Category: Blog

From Silicon Valley to rural Tanzania: My journey into the world of animal scent detection

In this blog post, one of our One Health alumni shares insights into her incredible journey from a business oriented career, in Silicon Valley, into One Health. Whitney Hischier graduated from the One Health MSc programme in 2024 after completing a dissertation project focussed on working dogs, entitled “Scent Detection Dogs in the US: Uses and Challenges”. This fascinating project has since seen Whitney take on a role with the the incredible organisation APOPO, a charity training HeroRATs and HeroDOGs to use their extraordinary sense of smell to detect landmines and deadly diseases, including tuberculosis. In doing so, they are saving lives and restoring hope in communities across the globe.

From Silicon Valley to rural Tanzania: my journey into the world of animal scent detection

I entered the MSc in One Health programme as a bit of an outsider as someone who is on the Business School faculty at University of California Berkeley and had no formal education in the veterinary world. I had discovered the field of One Health during the pandemic, when suddenly zoonotic disease became a household term, but my childhood desire to become a vet had been derailed by a poor mark in organic chemistry at university. With this desire reignited in me and knowledge that everyone can find a home in and contribute to One Health, I applied and was not disappointed.

I loved the MSc programme and carried this passion into my final dissertation year. My chosen research topic for the dissertation grew out of a meta-level question of ‘what can animals do that technology cannot?’ – a pertinent question perhaps given that I live in the techno-centric world of Silicon Valley.

This led me to the world of animal scent detection, specifically with dogs and how the market for these specialised dogs has developed in the United States. The One Health programme team connected me with a fantastic mentor, Cindy Otto, who runs the Working Dog Center at University of Pennsylvania’s vet school setting me up for my dissertation year. This turned into a fascinating exploration of the work of stakeholders in the working dog world, with work briefs ranging from explosives detection and police work to wildlife and disease detection.

During this time, I was also travelling to Cambodia frequently to help run a joint USAID – UC Berkeley programme. Whilst there, I visited the APOPO Visitor Centre in Siem Reap. APOPO is an incredible organisation who employ African pouched rats (Cricetomys ansorgei) as well as dogs for land mine detection, tuberculosis detection, search and rescue and wildlife smuggling. APOPO operate in a number of countries, though much of the mine-action work is in Cambodia, a vestige of the Khmer Rouge era.

 

Whitney with Jenny, one of the retired rats at the visitors center in Siem Reap.

To appreciate just how incredible this collaborative work is it helps to understand how rats go about surveying a field, connected by via a harness to a line the length of the survey area: When they detect the volatile organic compounds (VOC) of an explosive, they scratch and are immediately given a food reward. These “HERORats” can search an area the size of a tennis court in thirty minutes; by contrast a human deminer with a metal detector can take up to four days to cover the same area. The rats work in conjunction with technical survey dogs who search larger areas of difficult terrain with high levels of vegetation.

A HeroRAT detecting landmines by sniffing out the VOCs given off by explosives.

Impressed by their work, I found myself reaching out to APOPO to see how I could help and very soon was involved. It started with overseeing research projects with my students and has since developed into taking up a position on their US board. I have seen at first hand some of their work across the world:

In February, I visited an active mine field outside of Siem Reap, where APOPO is working to de-mine between a series of temples, part of a UNESCO Heritage site. Then, in June, I travelled to Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA), in Morgoro, Tanzania where APOPO breeds and trains their rats. The trip included a visit to the tuberculosis (TB) lab where the rats are detecting TB in samples from local clinics, as well as to the cargo area of the Dar es Salaam airport, where the rats inspect packages for trafficked wildlife parts (no photos were allowed but it was amazing to see the rats detect tiny amounts of giraffe pelt in a massive, heavily packaged box).

Whitney with Cindy Fast, the head of training for the rats.

My journey from the One Health MSc programme to APOPO was not one I would have ever predicted.  While technology may surpass animal scent detection capabilities at some point, I am excited to be part of an organisation that is constantly finding new ways that dogs and rats can synergistically work with people to combat some of the larger societal challenges we face, including both disease and weapons.

Visiting Siem Rep with my daughter and her friend, where I discovered that taking teenagers into an active mine field is not recommended but does give instant cool mom status.

A falcon vet spreads their wings and studies One Health

In this blog post from Dr Christiana Hebel, who graduated from the One Health MSc programme in 2023, we are treated to a perspective from the Middle East. Christiana shares her motivations for pursuing her studies and insights into the project  that she developed for her dissertation. As a falcon vet, she chose to study the potential for bacteriophages to be developed as a possible way of addressing the antimicrobial resistance challenges that falcon medicine faces.

