First state wildlife vet works to understand diseases
Creatures across The Natural State now have an advocate for their health. Since she became the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission’s first state wildlife veterinarian in January, Jennifer Ballard has been working to establish the first formal wildlife health care program in Arkansas. The first step to achieving that task, she said, is to gauge the current level of health in the state’s wildlife.
“One of my main goals is to create a really solid baseline so that we understand what’s happening around our state in terms of wildlife disease,” she said, “and then to inform the public as much as I can, get as much information out there about what risks these diseases do and don’t pose.”
As she works with a team to develop the commission’s new research division, chronic wasting disease is at the top of the agenda, she added. In fact, that disease was the catalyst that led the commission to create the new division, as well as her position, she said.
Several strategies are already underway to address chronic wasting disease in the state’s elk and whitetail deer populations, including modified harvest regulations in deer zones 1 and 2, carcass-movement restrictions, a statewide ban on lures containing natural deer urine, and a statewide prohibition on the rehabilitation of white-tailed deer, she said, adding that the commission is creating a large surveillance network for the upcoming hunting season that will allow hunters to test as many animals as possible.
“We’re going to continue to monitor the effect of that and work with the public to help hunters understand exactly what’s going on and keep everyone as informed as possible,” she said, “but a lot of the management strategies are very, very good strategies that were already in place before I got here.”
In addition to chronic wasting disease, she said, she is interested in working with the commission’s bat biologist to address white-nose syndrome in bats and has talked with associates in neighboring states about researching turkey health.
“I think as we get a better understanding of the baseline of disease occurrence in this state, which is kind of square 1 for us, more projects will present themselves to us as we have a better understanding of what’s on the landscape,” she added.
Ballard said she has been interested in animals since childhood. Her family had a lot of pets, she added, and she decided to pursue veterinary medicine when a vet visited her preschool.
After graduating from North Little Rock High School, she enrolled at Arkansas Tech University in Russellville, where a freshman adviser suggested that Ballard take a fish-and-wildlife-orientation class, in addition to pre-veterinary requirements. She said the class ignited her passion for wildlife conservation, so she combined her interests and became a wildlife veterinarian.
She earned a bachelor’s degree in fisheries and wildlife biology from Arkansas Tech before earning a doctorate of veterinary medicine from the University of Missouri and a doctorate of philosophy in veterinary and biomedical sciences with an emphasis in population health from the University of Georgia.
The field allows her to explore a diverse array of topics, she said.
“I do so many different projects and work with so many people and so many ecosystems,” she said. “It’s just fantastic, and I love the challenge of it.
I guess that’s the main thing, but also feeling like I’m really making a difference and leaving the world a better place.”
Before joining the Game and Fish Commission, Ballard worked with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as a veterinary medical officer in Fort Collins, Colorado. There, she helped the National Wildlife Refuge System set up response plans that allow staff members to safely address outbreaks of disease, she said.
Finding an avenue to continue her work in her home state has been “a dream come true,” she added.
“I absolutely love it. My family’s thrilled to be home and closer to our extended family,” she said. “This is absolutely what I always wanted to do, and I wasn’t sure there would ever be an opportunity, so I still wait to wake up from the dream every day.”
Staff writer Sarah DeClerk can be reached at (501) 378-3527 or sdeclerk@ arkansasonline.com.