Public EngagEmEnt at illinOis - University of Illinois at Urbana ...

Visitors to the Vet Med Open House meet Odin, a red-tailed hawk. Credit: Val Oliveira
Vet, Teacher, Mentor Expands Outreach Programs
Wildlife Medical Clinic
Dr. Julia Whittington has overseen the Wildlife
Medical Clinic since 2001, but it was her initial
patient as a first-year vet student in 1993 that got
her hooked on clinical care. The patient, a common
black bird called a grackle, was “not exciting, but I
was so amazed that I could hold it and work to make
it better.”
“That was empowering, and
I fell in love with the Wildlife
Clinic at that moment.”
While the Clinic’s core mission is to provide
veterinary care to wild animals, equally important to
Dr. Whittington are the opportunities the Clinic offers
to students to gain valuable experience and the effort
to support conservation initiatives and engage the
community in awareness of natural resources and
the impact people have on the environment.
Outreach Encounters
Since its founding in 1978, the Wildlife Medical Clinic
has had an extensive history of public interaction,
outreach, and education, and the Wildlife Encounters
website advances this foundation. One of the Clinic’s
outreach efforts is to visit classrooms with live birds
of prey, such as owls and raptors.
Because these visits are so brief and students
are so enamored with the birds, it is difficult
to communicate a deeper content, such as
environmental stewardship.
To help prepare teachers and their students
for the classroom visits, Dr. Whittington and
veterinary student Annie Rivas created a free, public,
classroom-focused educational website called
Wildlife Encounters to educate students of all ages
about the world around them.
“I first thought I’d make a booklet and mail it
to the teachers,” Dr. Whittington said. “Now it’s
available to anyone, and there’s (sic) no printing or
mailing costs.”
Dr. Whittington enlisted the help of a school
Get to Know the
Vet Med Team
Wildlife Medical Clinic: Donate, adopt a resident,
sponsor a day, request an educator visit, view the
wish list, or volunteer at:
http://vetmed.illinois.edu/wmc
Visit Vet Med at the their annual open house
October 6, 2013.
http://vetmed.illinois.edu/openhouse
Stay up-to-date with the Wildlife Medical Clinic’s
newsletter, Hawk Talk, at:
http://vetmed.illinois.edu/wmc
Wildlife Encounters is an educational website
designed to educate K-12 students about wildlife,
natural resources, and conservation efforts. A
teacher resource section includes templates and
post-lesson assessments.
http://go.illinois.edu/wildlifeencounters
2