A falcon vet broadens their horizons

15 years after graduation from vet school, I felt the need to broaden my professional horizons, while navigating life in the Middle East, with its mix of nationalities and varied cultural and educational backgrounds.

This realisation marked the start of my Master’s journey in One Health, a programme that fitted perfectly into the challenges falcon medicine is facing in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). This experience profoundly underscored just how interconnected our world is, even within highly specialised fields.

My Master’s research explored the evolving challenges within falcon medicine. Falconry, a tradition deeply woven into Emirati culture, has seen significant changes due to advancements in captive breeding and a change from hunting to falcon racing, resulting in a surge of imported falcons. This large influx, while celebrating the sport and the culture, introduces novel and complex challenges for veterinarians.

Christiana with a patient
The stress of captivity

My thesis investigated the critical issue of Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) in falcon medicine. Stress, often exacerbated by intensive housing systems, can compromise falcons’ immune systems, significantly increasing their susceptibility to infections, particularly from opportunistic pathogens like Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The widespread, often unregulated, availability of over-the-counter antibiotics, as well as a general lack of awareness regarding the impact of AMR, made me start to investigate bacteriophages – viruses that specifically target and kill bacteria- as a potential alternative to antibiotics in falcons.

The intense use of antibiotics in animals contributes to the development and spread of drug-resistant bacteria, posing a serious threat to both animal and human health. This growing concern ignited my interest in exploring innovative solutions. Understanding their potential to combat resistant infections in falcons, and potentially other animals, became a key area of focus within my broader One Health research.

Undertaking an online Master’s degree while managing a demanding full-time job was undeniably challenging. It was frequently overwhelming, requiring considerable sacrifices of personal time and other activities. Nevertheless, the opportunity to combine my clinical experience with research, and to connect with colleagues around the world, was truly fascinating. Despite many hurdles, I enjoyed studying the core essence of One Health — a profound recognition that human, animal, and environmental health are deeply linked.

Christiana in the lab

The insights I gained during my three-year Master’s in One Health, combined with the experience of global collaboration with my colleagues, have deepened not only my understanding of emerging infectious diseases but also the critical impact of husbandry on animal well-being, and the urgent need for antimicrobial stewardship and alternative therapies like bacteriophages.

This Master’s journey was an insightful and inspiring experience that I believe will profoundly shape my approach as a veterinarian. I wholeheartedly recommend it to others.

From smallies to sea birds: My Conservation Medicine journey of discovery

In this blog post, Fiona Greco, who graduated from the Conservation Medicine programme in 2019, captures the essence of her transformation from a small animal vet to a professional working with some of the “big” conservation challenges we face. Fiona tells of her disillusionment with practice, her decision to study on the programme and how this has led her to pursue doctoral studies on how Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza is affecting the internationally important sea bird colonies our island nation is blessed with.

From small animals to birds via fish…

On reflection, I had a fairly linear journey for an animal-obsessed child into veterinary medicine, and I never really considered that I would do anything other than small animal clinical practice. Finding myself five years post-graduation and neither comfortable nor fulfilled in that role was bewildering. While increasingly struggling with anxiety in day-to-day practice, I developed an interest in the topics of One Health and population medicine. These are not overly prominent in the everyday role of a small animal clinician but somehow they spoke to me.

It felt huge admitting that clinical practice wasn’t the best fit for me, but having always been passionate about learning I started actively looking for opportunities to develop in a different direction. The MVetSci Conservation Medicine degree stood out as an ideal opportunity to explore health on a bigger scale, and to rediscover that childhood passion for wildlife and the environment.

Within a few weeks of the Masters programme, I knew I had made the right decision. The strangest things stick in your mind, but there was a moment early in the course when reading about Nipah virus, wildlife and agriculture that I thought yes, this is what I’m interested in! Those introductory modules really sparked my interest in the infectious diseases of wildlife, particularly in the interplay between wildlife, environmental change and anthropogenic causes.

The programme itself is diverse and well-paced, allowing me to further explore epidemiology and wildlife disease intervention, and highlighting contemporary conservation challenges. Alongside infectious disease, I also gained a particular interest in translocation as a conservation method and this led me to conduct a literature review on disease risk analysis in the translocation of fish for my final year dissertation. The Conservation Medicine programme team were excellent in encouraging my interests, and I graduated knowing that I wanted to continue in my exploration of disease challenges in wildlife.

