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GUEST SPEAKER: DR. DAVID EWEY

2/7/2017

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Follow us through a timeline  of Dr. David Ewey's accomplishments and experiences throughout his career as a large animal veterinarian. 
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Contact info: david.m.ewey@aphis.usda.gov

1. Background

Dr. Ewey was born in central valley in a the city of Atwater, CA. Growing up he never owned a dog or had a pet but was always interested in animals. He drew  illustrations of animals , read and even watched shows about animals. He did not really know what he wanted to do in the future, but knew that it was definitely going to be something animal related. He decided to apply to UC Davis during his senior year of high school and was accepted.

2. Pre-vet Experience UCD

As an undergrad student, he majored in zoology (not a major at davis anymore) and had an emphasis in ecology and animal behavior. However, because he came into college with no animal experience whatsoever, David decided to go out there and grabbed any opportunity he got. He volunteered at the raptor rescue center, worked at the primate center and hog barn, and even worked in the pathology department. But what got him interested in going to vet school was the pre-vet summer enrichment program he attended. (For more info on the program click here). And after applying for vet school he was accepted into the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine.

3. Vet School Life

In the beginning, Dr. Ewey was interested in the wildlife track for vet school, but soon changed his mind.  During the summer enrichment program he had participated in, he was advised to get some experience with food animals which would help him get started with the wildlife track. From there he decided to try working with cattle and showed a strong interest in dairy cattle and bovine immunology. While in vet school, he also became a pre-vet advisor, worked with the minority student outreach group, and was on the vet school admissions committee. 

4. Dairy Practice

After graduating for vet school, Ewey got a job in Tulare, CA working as a veterinarian for diary cattle. At first he wanted to pursue a job related to disease control, but decided to go to Tulare for some more experience. While working at the dairy, he performed a lot surgeries on the cattle and  worked with a few horses and small ruminants. 

5. Small Animal Practice

Although Ewey loved working with cattle, he switched to working at a small animal practice after moving back to Davis. He definitely noticed a big difference between working in a small animal practice versus working with dairy cattle. For instance, in food animal medicine you do not have anyone to assist you, sometimes you do not even get light, and you have to on the ground to really help the animals out. This is the total opposite of a small animal practice where you have a vet tech to assist you and other resources to use. From working at the small animal practice, he really learned how to work with clients and staff. 

6. USDA- Vet Services

After his experience with small animals, Ewey decided to try something different and put his epidemiology degree to use. He applied for the USDA and moved to North Carolina to work in the  USDA's National Animal Health Monitoring Systems Department. For his work, he was responsible for trapping mice and collecting them to test for salmonella. He said the perks of working for the USDA was that he got to do national studies which is something you would not get to do working at a vet school. In addition, while working at the USDA his schedule has been very flexible as opposed to working at the dairy practice where he had many on-call duties. 

A few years later, he started working as a field veterinary medical officer and a foreign animal disease diagnostician. He was in charge of testing cattle during the outbreak of bovine tuberculosis. Later on, he was promoted to managing the avian health group and continues to be a manager at the USDA. 

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Words of Wisdom
Some of the main advice and tips Dr. Ewey shared with us:

1. During vet school you will take general classes and get a little bit of experience with each track, from there you will find you interest so do not worry about being undecided.

2. Great thing about being a professor is that you get to partake in different things like research, large animal practice, or small animal practice.

3. Always keep your options open and be ready to step up when the opportunities arise. 

4. There are  many avenues open to a veterinarian (Ex. public health, pharmacology, etc.) which makes this career such a great thing.

5. If you really want to get into vet school, be persistent. If you don't get in, find your weakness, work on it, and reapply. 
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6. If you would like to work for the USDA, there is an internship program called Pathways for college students to help you get started. There is also a scholarship program offered by the USDA called Saul T. Wilson that will give you scholarship money for all four years of vet school. For those of you who would like to work for the USDA but did not want to go for the vet program there is the Daniel Salmon scholarship program. 


Kelli Chan

PSSD Historian 2016-2017

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guide to getting research experience

2/7/2017

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Finding lab internships and getting research experience can be a pretty difficult and daunting task. Luckily for us, professors are always welcoming undergraduate students into their lab and look forward to teaching them about their research. If you want to learn more about where to start and which professors to contact you have definitely come to the right place. Down below we have included information and advice from the outstanding professors that came to talk to the undergraduate students last Tuesday, January 31 . 

Dr. russ hovey

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Contact: rchovey@ucdavis.edu
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Background: 
Dr. Hovey currently teaches the Animal Science 1 course at UC Davis. He originally planned to go to vet school and applied, but did not get in. However, he is glad that he did not go to vet school because it led him to become a professor and conduct research. As an undergraduate student he got involved with research projects pertaining to dairy cow and milk production. This is how his love and interest for cattle first evolved. After getting his PhD from New Zealand, he worked as an animal science professor at the University of Vermont and later moved to Davis to teach. He loves his job because he gets to work with students and also animals sometimes, like performing surgeries on the pigs at Davis. His lab is interested in mammary gland development in cattle and how it can lead to abnormal states such as breast cancer. 

Advice:
Dr. Hovey looks for student interns that have a strong interest in what his research is about. Interns can get a chance to do fieldwork and lab work depending on their interests. He also likes to have students conduct their own projects during the course of their internship. As for advice on vet school, Dr. Hovey says that grades are what is going to get you into vet school. Focus on your grades first, then manage research because you do not want to over commit yourself. 

