Summer Scholars at TRC

Summer Scholars gather at national conference
Accompanied by CVM faculty members Dr. Mark Rutherford and Dr. Bruce Walcheck, participants in the college's Summer Scholars Program attended the national Merial-NIH Veterinary Scholars Symposium at Michigan State University August 1-4. More than 400 DVM students from around the country took part to present their summer research and attend presentations by biomedical research veterinarians. The theme of this year's meeting was "Comparative Medicine: Meeting Global Needs.”

The Raptor Center hosted four of these student researchers:

Elizabeth Schnabel worked to establish normal coagulation parameters in red-tailed hawks in preparation for continued research on rodenticide studies (anticoagulant toxicity).

Peter Sebastian worked to establish baseline values for immune function in raptors as pilot work for studying the effects of contaminants on the immune system.

Carrie Robbins continued her work from last summer with Dr. Patrick Redig looking at Newcastle virus in wild birds and eggs.

Natalie Watson conducted a comprehensive literature review of research-based data from wild animals in rehabilitation centers and gathered preliminary information for CWHI’s eagle morbidity/mortality database.

TRC also hosted Miranda Shaw, the College of Veterinary Medicine’s first student admitted through the Veterinary Leadership through Early Admissions for Diversity (VetLEAD) program. Shaw’s time was divided between a research project that developed a formula to measure heart size in raptors and experiential learning in the clinic and education departments.