Further study beckoned

Soon after graduation I applied, and was accepted for, a PhD project advertised via the Edinburgh Earth, Environment and Ecology Doctoral Training Partnership (E4 DTP) in conjunction with the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH). This project aimed to assess the impact of environmental change on host responses to infection and disease, focusing on European shag seabirds on the Isle of May National Nature Reserve (NNR), which lies in the Firth of Forth, close to Edinburgh. This incredible island plays home to important breeding sea bird populations. The Isle of May Long-Term Study (IMLOTS) forms part of UKCEH’s network of long-term monitoring sites for detecting effects of environmental change, particularly climate change.

The European Shag (Gulosus aristotelis) is one of six intensively studied species breeding on the Isle of May off the Fife Coast.

The Isle of May is a magical place to conduct fieldwork

Now in my last six months, it’s difficult to summarise this incredibly diverse, demanding and extraordinary PhD. I’ve spent an incredible three months a year for the last three years living amongst a diverse wealth of seabirds on the Isle of May, returning to the lab or office for the interim nine months. Initially focused on the links between migration and nematode burden, my direction of research was significantly influenced by the emergence of High pathogenicity avian influenza (HPAI) virus in UK seabird species part way through my PhD. Sharing a home with such characterful individuals while AIV devastated seabird populations across the UK and Europe stirred both an emotional and academic response, and I have spent the remainder of my project dedicated to research on this subject.

Admittedly, the PhD experience has been a significant learning curve, not only in unfamiliar aspects of statistical analysis and modelling but in setting my own pace and research goals in the face of continually evolving disease challenges. A background in clinical practice certainly has its advantages though, not only in the practical aspects of handling or sampling, but particularly in terms of resilience, flexibility, and communication. Despite the challenges, it has also been hugely rewarding, learning from an incredible team of researchers and field staff and practically applying skills in a true wildlife disease context.

Any initial apprehension at leaving clinical practice has diminished with the knowledge that I can truly utilise hard won veterinary skills within disease ecology, and apply these to any future role within Conservation Medicine and disease investigation. The Conservation Medicine course gave me the confidence to step outside of my pre-conceived idea of a veterinary career, and I would fully recommend it to anyone wishing to explore health challenges in our increasingly altered environment.

Fiona conducting field work for her PhD

Puffins and guillemots are two of the other species studied on the Isle of May

Further Information

To read more about the Research Group that Fiona is working with please visit the Behavioural Ecology in Animal Populations webpage. You can also read the latest publication to arise from Fiona’s research in the following 2025 paper in Scientific Reports.

 

 

Being a conservation vet in challenging times

In this wonderful blog post from one of our current students, on the MVetSci programme in Conservation Medicine, we learn a little about what it is like working on the front-lines of rhino poaching. Jennifer shares with us what has led her to become a conservation vet and why she cares so much about making a trauma-informed contribution to nature conservation. As she does so, she helps us to understand the extent to which Conservation Medicine is becoming an interdisciplinary field and, in this instance, how it is learning from the field of Collective Trauma Studies. Jennifer has chosen to focus her research for her dissertation on the need for trauma awareness in rhino poaching and why trauma awareness is essential if we are to sustain ourselves in the interdependent work of conserving nature and healing ourselves. We hope you enjoy reading about the horizons her studies and work are helping her explore.

 

Being a conservation vet in challenging times

(Jen Lawrence)

“I tell you this

to break your heart,

by which I mean only

that it break open and never close again

to the rest of the world”

(From the poem Lead by Mary Oliver)

A landscape of possibility - a sandy path running forward to a distant horizon in the African bush.

Figure 1: A landscape of possibility

I write to share my heartfelt journey of living and working as a conservation vet in South Africa and how this is continuing to shape the person I am. I am nearing the end of my dissertation year on the Masters in Conservation Medicine programme. Through what follows, I share with you how I am continuing to widen my circle of caring and deepen my connection to myself and Mother Earth. I hope that in sharing this, you may consider how we might all allow our hearts to break open to this world.

It is no secret that the world we humans have constructed and know is unravelling at an overwhelming pace. We only have to look outside and see how we have transformed landscapes and ecologies, leaving a wake of destruction and painful loss. Wild spaces are diminishing, and wild beings are more unwittingly entangled and lost in the complexities of how we are shaping this world. Turning away is easier than facing the suffering and so we continue to sleepwalk through life. This only prolongs the pain and constricts our ability to truly feel love and joy at being alive. As a conservation vet working on the front-lines of wildlife conservation and rhino poaching in South Africa, I acknowledge my grief and personal suffering as I continue to witness the loss of our natural spaces and species. Whenever I find myself facing suffering head on, my awareness of how necessary it is to break our hearts open deepens. It is at times like this that I truly remember who I am, and who we are in the intricate web of life.

