career possibilities from academia to industry, consultancies, non-governmental organizations, and governmental agencies. They offer knowledge, techniques, and especially mentoring to the students. Envirovet provides immersion-like experiences for its participants, who put in 60 to 80 contact hours per week throughout the Summer Institutes.

Envirovet groups develop their own dynamic cohesion within a very few days, and remain close thereafter. Moreover, to be among the Envirovet alumni of any year creates a mutual understanding of the opportunities and responsibilities at hand. Envirovet participants act on these, investing their lives in improving the conditions of wildlife, domestic animals, and human beings.

Envirovet Summer Institute is comprehensive, addressing terrestrial and aquatic wildlife. It will retain the proven unique intensive approach of earlier Envirovet Summer Institutes. All applicants accepted into the Summer Institute should plan to devote abundant energy to the instruction and experiences provided

With the leadership of former Summer Institute participants and other partnering experts and organizations, Envirovet organizers are also working to prioritize environmental education research and ecological rehabilitation on continents around the world.

Eligibility

Eligibility for participation in Envirovet Summer Institutes requires a statement regarding commitment to a career in wildlife and ecosystem health, as well as at least one year of veterinary school or an advanced degree in a relevant discipline, including a defined animal health component.

The non-refundable course fee, which includes room and board as well as round trip airfare from the U.S. to the overseas location, is anticipated to remain at $7,500 for veterinarians, postdoctoral trainees, and students currently enrolled in veterinary or graduate school. Students are responsible for their round-trip travel to White Oak Conservation Center in Yulee, Florida, and Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute in Fort Pierce, Florida. Applicants from developing countries may apply for a fee waiver based on economic need and record of promise in the wildlife/environmental field. It is essential for such individuals to seek funding to offset the travel costs, as well as part or all of the course fee.

Please send correspondence to:

Val Beasley, DVM, PhD, Diplomate, American Board of Veterinary Toxicology
Executive Director, Envirovet Program in Wildlife and Ecosystem Health
Professor Emeritus of Veterinary, Wildlife, & Ecological Toxicology
Department of Comparative Biosciences
College of Veterinary Medicine
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

198 Blackberry Hill
Port Matilda, PA 16870

Phone: 814-424-0092
E-mail: val@illinois.edu
Web: https://vetmed.illinois.edu/biosketch/search?search_type=userid&netID=val&skinId=10776

For further information on the Envirovet Program, please email: kvgilardi@ucdavis.edu.

Kirsten Gilardi, DVM, DACZM
Director, Envirovet Terrestrial
Wildlife Health Center
School of Veterinary Medicine
University of California, Davis
One Shields Avenue
Davis, CA 95616-8739

Phone: 530-752-4896
Fax: 530-752-3318
E-mail: kvgilardi@ucdavis.edu

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