Because the partners charged with the creation of the Zoological Parks & Avian Influenza Surveillance System for Zoological Institutions Exhibitors combine a myriad of both theoretical and practical experience, the process by which the partners collaborate follows both traditional and novel techniques. Following the planning meeting at Lincoln Park Zoo in September of 2007 methodologies were discussed to formalize the development of an effective, robust web based system which would not only allow institutions to review their data but also function as a real time repository for testing results on submitted samples.
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COLLABORATIVE PROCESS

The partners live across the USA and frequently travel all over the world for business and research so the process of creating the system had to allow for partners to communicate in both a real time manner and also “offline” when the partner could review and comment on evolving documents. Towards this end the partners supplement the weekly conference call by housing documents using Microsoft SharePoint where members may comment on various versions of documents. This helps alleviate long email chains with comments and replies often leading to out of date document versions. The surveillance website itself has been beta tested on an internal server which allows for partners to enter and view data, make comments, and critique fixes before release to the production website.

Yvonne Nadler, DVM, MPH

Davee Center Veterinary Epidemiologist

Yvonne Nadler graduated from University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine in 1985. After managing a successful veterinary practice for twenty years, Yvonne furthered her education earning a Masters of Public Health in Epidemiology at University of Illinois School of Public Health in Chicago. Dr. Nadler started as a volunteer at the Davee Center. She was subsequently hired as a veterinary epidemiologist in March 2007. She has a special interest in zoonotic disease and human Public health. On behalf of the Davee Center Dr. Nadler is also working on West Nile virus research, parasitism of wild chimps in Tanzania, and viral infections of captive macaques.

Amy Glaser DVM, PhD.

Assistant Director of Virology, Senior Research Associate



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Pam Dennis, DVM, PhD, Dipl ACZM

Veterinary Epidemiologist for the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo

Pam Dennis is the veterinary epidemiologist for the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo in a partnership with Ohio State University. She is an assistant clinical professor in the Department of Veterinary Preventive Medicine at Ohio State. She received her DVM from North Carolina State University College of Veterinary Medicine and her PhD from Ohio State University. Prior to earning her PhD she completed her residency training in Zoo and Wildlife Medicine at the University of Florida. She is a Diplomate of the American College of Zoological Medicine.

 Pam serves as the Veterinary Advisor to the Ape Taxon Advisory Group for the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, on the veterinary advisory team of the gorilla Species Survival Plan, and is chair of the Animal Health Committee of AZA. Her work focuses on infectious and non-infectious diseases of captive and free ranging wildlife.

Evan Sorley, B.S.

Evan is a graduate from the University of Wisconsin – Madison, with a BS in Animal Sciences. After graduating in 2007, he worked at the USGS’s National Wildlife Health Center (NWHC) in the diagnostic virology department, primarily focused on the diagnosis and identification of avian influenza, as part of the NWHC’s national avian influenza surveillance program. In April of 2010, Evan joined the Lincoln Park Zoo as the Davee Center’s EcoHealth Coordinator. In this position he acts as the central region coordinator for the USDA / AZA Avian Influenza Surveillance System, as well as manages data on the AZA’s past West Nile Virus surveillance program. In addition to working on disease surveillance, he also assists in zoo animal hormonal research in the Davee Center’s endocrinology lab.

Aubrey Tauer, DVM

ZAHN Alumnus

Tauer studied ecology and behavior as an undergrad, and graduated with a Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine from the University of Minnesota in 2008. She will be finishing her Master of Public Health this fall also at the University of Minnesota. She has extensive experience in wildlife rehabilitation, and has completed field research on wild primate health and behavior in Central and East Africa, as well as Central America. Tauer has also worked as an emergency and critical care veterinarian.

Julia Chosey, PhD.

ZAHN Alumnus

Julia Chosy began her university education at Hampshire College in Amherst, MA. After four years of dabbling in a wide range of sciences, and a senior project on HIV in the nervous system, she decided to pursue a graduate degree in biomedicine. She attended Duke University in Durham, NC, for two years while studying many areas of human health and disease. Her Masters thesis focused on identifying the host cell receptor for Bacillus anthracis. After a brief foray into the working world of chemical engineering, Julia returned to graduate school at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Here, she earned her doctorate in Epidemiology and Biostatistics by researching the correlates and consequences of interPersonal violence.

Rachel Santymire, PhD.

