Students honored for aquatic animal health research
From left to right are Jason Ferrante, Dr. Jessica Weeks, second-year veterinary student Megan Stroebel and Dr. Mike Walsh. (Photo by Sarah Carey)
A University of Florida alumna who just received her D.V.M. degree, a second-year veterinary student and a veterinary graduate student were all recently honored for their research in the area of aquatic animal health.
Dr. Jessica Weeks, who earned the Aquatic Animal Medicine Certificate and graduated from UF’s College of Veterinary Medicine in May, was awarded a $500 student travel grant to present her research on sea turtle buoyancy disorders at the International Association for Aquatic Animal Medicine’s annual conference, held in May in Australia.
Weeks also won first place in the graduate/veterinary student presentation category at the IAAAM conference.
Jason Ferrante, a Ph.D. candidate, also received a travel grant from IAAAM, as well as several other travel grants totaling $1,850, to present his research on quantifying manatee herpesviral load.
Megan Strobel, a second-year veterinary student who also is pursuing an Aquatic Animal Medicine certificate, was one of two students to win the IAAAM Medway Scholarship. This summer, she will work with Dr. Mike Walsh, co-director of the UF Aquatic Animal Health Program, on a project relating to deafness in cetaceans.