​RYANE LOGSDON

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Contact: rlogsdon@ucdavis.edu

Background: 
​Ryane is a PhD candidate in the Animal Behavior Graduate Group and is working under Dr. Gail Patricelli. She first got her research experience by getting involved in a lab at her university. She read papers from different professors to see which lab she was interested in. At first she did research on crows before moving over to Dr. Patricelli's lab. Her current research is on sage-grouse birds and what traits make certain male sage-grouse birds more suitable to the females. Logsdon explained that undergraduate students in her lab get a chance to go to Wyoming for two months during the summer and observe these birds on breeding grounds everyday. They will learn how to record unique behaviors and analyze video work.

Advice: 

Her advice for undergrad students is to start reading scientific literature from different professors and see what you are interested in. As for interning under Ryane, her selection process is fairly simple. She does not require any previous research experience, but tends to look for students who have a decent GPA. 
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Dr. ermias kebreab

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FeContact: ekebreab@ucdavis.edu  

Background: 
Dr. Kebreab's work involves both animal science and global affairs. His research looks at how animals affect the environment and  how the environment affects the animals. More specifically, he is working on quantifying greenhouse gas emission in agriculture. Because he works in the global affairs department, he has also been able to work both domestically and abroad. So far he has gotten a chance to help communities with health and nutrition problems in places such as Vietnam, Brazil, and Chile. 


Advice:
Dr. Kebreab advises students to explore different opportunities to see what they are ultimately interested in. Do not be afraid to go out there and try different things you never imagined yourself doing. 
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Sidenote: 
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If you would like to know more about his research, Treasurer Chelsea Chavez or VP Katie DeVore can answer your questions. They interned under Dr. Kebreab for a year. Feel free to contact them.
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DR. MATTHIAS HESS

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Contact: mhess@ucdavis.edu

Background:
Dr. Hess is a systems microbiologist working under the Department of Animal Science. He received a PhD in both microbiology and biotechnology. His research involves looking at microbes and how they change the environment. Currently, he is studying microbes in the guts of cattle by using artificial gut systems. He is trying to test out different conditions of the gut and see which microbes he can add to the gut to reduce the amount of methane emitted from a cow. 

Advice:
He advises students to look into the vip program linked here.  The VIP program pairs undergraduate students with different researchers to help undergrads pave their way into research. There are 20 different groups of research teams listed on the website, with Hess's team being one of them. 


Dr. Anne Todgham

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Contact: todgham@ucdavis.edu

Background: 
Dr. Todgham is a faculty member in the Animal Science Department. She teaches Animal Physiology (aka ANS 100). Her research looks at how aquatic animals deal with stress due to changes in the environment such as temperature and salinity of the ocean. Her lab performs a lot of behavioral work and also microbiome work. She generally has about two to four undergraduate students working her lab. Her selection process is also pretty easygoing. She does not require students have any lab experience and is looking for students with a strong interest in her line of work. 

Advice:
Todgham advises students to first pay attention to their GPA. When you are comfortable with your GPA, then think of other ways such as research to round out your application for vet school. Besides having a good relationship with a veterinarian for a reference letter, you are also required to get a reference letter from a faculty member. For a good letter of rec you really want the faculty member to know who you are and one of the best ways to do this is by working for them. You can get started by going to office hours to get a chance to know your professor, ask them what they do and they can offer you advice. If you think you are too busy to get into research because you are too busy working, do not worry there are opportunities out there. Professors are always willing to help make it work for you. Another way you can get in touch with professors is by looking at the Animal Science Department web pages to see what all faculty members' research is about. It is best to contact a professor at the end of spring or early summer, because during the fall quarter a lot of labs are already full by then.  Word of advice, you do not always have to get academic credit for interning, in fact, vet schools like to see that you got into research because you are genuinely interested in it and not just for the credits. 

Sidenote:
 
If you have any questions, President Brigitte Clark has interned underneath Dr. Todgham.  Feel free to contact her.
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Dr. Grazyne tresoldi

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Contact: gtresoldi@ucdavis.edu

Background:
Dr. Tresoldi is a veterinarian and currently a PhD student in Tucker Lab. She loves working with cattle and is doing research on cattle welfare. After vet school, she did some internships and clinics with dairy cattle but felt like she did not grow from her experiences. Therefore, she decided to try something else and worked on a research project involving cow behavior. From there she realized her passion for animal behavior and research and decided to go for a PhD.  Right now, she is looking at how heat stress in California causes milk production and fertility rates to drop in cattle. With her research she also needs interns to help her with data collection. Interns usually do fieldwork looking for clinical signs and recording behavior of the cattle during the summer. During the school year, they get a chance to watch recorded videos and analyze them. For her selection process, she does not require much, but wants students that show interest in her research and are compatible with her. 

Advice: 
Dr. Tresoldi advises students who want to start research to look for any opportunities through aggie job link, flyers, or from mutual student connections. 



Sidenote: 
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PSSD Publicity Team member Kareen Mendoza is currently interning underneath Tresoldi. If you have any questions, feel free to ask her anything.

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Kelli Chan

PSSD Historian 2016-2107

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PET OF THE MONTH: FEBRUARY EDITION

2/3/2017

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Owner: Victoria Noto

Name/nickname of Pet:  Snaps Noto 

Sex:   Male

Age:   17 years old 

Breed:   Samoyed/Chow

Favorite Food(s):   Duck jerky and peanut butter biscuits. 

1. When did you first adopt/purchase your pet and how did you decide on picking him/her?
I didn't. He belonged to my boyfriend who adopted him from a shelter. Snaps and I became inseparable, and he eventually became mine full time! 

2. What do you like most about your companion? (ex. features, personality)
 He is so sweet and mellow, and I love his blonde eyelashes.

3. What is the cutest/most annoying habit your pet does? 
He sleeps in front of the doors in the house and poops next to the car door, all in what I believe to be an attempt to keep me from leaving. 

4.What is your favorite activity to do with him/her?  
Roadtrips. 

5. Does your pet have any secret talents?  
Napping. 
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