Josiah Meigs Distinguished Professor, Wildlife Disease & Wildlife I am a Josiah Meigs Distinguished Professor in a joint appointment at the Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources and the University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine since 2008. I was raised in Madrid, Spain and moved to New Orleans when I was 12 yrs old. I am a wildlife veterinarian (LSU, 1996). I originally trained as a clinician and completed an internship in small animal medicine and surgery at a specialty practice in Arizona (1997) and then a residency in zoological medicine at Cornell University from 1998 - 2001, after which I became a Diplomate of the American College of Zoological Medicine (2002). I worked in private practices, zoos, and as a clinical instructor until I “returned to school” and earned a PhD in Ecology from UGA (2008). I teach several courses to undergraduate, graduate, and veterinary students, including Wildlife Disease Investigation for graduate Students, Wildlife Diseases for veterinary students, Conservation Medicine & Biology course in Costa Rica, Ornithology, and Field Ornithology in Costa Rica and others. My research activities focus on wildlife diseases and, specifically, how human activities affect the ecology and health of wildlife and often for the purpose of conserving biodiversity. I am a Fulbright scholar (2021). I have received the UGA Alumni Excellence in Teaching Award (2021), the Warnell Professor of the Year (2018), the University-wide Richard B. Russell Award for Excellence in Teaching (2017), and the Warnell Outstanding Teaching Award (2013). I am the proud mom of Paxton and twins Ashton and Maya. Soy Profesor Distinguido Josiah Meigs en un puesto conjunto en la Escuela Warnell de Silvicultura y Recursos Naturales y la Facultad de Medicina Veterinaria de la Universidad de Georgia desde 2008. Originalmente me formé como médico clínico y completé una pasantía en medicina y cirugía de animales pequeños en una práctica de referencia y luego una residencia en medicina zoológica en la Universidad de Cornell de 1998 - 2001, después de lo cual me convertí en Diplomado del Colegio Americano de Medicina Zoológica (2002). Trabajé en consultorios privados, zoológicos y como instructor clínico hasta que regresé para obtener un doctorado en Ecología de la UGA (2008). Enseño varios cursos a estudiantes de pregrado, posgrado y veterinaria, incluida la Investigación de enfermedades de la vida silvestre para estudiantes de posgrado, un curso de medicina y biología de la conservación en Costa Rica, ornitología y otros. Mi laboratorio está dedicado a investigar las enfermedades de la vida silvestre y, específicamente, cómo las actividades humanas afectan la ecología, la salud y las enfermedades de la vida silvestre. Soy becario Fulbright (2021). En 2021, recibí el premio UGA Alumni Excellence in Teaching Award; en 2018, recibí Profesor del Año en Warnell, en 2017 recibí el Premio Richard B. Russell a la Excelencia en la Enseñanza de toda la Universidad y en 2013, recibí el Premio a la Enseñanza Sobresaliente de Warnell. Soy la orgullosa mamá de Paxton y los mellizos Ashton y Maya. Education Education: Ph.D., Ecology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA - 2008 DVM, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA - 1996 Dip ACZM, Zoological Medicine - 2002 Internship in Small Animal Medicine and Surgery, Sonora Veterinary Specialists - 1996-1997 Residency in Zoo/Wildlife Medicine, Cornell Univeristy, Ithaca, NY - 1998-2001 BA in Biology, Minor in Chemistry, University of New Orleans, New Orleans - 1992 Research Selected Publications: (Note: GST=graduate student, VST=veterinary student, PST=postdoc and UST=undergraduate student that I directly mentored for this work.) GSTFrancisco, R., S. M. Hernandez, E. P. Barton, M. R. Kunkel, K. G. Adcock, D. G. Mead, M. G. Ruder, J. R. Broadhurst, and M. J. Yabsley. 