Education
- Courses
- Advanced Degrees - Masters and PhD
- Research Credits
- Journal Club
- Externships/Internships
- Residency
- Aquatic Animal Health Certificate
- Additional Links
Courses
SEAVET I (June 16th - 27th, 2008) (Click on link for information about this last completed course)
SEAVET II (June 2007) (Click on link for information about the last completed course) Note: This course is currently being redesigned and will differ significantly from the last completed course.
Advanced Fish Medicine (Nov 2007) (Click on link for information about the last completed course)
Diseases of Warmwater Fish (June 2 - 13th, 2008) (Click on link for information about the last completed course)
Topics in Aquatic Animal Health - VME 6938 (Fall and Spring semesters, 1 credit, max 4, letter grade) The class meets once a week and is in the format of presentation/discussion by students of selected articles relating to aquatic animal health, including both vertebrates and invertebrates. It also includes attendance to the monthly Aquatic Animal Health seminar series. For registration contact Dr. Larkin.
Aquatic Animal Conservation Issues - VME 4906 & VME 6934 (Fall semester of odd years, 3 credits, letter grade, offered to both upper level undergraduate and graduate students) The course introduces students to some of the controversial issues surrounding the conservation of aquatic animal species ranging from invertebrates to marine mammals, with some emphasis on marine mammals, but including sea turtles, fisheries and marine ecosystems. Format includes heavy reading, discussion, a short pro/con review paper and presentations, review of a journal article, and for graduate students a short grant proposal and review. For registration contact Dr. Larkin.
Additional courses offered by other institutions:
Advanced Degrees - Masters and PhD
For advanced degree information please contact:
Dr. Roger Reep
Program Graduate Coordinator
E-mail: reep@mbi.ufl.edu
Telephone: 352-392-2246 ext. 3859
For application information see:
http://www.vetmed.ufl.edu/education/msphd/
Research Credits
Merck-Merial summer research program - for UF veterinary students
Information, including the original announcement, can be found on the external web page:
http://www.vetmed.ufl.edu/research/?reqPage=merckmerial
Or on SharePoint which also includes the application forms (link only available on CVM computer):
http://our.vetmed.ufl.edu/rgs/SummerResearch/Forms/AllItems.aspx
The annual deadline is in March.
Contact Dr. Anderson regarding your intent to apply - kanders@mbi.ufl.edu
Journal Club
Topics in Aquatic Animal Health
Fall 2008; Journal Club meets on Tuesdays from 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm in the Research & Graduate Studies Conference Room. Seminars are from 12:30 pm - 1:30 pm in VS-20.
VME 6938
This course covers presentation/discussion by students of selected articles relating to aquatic animal health, including both vertebrates and invertebrates. Students will be required to review two published articles within the subject area and present a written and oral review and critique of the paper or a written review of a seminar. Attendance to the monthly Aquatic Animal Health seminar series will be required (12:30 pm - 1:30 pm or 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm).
Goals: Students will be introduced to literature within the field of Aquatic Animal Health, gain writing and oral presentation skills, and develop critical thinking skills.
Grades: Grades will be based on attendance, participation in discussions, and preparation of oral and written review of either a manuscript or seminar.
Aug 26th - Jen McGee: "A Retrospective study of pathologic findings in the Amazon and Orinoco River Dolphin (Inia geoffrensis) in captivity" PDF
Sep 2nd - Heather Daniel: "Sex, seasonal, and stress-related variations in elasmobranch
corticosterone concentrations" PDF
Sep 9th – Seminar - AAH faculty "An overview of the Aquatic Animal Health Program" at 12:30pm in VS-20 (Note: There is not an evening seminar)
Sep 16th – Jen McGee: "Immunohistochemical evidence for multiple photosystems
in box jellyfish" PDF
Sep 23rd – Carla Phillips: "Relationship between plasma iron concentration
and gastric pH in captive adult bottlenose
dolphins (Tursiops truncatus)" PDF
Sep 30th - Meghan Bills: "The contribution of amino acids to the odour of a prey species in the
Senegalese sole (Solea senegalensis)" PDF
Oct 7th – Seminar - Dr. Ramiro Isaza "Elephants: A new aquatic species?" at 12:30pm in VS-20. (Note: There is not an evening seminar)
Oct 14th – Carla Phillips: "Effects of a red-tide toxin on fish hearing" PDF
Oct 21st – Alex Costidis: "Oxygen stores and aerobic dive limit of ringed seals (Phoca hispida)" PDF
Oct 28th – Meghan Bills: "A Sensory System at the Interface
between Urban Stormwater Runoff
and Salmon Survival" PDF
Nov 4th – Seminar - Ray Davis "A lifetime of innovation in the aquarium industry" at 12:30pm in VS-7. (Note: There is not an evening seminar)
Nov 11th – Holiday, no class
Nov 18th – Kim Goldbach: "Histological, Immunohistochemical and
Pathological Features of the Pituitary Gland
of Odontocete Cetaceans from the Western
