Julie Pomerantz, team veterinarian

My name is Julie Pomerantz, I am a veterinarian and I live in New York City. I graduated from Cornell University's College of Veterinary Medicine in 1997 and still work with laboratories there for my research on the diseases threats to Madagascar's endemic wildlife. When I am at home in New York I work at several hospitals where we care for dogs, cats, birds other pets. For the last five years, I have worked with the fossateam in Madagascar where we are collecting information about the health of wild fossas and other carnivores. We are finding out what it means to be a healthy wild animal and also what diseases both domestic and wild animals may suffer. Since the animals in Madagascar have evolved in isolation they may be particularly sensitive to new diseases which are being introduced. Collaborators and I collect blood samples, parasites and fecal samples for laboratory analyses both here in Madagascar and also in the U.S. We also collect samples for use in studies of fossa genetics.

Being the only vet in the region means that you never know when other animals requiring medical attention will show up. During each field season I see a number of animals - mostly lemurs - which have been oprhaned or injured as the result of fires, poaching or other human activities. None of these events are planned, but we're always prepared for any contingency. A few years ago, we raised a mongoose lemur from infancy - its mom had been killed in a forest fire.