Dennis Schmitt DVM, Ph.D- Dennis Schmitt is the Alumni Professor of Reproductive Biology in the Agriculture Department at Missouri State University in Springfield, MO. He received his DVM degree and a PhD in Dairy Science (reproductive physiology) from the University of Missouri – Columbia. He is board certified in Theriogenology and serves as the reproductive advisor for the AZA elephant TAG/ SSP management group. He is a member of the Asian Elephant Specialist Group of the IUCN and a veterinary advisor for the Global Elephant Management Program. Much of his work with elephants has been as a consultant for medical management and breeding programs at several zoo and circuses in North America. His work resulted in the first elephant produced from artificial insemination. In his twenty years as an elephant veterinarian he has experienced over 48 elephant births. Dr. Schmitt is the Chair of Veterinary Care and Director of Research for Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. Dr. Schmitt has been a consultant for Ringling Bros. Barnum & Bailey Circus over the past ten years.

Ginger Takle DVM- Ginger Takle obtained her BS in Biology from Bowling Green State University in Ohio. During that time she completed a keeper internship at the Cincinnati Zoo in 1998 working primarily with great apes and Asian elephants. She earned her DVM at the University of Tennessee in 2005. While at Tennessee she completed externships at the Knoxville Zoo and the Indianapolis Zoo, and participated in several outside courses such as Envirovet, Safe-Capture, and the UT Zoo Medicine Short Course. From there she completed a one year internship in Small Animal Medicine and Surgery at Purdue University in Indiana. She is currently the 3rd year resident at the Kansas City Zoo in conjunction with the University of Missouri and Missouri Department of Conservation.

Alex Bermudez MS, DVM, DACPV- Alex Bermudez attended the University of Illinois and North Carolina State University for his professional education and has been an avian pathologist at the University of Missouri for the past 18 years. He has published 56 peer reviewed manuscripts on the pathology observed in a broad range of avian species and currently serves as the director of the University of Missouri Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory. He has been a member of the editorial board of the journal Poultry Science for ten years and currently is a reviewer for the journal Avian Diseases. For the past ten years he has been on the Board of Governors of the American College of Poultry Veterinarians, including a term as president, and for the past six years he has been the ACPV representative to the AVMA American Board of Veterinary Specialties.

Mike Jones, DVM- Mike Jones grew up in Columbia, Missouri and graduated from the University of Missouri College of Veterinary Medicine in 1992. Subsequently, he completed both an internship in Companion Animal Medicine and Surgery and a residency in Avian and Zoological Medicine at the University of Tennessee. He took a position with Tennessee as an assistant professor of Avian and Zoological Medicine in 1996 and became an associate professor of the same discipline in 2004. His clinical interests include raptor medicine, orthopedic surgery and avian emergency and critical care. He is married to Konda Jones and has 2 sons, Michael and Deven, as well as a daughter Kristina. Dr. Jones has been a Master Falconer for 20 years and also enjoys mountain biking and fishing in his spare time.

Ww. Kirk Suedmeyer, DVM- Kirk Suedmeyer graduated from Northeast Missouri State University in 1983 with a BS in zoology and certification as an EMT. A previous graduate of the University of Missouri College of Veterinary Medicine in 1987, Dr. Suedmeyer is Director of Animal Health at the Kansas City Zoo. He has served as an adjunct assistant professor of zoological medicine with the UMC-College of Veterinary Medicine since 1994. He is also a diplomate of the ACZM, associate editor of JZWM, secretary of AAZV and past president of the ARAV. Dr. Suedmeyer has over 100 publications to his name and is also a Master Falconer.

Douglas Pernikoff, DVM- Dr. Douglas Pernikoff is an exotic animal private practitioner from Chesterfield, MO.

Gary West, DVM- Gary West is a 1995 graduate of Iowa State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine. Also a diplomate of the ACZM, he is currently an assistant professor of zoological medicine at Kansas State University. He spent two years working as veterinarian for Ringling Brothers’ circus from 1996-1998 followed by a position with the San Antonio Zoo from 1998-2001. From 2001-2007, Dr. West served as the director of veterinary services for the Oklahoma City Zoo, and in 2007, co-edited the book Zoo Animal and Wildlife Immobilization and Anesthesia. He went through a year of anesthesia training at Cornell University from 2007 to 2008 and took his current position with Kansas State University in May of 2008.

