Welcome!

I'm thrilled you've found my website. Everything here relates to a central theme:

Veterinarians helping wild animals, one patient at a time.

My first book, edited with Ted Mashima, The Rhino with Glue-on Shoes, is featured on the site--of course. We hope you will enjoy it. I write regularly and will add new content to the site as often as I can. Please post your comments and look for regular postings from me.

My writing

I wanted to be a vet from a very young age. Reading the James Herriot series All Creatures Great and Small inspired me to pursue my dream no matter what—and I think these books also helped my parents understand my motivation. But once buried in academic study and then clinical practice, I struggled to find time to read anything other than scientific literature. It's been only a few years since I rediscovered reading for pleasure.

When I re-read the Herriot series, I was impressed with the content as well as with the vivid writing. For me, the great value of these stories is that they capture the personalities involved—both human and animal—as well as the day-to-day events of clinical practice. I began to write about my experiences with wild animals a few years ago. My mom, a published author and skilled editor, encouraged me. With her help and guidance, I am now completely hooked. I write very early in the morning, usually around 5 a.m., before I head out for the office or field for work.

These days, I'm a "gorilla doctor” in Africa, working for the Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project. I came here to care for animals still living in their natural habitat—a job that entails many hours spent trekking up and down tree-covered volcanoes to monitor the health of free-living mountain gorillas in Rwanda, Uganda, and (when it’s safe) Congo. Once a week or so, I post the Gorilla Doctors Blog.

Earlier I worked for nearly ten years at the National Zoo in Washington DC, first as a clinical vet, and then as director. I learned many things from my zoo years, including the importance of sharing with others what we know--and what we don't yet understand--about wild animals.

Next I spent a year traveling, writing, and working part time as scientific advisor for Discovery Communications. My patients along the way included a sloth bear in Nepal, a panda in China, and several giant otter cubs in Guyana. I learned a lot of new things, including what it takes to make a film for cable television, from conception to the final edit. It was during this time that I began to write and take photographs in earnest.

During a brief break back home in Washington, DC, I met my friend and colleague Ted Mashima for a cup of coffee. We talked about my interest in writing, and soon realized that we shared the same idea for a book: a collection of memorable cases gathered from our colleagues.

Ted and I decided to go for it. We gathered case histories from twenty-seven vets and edited them into short stories. My own story, about treating a rhino with sore feet, gives the book its title. I also wrote brief introductions to each themed section in order to provide context and background. My terrific literary agent, Jody Rein (Jody Rein Books) soon sold the book proposal to Bantam Dell, A Division of Random House, and we were off and writing.

I hope you enjoy the book--and the website.

Lucy