2024. Surrogate Virus Neutralization Test ELISA efficacy with different white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) biological samples. Accepted by the Journal of Wildlife Diseases, September, 2024. GWTAdams, HC, Markham KE, Madden M, Gray MJ, Bolanos Vives F, Chaves G, and Hernandez SM. 2024. Geographic risk assessment of Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans invasion in Costa Rica as a means of informing emergence management and mitigation. PLoS ONE 19(12): e0293779. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0293779. GSTTatz MJ, Lance SL, Hernandez SM. Mercury Exposure Is Associated with Urbanization but not Salmonella Status in White Ibis (Eudocimus albus). J Wildl Dis. 2024 Jul 1;60(3):769-773. doi: 10.7589/JWD-D-24-00002. PMID: 38754863. GSTShock BC, Jones HH, Garrett KB, Hernandez SM, Burchfield HJ, Haman K, Schwantje H, Telford SR, Cunningham MW, Yabsley MJ. Description of Babesiacoryicola sp. nov. from Florida pumas (Puma concolor coryi) from southern Florida, USA. Int J Parasitol Parasites Wildl. 2024 Jul 6;24:100963. doi: 10.1016/j.ijppaw.2024.100963. PMID: 39169986; PMCID: PMC11337720. GSTWilson, CA, Hernandez, SM, Weil, JNu, Ezenwa, VO, Altizer S and Hall, RJ. Human-provided food increases aggregation but does not change activity budgets in an urban wading bird. Journal of Urban Ecology, Volume 10, Issue 1, 2024, juae017. https://doi.org/10.1093/jue/juae017. Hernandez, S. M., Curry, S. EGST., Murray, M. H., Hoopes, L. A., Nilsen, R., Gregory, C., et al. (2023). An Acute Mortality Event Associated with Novel Macrorhabdus ornithogaster Infection and Underlying Factors in a Newly-Established Captive Group of American White Ibis (Eudocimus albus) Nestlings. J Wildl Dis, 59(4), 759-766. doi:10.7589/JWD-D-22-00141. Laity, K., Conway, AGST., Hernandez, S. M., Carroll, J. P., & Ejigu, D. (2023). Occupancy and abundance of a West African mangabey species (Cercocebus atys Audebert, 1797) in forest patch habitat. African Journal of Ecology. doi:10.1111/aje.13139. Yabsley, M. J., CokerGST, S. M., Welch, C. N., Garrett, K. B., Murray, M., Grunert, R., . . . Hernandez, S. M. (2023). A single Haemoproteus plataleae haplotype is widespread in white ibis (Eudocimus albus) from urban and rural sites in southern Florida. Int J Parasitol Parasites Wildl, 21, 269-276. doi:10.1016/j.ijppaw.2023.06.010 Patel, K., Stapleton, G. S., Trevejo, R. T., Tellier, W. T., Higa, J., Adams, J. K., Hernandez S.M., et al. (2023). Human Salmonellosis Outbreak Linked to Salmonella Typhimurium Epidemic in Wild Songbirds, United States, 2020–2021. Emerging Infectious Diseases, 29(11). doi:10.3201/eid2911.230332. GSTFrancisco R, Hernandez SM, Mead DG, Adcock KG, Burke SC, Nemeth NM, Yabsley MJ. SARS-CoV-2 Susceptibility: Raccoons and Skunks Experimental susceptibility of North American raccoons (Procyon lotor) and striped skunks (Mephitis mephitis) to SARS-CoV-2. Front. Vet. Sci., 2022. Sec. Veterinary Epidemiology and Economics. GSTAyala, A. J., Haas, L. K., Williams, B. M., Fink, S. S., Yabsley, M. J., & Hernandez, S. M. (2022). Risky business in Georgia's wild birds: contact rates between wild birds and backyard chickens is influenced by supplemental feed. Epidemiology and Infection, 150, 9 pages. doi:10.1017/S0950268822000851. USTGarcía Sanjuán C, Aguirre JI, Villaverde S, Banda E, Hernandez SM, Yabsley MJ. Surveillance for gastrointestinal, subcutaneous, and ectoparasites of invasive North American raccoons (Procyon