Tierra Smiley Evans

I am a veterinary epidemiologist at the Karen C. Drayer Wildlife Health Center (WHC) at the University of California, Davis. My research is focused on novel methods for non-invasive wildlife health diagnostics. I have developed several techniques for non-invasive viral surveillance in wildlife including a technique to recover herpesviruses from discarded chewed plants. I molecularly described the first beta and gamma herpesviruses detected in mountain gorillas and used discarded chewed plants to show the epidemiologic similarities between mountain gorilla and human herpesvirus transmission. I have experience leading wildlife health projects in Rwanda, Uganda, Nepal and Myanmar and now lead the WHC’s collaborative project with the government of Myanmar and the National Institutes of Health, investigating viral sharing between humans and wildlife in elephant logging camps in Myanmar.

Alison Jeffrey

I am a third-year veterinary student at the University of California, Davis, School of Veterinary Medicine. My professional interests include wildlife, zoo, and conservation medicine. My long-term career goal is to contribute to the resolution of conservation issues surrounding threatened species both domestically and internationally by incorporating clinical work and wildlife research projects into a veterinary career. I am excited to be starting this career path by contributing to the study of elephant endotheliotropic herpesvirus in Asian elephants.

Kirsten Gilardi

I am a wildlife veterinarian and Co-Director of the Karen C. Drayer Wildlife Health Center (WHC) and a Health Sciences Clinical Professor in the Department of Medicine & Epidemiology at the University of California, Davis School of Veterinary Medicine. I earned my DVM at UC Davis in 1993, and my dream was that somehow I would figure out how to apply my veterinary training to help conserve free-ranging wildlife. Right after veterinary school, I did a 3-year residency in Medical Primatology at the California National Primate Research Center (Davis, CA), and after that joined the staff of the WHC in 1998. In 2001, I became board-certified by the American College of Zoological Medicine, and was honored to receive the AAZV’s Emil P. Dolensek Award in 2015. I am a past President of the American Association of Wildlife Veterinarians.

Christine Molter

I am a staff veterinarian at the Houston Zoo in Houston, Texas and coordinate the zoo's EEHV collaborations. The Houston Zoo is a leader in the global movement to save wildlife and is dedicated to EEHV research, clinical case management, and international working group support. I earned my DVM at the University of Wisconsin in 2011 and completed a residency in Zoological Medicine through the University of California, Davis and San Diego Zoo Global in 2015. I became a Diplomate of the American College of Zoological Medicine in 2016.