David Jessup (M.P.V.M., 1984) senior wildlife veterinarian for the California Department of Fish and Game's Office of Spill Prevention and Response, is being recognized with the 2009 Alumni Achievement Award for his contributions to the development and growth of wildlife and conservation medicine.

His advocacy and efforts have led to the creation of professional roles for wildlife veterinarians in state agencies across the nation and awareness of the importance of wild animals and the environment to public health. Jessup is widely viewed as one of the founders of modern free-ranging wildlife medicine in North America. He has also worked in Africa, Latin America and India.

After earning his D.V.M. from the University of Washington in 1976, Jessup began a residency in veterinary pathology at the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine in 1976 and earned the Master of Preventive Veterinary Medicine degree in 1984. He facilitated development of the sub-specialty of free-ranging wildlife in the American College of Zoological Medicine and became its first diplomate. He is certified by the Wildlife Society, an international nonprofit scientific and educational organization, as a wildlife biologist.

As senior wildlife veterinarian for the California Department of Fish and Game since 1994, Jessup oversees daily operations of a state-of-the-art marine wildlife veterinary care and research center in Santa Cruz, Calif., and manages field and emergency response. He holds the position of research associate for both the Institute for Marine Science, UC Santa Cruz, and the Wildlife Health Center, UC Davis, and has served as a wildlife research biologist for the UC Davis Institute of Toxicology and Environmental Health. He has also served as adjunct assistant professor for the Department of Pathology, Immunology and Microbiology at the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine. He has carried out more than 250 research studies, many of which have been reported  in peer-reviewed scientific publications, to further the profession and the quality of wildlife management.

In 1989 Jessup was instrumental in acquiring a Pew Charitable Trust grant to incorporate free-ranging wildlife medicine into the veterinary curriculum at UC Davis, which furthered the "One Health" concept and led veterinarians to pursue leadership roles addressing problems at the human-animal-environment interface. Since 1980 Jessup has advised, mentored or sponsored 21 masters or M.P.V.M. degree candidates, and has been the Ph.D. thesis adviser for students at UC Davis and Victoria University of Technology, Australia.

Jessup has served on the editorial board and is associate editor for the American Association of Zoo Veterinarians, and was chair of the American Veterinary Medical Association's Committee on Environmental Issues from 2007–09. He is a member of the advisory board of the Wildlife Health Center and the Oiled Wildlife Care Network, a statewide collective of trained wildlife care providers, regulatory agencies, academic institutions and wildlife organizations administered by the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine.

He has received the Sustained Superior Accomplishment Award from the California Department of Fish and Game, The Dr. Harry Jalanka Medal from the American Associations of Zoo and Wildlife Veterinarians, the Distinguished Service Award of the Wildlife Disease Association and the Outstanding Achievement Award from the Wild Sheep Foundation.