Meet our members!
Zelda Blowers ’17
Hello! I’m from Sarasota, FL and I’m concentrating in biology with a focus in anthropology. Sophomore year my summer UTRA project dealt with data collection of a maternity colony of Mexican free-tailed bats in New Mexico and I developed a method to count the 1.5-2 million individuals emerging each night. That year I also worked in Jim Simmons’ bat lab and helped train large brown bats. I’m interested in the relationship between humans, animals (both wild and domestic) and the environment– this semester I’m working on a community project called Hand in Paw where we pair formerly homeless individuals with emotional support animals from the Providence Animal Rescue League. I’ve shadowed my local vet during breaks and I plan on becoming a large wildlife/exotic veterinarian.
Elliot Grossman ’17
My name is Elliot Grossman. I am a senior from California graduating in the spring semester of 2017. I am an AB Biology concentrator. My animal experience consists of shadowing equine, bovine, poultry, and avian vets in California; taking the Tufts Adventures in Veterinary Medicine program and a Cornell Conservation Medicine course; volunteering at a local shelter in California (including in their on-site spay and neuter clinic); interning at the Oakland Zoo and Lindsay Wildlife Rehabilitation Hospital; researching for a short period with Sharon Swartz’s bat lab at Brown; and working for Berkeley Cat and Dog Hospital (including with their exotic vet and during emergency situations).
Emily McCarthy ’19
Hi! My name is Emily McCarthy and I’m a sophomore double concentrating in archaeology and biology. I’m from Larchmont, New York, and I’ve been in love with animals ever since I was little. A lot of my experience with animals comes from the pets I have at home (right now I have two dogs, a chinchilla, and a fish). I volunteered in an animal shelter throughout high school, and I spent this past summer working in a veterinary hospital in New York.
Rachel Park ’17
Hi, my name is Rachel! I am from Las Vegas, NV, and I am a senior concentrating in biology. I am currently working on an interdisciplinary cognitive science and biology research project, examining possible therapeutics for a neurological disorder using a mouse model. Since high school I have interned at an animal hospital and cat clinic back home and now volunteer at a local animal shelter in Providence. I spent my past summers interning at a wildlife sanctuary in South Africa and working in an animal hospital in South Korea.
Miranda Norlin ’17
- Goats (raised two kids and trained them to be working goats)
- I work in the Robert’s lab with turkey muscles.
- I’ve worked for a number of years as a vet tech (fill in for people when I go home and over the summer) in a mixed clinic.
Trang Le ’18
- I participated in the Adventures in Veterinary Medicine at Tufts Cummings School of Vet Medicine, feel free to ask about the application process and the details of the program!
- I am also working in the Roberts’ Lab with turkey muscles.
- I volunteered at the Providence Animal Rescue League (PARL) all last year. I can’t do it this semester because I’m so busy but I’m hoping to get back into it next semester.
- I work at the Wheeler School teaching Marine Biology in the fall and Animal Behavior in the spring.
- I work in the Animal Care Facility with Jackie and Colette (but there’s not much interaction with animals unfortunately).
- Over the summer,
- I volunteered at my local zoo; I worked with farm animals (goats, sheep, chickens, etc.), camels, emu, deer, turkeys, reptiles, and many more.
- I volunteer at my local animal shelter back home. I also interned under the vet techs there as well. I know a decent amount about shelter medicine if that’s something that interests anyone.
- I work at a local Pet Supplies Plus chain, where I work with small animals (guineas, hamsters, rats, ferrets, etc.), reptiles (skinks, snakes, lizards, etc.), birds, and fish.
- I plan on working at each of these places over the winter break as well.