Sarah Helman

As a veterinarian and wildlife lover, I am incredibly excited to be researching wildlife health and ecology in the greater Los Angeles region. After obtaining my undergraduate degree from Boston University in 2006 (B.A. Biology, specialization in ecology & conservation biology), I went on to veterinary school at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland (class of 2010). After graduation I worked as a small animal veterinarian in Queensland, Australia, where I volunteered with a local sea turtle rehabilitation organization and increased my interests in coastal wildlife health and conservation ecology. I decided to pursue a PhD in research focusing on wildlife health, and found the perfect fit for this in the James Lloyd-Smith zoonotic disease lab at UCLA. Since then I have utilized my background in ecology and veterinary medicine to research wildlife health and disease ecology along the California coast. After finishing my PhD in 2022, I started a 2-year postdoctoral research fellowship at the UCLA La Kretz Center for California Conservation Science, focused on how diet and rodenticide exposure influence local coyote health and ecology. These surveys are a critical step in identifying the prevalence of diseases in different mammal populations and understanding factors that impact diseases in wildlife, and results will directly inform wildlife, veterinary and public health agencies. I'm extremely grateful to be working on such an exciting project with an amazing team of collaborators and fantastic undergraduate students (the future doctors and scientists of the world) as we continue to learn more about the health and ecology of local wildlife populations.

Thanks for your interest!!

July 2018