About WDA 2024

Lisa Adams facilitates group processes and integrative, sustainable and equitable approaches towards socio-ecological health. She collaborates with a rich tapestry of folk and organisations to understand complex problems, apply critical thinking, negotiate difference and work better together. Lisa’s business and 3-generation family are co-located in Melbourne, on Wurundjeri Country. 

Kerry Arabena, a Meriam descendant, mother and grandmother leads three pioneering Indigenous businesses in Australia. A former social worker with a Doctorate in Environmental Science, Kerry has held numerous senior roles and is an accomplished author, entrepreneur, and former President of Ecohealth International.  

Arianne Lowe is a wildlife veterinarian working on threatened species conservation and translocations. Based in the Australian Capital Territory, her work supports organisations (including Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve) across a wide range of projects. Arianne‘s doctoral research looked at effectiveness of environmental conservation projects; and continues to seek innovative and creative approaches to this field. 

Tamara Riley is a veterinarian and epidemiologist working within the National Centre for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Wellbeing Research at the Australian National University. She has a passion for animal health and a strong interest in understanding the implications of One Health for Indigenous communities. 

Cat(harina) Vendl has always been fascinated by the ocean and its creatures, especially the mammalian ones. As research vet, she currently investigates the causes of death of stranded marine mammals at the Dauphin Island Sea Lab, Alabama, US. Cat is also an avid science communicator and host of the WDA podcast Wildlife Health Talks. 

Wood is a professional with qualifications in Complementary Medicine, Conservation Biology, and Sustainability. Nat has built her career in health and wellbeing product and brand development, ecotourism, and volunteering in wildlife rescue. Nat’s passion for holistic wellbeing underscores her commitment to fostering harmony between people, wildlife and the environment. 

Andrew has a lifelong passion for wildlife and the environment that led him to become a researcher at Charles Sturt University, on Wiradjuri Country, Australia. In his work, he is trying to imagine approaches to wildlife health that are pluralistic, participatory and respectful of indigenous knowledge and justice.

Helen was the Wildlife Veterinarian for British Columbia, Canada from 1992 to 2021, retiring but continuing to work on wildlife health. She built her program through relationships to gather and deliver knowledge on increasingly complex issues. Her collaboration with diverse communities was key to building more inclusive, holistic wildlife herd health management to conserve and support resilient and healthy wildlife populations.

Nigel is an accomplished creative director, creative learning facilitator and audience engagement specialist. From working with zookeepers and silverback gorillas, sharing the screen with Billy Connolly to developing education programs for a slavery museum in Qatar, Nigel’s unique perspectives bring refreshing insights and creative innovation to all his work.

Peregrine Wolff is passionate about advancing the science of wildlife health, welfare, and conservation. Throughout her career she has worked with both captive and free-ranging wildlife and taught students and colleagues around the globe. She currently holds the position of executive manager for the Wildlife Disease Association.

Sarange Angwenyi is a wildlife veterinarian from Kenya whose focus is to promote the health of Africa’s wildlife, while using her unique blend of passion and technical expertise to advocate for the active inclusion of indigenous people and knowledge in conservation efforts. She is a member of the WDA AME section where she serves as the Chairperson. 

Motivated by the One Health Approach and rising disease challenges, Lucas Federico Arce works in a genetics lab, seeking to rejuvenate his goals through art and activism. He’s a Ph.D. candidate in Biological Sciences at the University of Buenos Aires and serves as President of the WDA-LA Student Chapter. 

Fernando Vilchez is dedicated to the study of viral diseases in wildlife animals and is passionate about infectious disease ecology and evolution in Amazonian forests as well as South Pacific marine ecosystems, in Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University. 

Marianthi Ioannidis fell in love with marine mammal pathology while she was a vet student and pursued a residency in anatomic pathology after her DVM degree. She is currently teaching histology and pathology at St Matthews University in Cayman Islands while working on small wildlife research projects. She has been serving the WDA since 2017 and is currently a Council member at large and an officer of the Student Committee. 

Sangjin Ahn is a wildlife veterinarian with almost a decade experience working at the Gangwon Wildlife Medical Rescue Center. He is passionate about conservation and wildlife health in Korea and is adjunct faculty at Konkuk University and Kangwon National University as well as serving on the board of the Korea Muskdeer Conservation Association.

Tania comes from Papua New Guinea (PNG), where she works as a Regional Veterinary Officer with NAQIA, which is the veterinary authority in PNG. Before she graduated as a veterinarian from Charles Sturt University, she worked as a wildlife biologist for 3 years and she has a special interest in zoology and wildlife disease and health.

Berta Blanch is a research veterinarian with a long-standing passion for wildlife health and One Health that specializes in studying infectious diseases in wild animals. As a postdoctoral research fellow at CSIRO, she is developing ex-vivo models to study the pathogenesis of infectious diseases and the host immune response.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island nations and people have a profound and enduring relationship with Country and wildlife that stretches back over 60,000 years.

We acknowledge the First Nations of the Australian continent and recognise their traditional and continuing connection and custodianship with the Country on which this event takes place. We honour, respect and listen to First Nations Elders. We respect, listen to and celebrate First Nations stories and knowledges.

We acknowledge our responsibility to First Nations and strive to honour this in our collective work towards this special event – WDA 2024.