Ellen Dierenfeld, PhD- For the past five years, Ellen Dierenfeld has been the head of the Nutrition Department at the Saint Louis Zoo. There she has assisted in planning the construction of its new state-of-the art and certified “green” nutrition facility, as well as oversaw daily feeding of more than 18,000 mouths, and implemented a zoo and field-based comparative nutrition research program. She was born and raised in the Midwest, and graduated with degrees in animal science from Iowa State University and animal nutrition (both MS and PhD) from Cornell University. Prior to home-basing in St. Louis, she initiated and spent 17 years with the Department of Wildlife Nutrition for the Wildlife Conservation Society, based at the Bronx Zoo in NY. She has conducted field research projects and workshops on six continents, and oversaw the development of Zootrition analytical software, currently in use by more than 250 zoological, academic, and private facilities globally. Dr. Dierenfeld serves as Nutrition Advisor to many managed species through the American Zoo and Aquarium Association (AZA), including the Elephant and Rhinoceros Taxon Advisory Groups. In addition, she holds a place on the editorial board of Zoo Biology and other scientific journals, and has adjunct appointments and graduate students with multiple universities.

Randy Junge, DVM- A 1985 graduate of the University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine, Randy Junge is currently the Director of Animal Health with the Saint Louis Zoo. After working in private practice for a year, Dr. Junge entered the residency program at the Saint Louis Zoo and has been a staff member since his residency ended. A diplomate of the ACZM, he has served as a past president of the American Association of Zoo Veterinarians and is a professional fellow of the American Association of Zoos and Aquariums. He is a conservation medicine advisor to the Madagascar Fauna Group and is the director of the Prosimian Biomedical Survey Project. Dr. Junge maintains research interests in prosimian medicine, conservation medicine and disease ecology. He is also an adjunct faculty member with the University of Missouri College of Veterinary Medicine.

Lydia Staggs, DVM- Dr. Lydia Staggs graduated from Auburn University College of Veterinary Medicine in 2004. After graduation she was an intern with Dr Forrest Townsend, Jr at his practice where she was exposed to small and exotic animals as well marine mammals. In 2005, Dr. Staggs helped rescue a dolphin from Marine Life in Gulf Port MS, after Hurricane Katrina. In 2006, she became the staff veterinarian for Gulf World Marine Park in Panama City Beach, where she also works on the Stranding Care Team. Gulf World currently houses 40 marine mammals, over 40 large exotic birds, 35 reptiles, countless fish, and 2 dogs. She is a course instructor for the cetacean medicine and small oceanarium medicine classes at the College of Veterinary Medicine at Auburn University. In 2008, Dr. Staggs was named an Affiliate Associate Professor at Auburn University. She is also an active member of IAAAM.

Juergen Schumacher, DVM- Dr. Schumacher graduated from the College of Veterinary Medicine of the University of Berlin, Germany in 1988. Following completion of graduate studies and residencies in both Anesthesiology and Zoological Medicine at the University of Florida, Dr. Schumacher joined the faculty of the University of Tennessee in 1997. Currently he is a Professor and Service Chief of the Avian and Zoological Medicine Service in the Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences. Dr. Schumacher teaches courses in multispecies medicine and zoological medicine. Dr. Schumacher is a Diplomate of the American College of Zoological Medicine and holds German board certification in Reptile Medicine and Surgery. His special interests are anesthesia and analgesia of non-domestic species and reptile medicine and surgery.

Devona Weirich, DVM, MS- Devona Weirich is currently a fish veterinarian working for the Missouri Department of Conservation. She received a Master of Science degree in Fisheries Resources from the University of Idaho in 1985. Following 11 years as a fisheries management biologist in Missouri, she completed a Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Missouri in 2001. From 2001-2005, she worked as a small animal veterinarian in Florida. She then returned in February 2006 to take her current position with the state. Her current duties include fish health assessments and therapy recommendations for nine fish hatcheries operated by the Missouri Department of Conservation. She also assists private aquaculturists, farm-pond owners, fishermen and fisheries managers with fish health problems and provides regulatory oversight for the importation of trout species into Missouri.

Jacqueline Pearce, DVM, MS– A native of Canada, Jacqueline Pearce received her Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine from the Western College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Saskatchewan. Following graduation, she completed a one year internship in small animal medicine and surgery at Purdue University and a three year residency in comparative ophthalmology with the University of Missouri. In 2007, Dr. Pearce became a diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Ophthalmologists and took a position with the University of Missouri as an Assistant Clinical Professor. She maintains an interest in teaching and has taught sections of several courses including pharmacology, surgery and clinical ophthalmology. Dr. Pearce is active in advising the Raptor Rehabilitation Project with the College of Veterinary Medicine.

Cynthia Besch-Williford, DVM- Dr. Besch-Williford is a graduate of Louisiana State University's College of Veterinary Medicine. She has received a PhD from the University of Missouri-Columbia, where she currently works as an associate professor teaching lab animal medicine and pathology. Her research emphases include the characterization of lab animal disease, improvement of lab animal disease diagnosis, and investigation of cellular tropisms of viral pathogens.