Director, Davee Center for Epidemiology and Endocrinology

Rachel Santymire received her Master’s degree in 1996 from Clemson University in Clemson, South Carolina, in collaboration with the Riverbanks Zoological Park and Botanical Garden in Columbia, South Carolina.  Her graduate work involved characterizing the reproductive physiology of the male southern black howler monkey, Alouatta caraya, focusing on reproductive hormone analysis and semen evaluation.  Rachel worked as a research assistant at the National Zoological Park’s Conservation and Research Center on several endocrine projects involving exotic species, including the black-footed ferret, both Asian and African elephants, fishing cats and cheetahs. 

In 2000, Rachel began pursuing a Ph.D. degree in Environmental Science and Policy at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia.  Her research focused on improving the sperm cryopreservation technique for the management and conservation of the endangered black-footed ferret, Mustela nigripes.  In addition, Rachel has been involved with the biomedical survey of wild black-footed ferrets, in which scientists are assessing the factors, such as health, disease, morphometrics, reproduction and genetics, affecting the survivability of this unique species. 

R. Scott Larsen, DVM, MS, Dipl ACZM

Assistant Professor at UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine

Scott Larsen serves as the coordinator of the western region of the AZA/USDA/AI surveillance project. He received his veterinary degree from Colorado State University in 1995. In 1999, he completed a master’s degree in epidemiology at Colorado State University, developing diagnostic testing for tuberculosis in elephants and conducting surveillance for tuberculosis in free-ranging deer and elk. In 2002, he was hired by the University of California, Davis and became a Diplomate of the American College of Zoological Medicine. In 2005, he became an assistant professor at UC Davis and is now based both at the Wildlife Health Center and the School of Veterinary Medicine’s Department of Medicine and Epidemiology. He practices clinical medicine and instructs students and residents at the UC Davis Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital, the Sacramento Zoo, and the Lindsay Wildlife Museum. His areas of research interest include infectious diseases of captive and free- ranging wildlife populations, as well as clinically applied anesthesia in the captive and field settings.

  • Phone: 530.752.1393
  • Fax: 530.752.0414
  • Email: slarsen@ucdavis.edu

Bonnie Lockwood, B.A.

Davee Center Administrative Coordinator

Bonnie Lockwood comes to LPZ after a five-year association with the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) where she was Program Manager for the National Ocean Economics Program and Ocean Policy, and the Monterey Bay Aquarium as a certified interpretative guide and mentor.

After a career as a longtime businesswoman, Bonnie earned a B.A. in Environmental Studies from University of San Francisco where she also received recognition as an Associate of the Leo T. McCarthy Center for Public Service and the Common Good. Bonnie’s experiences provide her with the capacity for coordinating research projects beginning with Zoo Animal Health Network (ZAHN).

Bonnie’s enthusiasm for the natural world began early while visiting wildlife settings in the Northwest. Out-of-doors is her favorite place. She enjoys hiking, camping and exploring nature. In her words, joining the team at LPZ is like a dream come true as she waves to the giraffes and storks on her way to work.

Edward Wilkerson Jr.

Davee Center Informatics Analyst


Edward Wilkerson Jr. received a B.A. from the University of Chicago. He has compiled over 15 years of experience developing software systems predominately in the insurance industry. As the informatics analyst in the Davee Center for Epidemiology and Endocrinology, his main focus is developing the database, software and web interface for the Avian Influenza Surveillance System. This system will be used to enter data from the sampling and testing of birds in zoos all over the country aiding officials in monitoring for the presence of avian influenza.

Dominic Travis, D.V.M., M.S.

ZAHN Alumnus

Dominic Travis graduated with a B.S. in Zoology from North Carolina State University and received his D.V.M from the Michigan State College of Veterinary Medicine in 1997. He received his Master of Veterinary Science in Epidemiology from the University of Maryland in 2000. Travis joined Lincoln Park Zoo in 2000 as Veterinary Epidemiologist in the Davee Center for Epidemiology and Endocrinology. His research involves studying the zoonotic and emerging infectious diseases and how they are impacted by relationships between humans, domestic animals and wildlife. Current projects include coordinating numerous national surveillance systems in wildlife for diseases such as West Nile virus and tuberculosis and studying the prevalence of diseases of nonhuman primates in captivity. As a member of the zoo’s Lester E. Fisher Center for the Study and Conservation of Apes, Travis also studies ecosystem health issue in the Gombe chimpanzees and advises the Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project on outbreak contingency planning and epidemiological analysis of field medical records.


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