"The Role of the Veterinarian and Health in Conservation: Lessons Learned from Great Apes and Penguins." 

How do veterinarians contribute to conservation and human health?  Faculty, staff, students and interested members of the public will learn more about this important topic when the school of Veterinary Medicine proudly welcomes Dr. Mike Cranfield, Director of Research and Conservation at the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore, as the 2008 Oscar W. Schalm Lecturer.

The public is cordially invited to hear the talk, "The role of the Veterinarian and Health in Conservation: Lessons Learned from Great Apes and Penguins." The presentation takes place Monday, September 15 at noon in Room 170 Schalm Lecture Hall. The building  is located in the Health Sciences District on the UC Davis campus.

The event is free, and reservations are not required. 

Biography of Mike Cranfield  from the Maryland Zoo

Dr. Mike Cranfield is the Director of Research and Conservation at The Maryland Zoo in Baltimore, responsible for the health and care of the zZoo's more than 1,500 animals. Dr. Cranfield joined The Maryland Zoo in 1982 as chief veterinarian, taking on additional responsibilities through the years.

In 1998, Dr. Cranfield also became director of the world-renowned Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project now based at The Maryland Zoo. The program provides much needed health care to the highly endangered mountain gorillas in Rwanda, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo . It is one of a few conservation programs in the world to provide health care and treatment to an endangered species in its natural habitat. Dr. Cranfield often works in the field in Africa .

Dr. Cranfield also currently serves on the faculties at Johns Hopkins University , the Maryland Regional Veterinary College and Mississippi State University . He has published more than 100 professional articles and abstracts and contributed to nine books.

A native of Canada , Dr. Cranfield is a graduate of the University of Guelph in Ontario . He received his doctorate from the Ontario Veterinary College , where he also completed a residency in zoological medicine and pathology.

About Oscar W. Schalm

A founding faculty member of the School of Veterinary Medicine, Oscar William Schalm (1909-1982) was an eminent teacher and research scientist in the fields of bovine mastitis, diagnostic veterinary hematology and clinical pathology.

Schalm received his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from Michigan State University in 1932, then joined the University of California as a research associate at UC Berkeley in the Department of Veterinary Science, where he earned his MS degree in 1933 and PhD in 1935. He moved to the Davis campus in 1948 when the department was transferred to the new UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine.

Schalm played a leading role in the school's development, serving first as a group leader, and then, beginning in 1950, as chair of the Department of Clinical Pathology. He also served in the role of assistant and associate deans from 1952 to 1962. His notable accomplishments include development of the California Mastitis Test, a standard test for diagnosis and evaluation of milk quality used throughout the world. He also established veterinary hematology as a distinct discipline of veterinary medicine.