Orginally from Lexington, Kentucky, the Tampa Bay area has been my home since 1996 when I moved here from my residency to take a postion  as veterinarian at Busch Gardens.  After 14 years I moved across Tampa to become veterinarian at Lowry Park Zoo (now ZooTampa).  In mid-2019 I left full time clinical zoo medicine to pusue teaching and consultaions in zoo and wildlife medicine.  Current I am Visiting Assistant Professor of Biology at Eckerd in addition to adjunct faculty here at SPC.  During my 25+ years of zoo and wildlife medicne I have had the opportunity to work with amazing animals and people on 6 continents and still consult with select institutions such as FWC and the Paris Zoo.

My professional interest are reflected in the courses The courses I teach at both facilities and range from exotic animal and large animal medicine, anatomy, comparative physiology, and animal nutrition.  Clinically I  have been engaged in classes of animals but tend to gravitate towards mammals and birds.  My reasearch interets have been just as varied and currently I am exploring anti-coagulant properties of seagrasses, respiratory thermoregulation in manatees and the development of floating greenhouses to compliment winter refuges for cold stress manateees, cardiovascular disease and it relationship to nutriton in primates, and diabetes in manatees.