The Conservation Medicine Program
for the VCU Inger and Walter Rice Environmental Center

EDUCATION

            A 3 credit graduate level course in Conservation Medicine was initiated by Dr. Ware in fall 2007.  In this course students will be introduced to basic principles of pathology, infectious diseases, monitoring techniques for malformations and diseases of wildlife, and the impact of environmental contaminants and toxins on human and animal health and population changes.  In addition to Dr. Ware, lecturers will include wildlife veterinarians, microbiologists, pathologists, and ecologists.

            This course will be offered again in fall 2008.

EDUCATIONAL OUTREACH

            Anne Wright, Coordinator of Education Outreach for VCU Life Sciences,  originates, organizes, and participates in several education outreach programs for Conservation Medicine.  The most effective way to interest people in nature and science is through personal involvement.  When one can see or learn about an organism or ecosystem by direct experience, then he or she tends to understand and care more about it. The Conservation Medicine program is a natural fit for outreach programs that provide this kind of experience to local school systems and the community. The intersection of wildlife, ecosystem, and human health offers multiple opportunities to reach people and educate them about issues that directly affect all of our lives.

Educational outreach programs involving Conservation Medicine are already introducing high school ecology students in Charles City County to the concept of using amphibians as indicators of environmental contamination and ecosystem health. By testing soils and waters for the presence of heavy metals and by monitoring salamander and frog populations for anomalies and disease, students are linking wildlife health to detrimental environmental conditions that may also have ramifications for human health.

Conservation Medicine outreach is also developing a working relationship with members of the Richmond community living along the James River Park System. Data on amphibian and reptile health is being collected and documented within the “Wetlands” area of this urban natural park by a team of students and local landowners. A series of informational programs and activities are being delivered to the community to disseminate information on species natural history, habitat conservation/management, and disease occurrence in wildlife populations in urban areas.  This is a vital educational link to raising community awareness of the wildlife resources in their own back yards and to aid in the identification, protection and conservation of species within our natural environment.