Gulf of Mexico" PDF
Nov 25th – Alex Costidis: "Cuvier's beaked whale (Ziphius cavirostris) head tissues: physical properties and CT imaging" PDF
Dec 2nd – Seminar - Andy Kane "TBA" at 12:30pm in VS-20 (Note: There is not an evening seminar)
Dec 9th - Heather Daniel: "Genomic Variation of the Fibropapilloma-Associated Marine Turtle
Herpesvirus across Seven Geographic Areas and Three Host Species" PDF
Last semester:
Spring 2008; Tuesdays 12:30 pm - 1:30 pm in the Research & Graduate Studies Conference Room
Jan 8 - Heather Daniel: "Age-prevalence of Otarine Herpesvirus-1, a tumor-associated virus, and possibility of its sexual transmission in California sea lions " PDF
Jan 15 - Lauren Harshaw: "Marine aquaculture and bottlenose dolphins' (Tursiops truncatus) social structure" PDF
Jan 22 - Meghan Bills: "Renal effects of fresh water-induced hypo-osmolality in a marine adapted seal " PDF
Jan 29 - Kim Godbach: "Does human proximity affect antibody prevalence in marine-foraging river otters (Lontra canadensis)? " PDF
Feb 5 - Jen McGee: "Phenotypical characterization of changes in thymus and spleen associated with lymphoid depletion in free-ranging harbor porpoises (Phocoena phocoena) " PDF
Feb 12 - Carla Philips: "Brevetoxin exposure in bottlenose dolphins (Trusiops truncatus) associated with Karenia brevis blooms in Sarasota Bay, Florida " PDF
Feb 19 - Kim Goldbach: "Diet overlap between harbour porpoise and bottlenose dolphin: An argument in favour of interference competition for food?" PDF
Feb 26 - Seminar - Sam Ridgway: "Forty six years of experience with marine mammals: medicine, research and 'unknowns'"
Mar 4 - Seminar - Don Samuelson: "TBA" PDF
Mar 11 - Spring Break, No class
Mar 18 - Meghan Bills: "Non-invasive reproductive steroid hormone estimates from fecal samples of captive female sea otters (Enhydra lutris)" PDF
Mar 25 - Astrid Groshe: "Pathological features of the Florida manatee cold stress syndrome " PDF
Apr 1 - Seminar - Gordon Bauer: "The sensory world of the manatee"
Apr 8 - Carla Philips: "Do bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) have distinct and stable personalities?" PDF
Apr 15 - Heather Daniel - "Body Temperature changes induced by huddling in breeding male emperor penquins " PDF
Apr 22 - TBA: "TBA" PDF
Previous Journal Articles
Note to Graduate Students:
Sign up for VME 6938 and receive one credit
Externships/Internships
Clinical externships
University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine Externship List
When you search under Category = 'Aquatic Animal' at the above link, you will find several two - six week externships offered through various zoological and aquarium facilities. Follow the links to facilities of interest.
Funding from the Marine Mammal Health Program is available on a competitive basis to support student externships. University of Florida students can apply for funding to any externship in the field of aquatic animal health. Non-UF students can apply for funding to any externship in the field of aquatic animal health as long as it is in the state of Florida. For more details, you can access our application (PDF). Application due dates are either Nov 20th or Apr 20th.
Other Officially Recognized Internships and Externships
AAZV - Click on Education Center and go to Educational Opportunities, which links to Internship and Externship opportunities listed within or outside of the U.S.
Mote Marine Laboratory - Internships
Veterinary Internship and Residency Matching Program (VIRMP)
Residency in Aquatic Animal Health
The residency in aquatic animal health is accredited by the American College of Zoological Medicine. The program is a 3 year post-DVM training program in clinical medicine. The applications are handled through the Veterinary Internship and Residency Matching Program (VIRMP). Currently we take one resident every 3 years and the next anticipated opening will be in 2010.
Aquatic Animal Health Certificate
The aquatic animal health certificate program described here is a broad 15 credit, educational program that gives veterinary students a unique opportunity to nurture their interest in this exciting and diverse field. Students who successfully complete this program will receive a certificate that documents their concentrated training in aquatic animal health during their DVM curriculum at the University of Florida.
Certificate Details (PDF)
The future direction of the certificate is to also be able to include veterinary students, veterinarians, and graduate students. Thus we are currently working to develop a format for broadening our participant base. We anticipate such changes by the end of 2008.
Additional Links
If you are potentially interested in a career in aquatic animal health, there are a couple of sites that you should visit:
International Association for Aquatic Animal Medicine
Careers in aquatics (PDF)
For further educational information please contact:
Dr. Iske Larkin
Education Coordinator
Aquatic Animal Health Program
College of Veterinary Medicine
University of Florida
PO Box 100136
2015 SW 16th Ave
Gainesville, FL 32610-0136
Telephone: 352-392-2212 ext. 5168
Fax: 352-846-1171
Email: larkini@vetmed.ufl.edu