lotor) in central Spain. Veterinary Parasitology: Regional Studies and Reports, Vol 36, 2022, 100793, ISSN 2405-9390. Hernandez SM, Maurer J, Yabsley MJ, et al. Free-Living Aquatic Turtles as Sentinels of Salmonella spp. for Water Bodies. Front Vet Sci. 2021 Jul 22;8:674973. doi: 10.3389/fvets.2021.674973. Silva Seixas J, Hernandez SM, Kunkel MR, et al. 2021. West Nile Virus Infections in an Urban Colony of American White Ibises (Eudocimus albus) in South Florida. J Wildl Dis. 2022 Jan 1;58(1):205-210. doi: 10.7589/JWD-D-21-00030. Hernandez SM, Curry SE, Murray MH, Hoopes LA, Nilsen R, Gregory C, Ritchie B, Adkins K, Cooper RE, Ellison TJ, Adams HC, Yabsley MJ, Howerth E, Gottdenker N. Mortality event in a wild-caught experimental colony of captive American white ibis (Eudocimus albus) associated with proventriculitis infection with a Macrorhabdus species. In review Journal of Wildlife Diseases, submitted March 2021. Murray MH, Hernandez SM, Rozier RS, Kidd AD, Hepinstall-Cymerman J, Curry SE, Yabsley MJ, Adams H, Ellison T, Welch CN, Lipp E. Site fidelity is associated with food provisioning and Salmonella in an urban wading bird. Ecohealth. 2021 Sep;18(3):345-358. doi: 10.1007/s10393-021-01543-x. Epub 2021 Aug 27. GSTTeitelbaum CS, Hepinstall-Cymerman J, Kidd-Weaver A, Hernandez SM, Altizer S, Hall RJ. 2020. Urban specialization reduces habitat connectivity by a highly mobile wading bird. Movement Ecology volume 8, Article number: 49. VSTConrad J, J NormanVST, A Rodriguez, P Dennis, R Arguedas, C Jimenez, JG Hope, MJ Yabsley, and Hernandez SM. 2021. Demographic and pathogens of domestic, free-ranging pets and the implications for wild carnivores and human health in the San Luis region of Costa Rica. Veterinary Sciences. 8(4), 65; https://doi.org/10.3390/vetsci8040065. GSTCummings CR, Khan NY, Murray MM, Ellison T, Welch CN, Hernandez SM, Navara K. Foraging in Urban Environments Increases Bactericidal Capacity in Plasma and Decreases Corticosterone Concentrations in White Ibises. Front. Ecol. Evol., 14 December 2020 | https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2020.575980. Kariithi, HM, Ferreira, HL, GSTWelch, CN, Ateya, LO, Apopo, AA, Zoller, R, Volkening, JD, Williams-Coplin, D, Parris, DJ, Olivier, TL, Goldenberg, D, Binepal, YS, Hernandez, SM, Afonso, CL, Suarez, DL. 2021. Surveillance and genetic characterization of virulent Newcastle disease virus subgenotype V.3 in indigenous chickens from backyard poultry farms and live bird markets in Kenya. Viruses 13(1):103. doi: 10.3390/v13010103. Labs/Centers/Committee: Dr. Hernandez Wildlife Disease Lab Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study Area of Specialty: Wildlife Ecology and Management Non-Game and Endangered Species Wildlife Disease Research Areas: Wildlife Sciences Research Interests: I am interested in all aspects of wildlife disease, particularly how pathogens affect wildlife populations, communities and ecosystems and primarily with an applied perspective. I have and will continue to conduct research that attempts to understand how anthropogenic changes to the landscape can affect disease dynamics. My research has and will encompass the intersection of human, animal and wildlife health. I aim to integrate ecological principle to inform the fields of conservation medicine and wildlife disease investigation. Learn more at https://hernandezlabuga.wixsite.com/wilddisease. Teaching: Services Education Committee Chair, American College of Zoological Medicine: , http://www.aczm.org, -Present Member, Wildlife Disease Association: , http://www.wildlifedisease.org, -Present Vice President, American Association of Wildlife Veterinarians: , http://www.aawv.net, -Present