Figure 2: The author tending to a traumatised orphan rhino

How my personal journey is breaking my heart open

I am relatively new to the conservation space. In 2021 I moved back home after several years in the UK working in small animal clinics, and started my conservation journey in 2022. In 2023, I took up a full-time position with African Wildlife Vets which has put me in the heart of the African bush. In this time, I have come to understand what it means to be passionate, heartbroken, inspired, humbled, grateful and in awe. When I started out, I already felt that my purpose was rooted in my connection to Mother earth, and that I am only one small thread weaving through the complexities and challenges that we face. Little did I know what an impact this space would have on me. Living with nature as I do now has given me more space to connect and delight in the wonders of life; it has also brought me closer to the pain and suffering of beings who were here long before us. Standing with the shattered body of yet another rhino whose life was ruptured by the brutality of greed, I bear witness to the collective heart break of those present. Watching how another wild dog limps along, with a wire snare cutting deeper into her body, terrified, confused and in pain … and how she is held collectively by her pack, courageously trying to keep her alive. Feeling the sigh of relief when another black rhino, who has unknowingly wandered into unwelcome human populated territory is spotted and brought back home. Seeing the confusion and fear on the face of an orphan rhino as we try and bring him to safety and witnessing the dedication and commitment of those looking after him.

Figure 3: Recognising our interconnectedness

Threading through these stories is a depth of suffering and some may say a sense of hopelessness at what continues to unfold. This is the stark reality of the challenges we face. There is another element that I want to invite into this space; it is easy to get so wrapped up and spiral into despair and there are times where I catch myself doing exactly that. Allowing myself the space to mindfully move through the pain, I reflect on what I am being taught by nature herself each time I am gifted an opportunity to work with her. Early on I made a commitment to not only serve her, I also wanted to learn from her. Robin Wall Kimmerer describes how knowledge and learning happen through a respectful and reciprocal interaction with all forms of life on earth, not only human (Wall Kimmerer, 2021). Her words have encouraged me to step beyond the confines of my mind and to patiently observe and absorb the mysteries of nature and how they relate to my own life. I have come to appreciate that I am part of a deeply connected community and that we are just as complex and vibrant as the landscapes and beings with whom we work. I have learnt what humility truly means, being outwitted, and outsmarted on several occasions by hyena and wild dogs. I have witnessed how deep the connection runs between a mother and her young. I have witnessed the arrival of the next generation of young antelope and shared in their joy and delight as they playfully danced together in the day’s fading light. The construct of certainty begins to dissolve, leaving space to welcome in the slow, flowing pace of nature.

Figure 4: Pausing to appreciate the marvelous beauty of nature

This slow, flowing pace continues to be swept up by a sense of urgency of what we face on a continuous basis – the rapid decline of biodiversity and the urgent need to protect it. This comes at an emotional and physical cost to passionate and dedicated conservationists who have been facing this suffering for much longer than I have. Hearts continue to break; tough outer armour is wrapped around more tightly protecting an inner tenderness that has been fragmented by bearing witness to the suffering and loss. I have come to know this heart break personally and by listening to colleagues reflecting on their experiences. This led me to focus my Masters dissertation on the need for trauma awareness for those working on the frontline of rhino poaching. As my project has progressed, I have come to understand from first-hand experience how necessary it is to become more trauma informed and aware. Ignoring the fracturing of our emotional landscapes leaves us lost and more afraid than ever. In an interview with Emergence Magazine, Joanna Macy describes how despair is a form of profound caring, and when we tend to it and acknowledge it, we can transform it and turn towards action (Emergence Magazine, 2018). Without facing the heart break, we will not be able to break our hearts open to live in a more compassionate and tender communion with all of life.

References:

Emergence Magazine. (2018). Widening Circles– with Joanna Macy. [online] Available at: https://emergencemagazine.org/interview/widening-circles/ [Accessed 6 Feb. 2024].

Oliver, M. (2017). Devotions: The selected poems of Mary Oliver. New York: Penguin Press, p146.

Wall Kimmerer, R. (2021). Gathering moss: A natural and cultural history of mosses. London: Penguin Books, p82.