After having completed her fourth-year rotation at OSU CVM from Ross University in January, Dr. Kirsten Thomas recently came speak to the Zoo Wildlife Exotic (ZWE) club on her work with sea turtles. Her talk, entitled “Chelonian Medicine and Conservation” covered a wide range of topics from specific sea turtle anatomy and conservation to general medical advice when working with reptiles in clinical practice. Topics included how to perform a sea turtle physical exam, blood collection, radiology, stabilizing care, common and emerging diseases, conservation ecology and economics as well as necropsy pointers and reptilian hematology. Dr. Thomas has worked with three different species of endangered sea turtles, spending time with the St. Kitts Sea Turtle Monitoring Network in the Caribbean. She is currently working at Santa Clara Animal Hospital in Eugene.
