Dr. Laura Donohue blends art with vet med for new wildlife book

Written by Melanie Greaver Cordova

Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine student Laura Donohue, D.V.M. Class of 2022, is blending her artistic talents and passion for animals in a new wildlife book forthcoming from Johns Hopkins University Press. The book, entitled Wildlife Health and Disease in Conservation, features over one hundred of her illustrations that depict common wildlife disease cycles as well as their social, cultural and economic influences.

The book’s co-editors, Dr. David Jessup, wildlife veterinarian at the University of California-Davis, and Dr. Robin Radcliffe, associate professor of practice in wildlife and conservation medicine at the Cornell’s College of Veterinary Medicine, invited Donohue to join the project last year.

Donohue’s art accompanies each of the 25 chapters, which range from Ebola in endangered mountain gorillas to avian malaria and the extinction of Hawaiian forest birds. In addition to outlining the disease at hand, each chapter author touches on non-biological factors important to their subject, including the social, financial, legal and political factors at play.

The editors hope that the combination of rigorous science, storytelling and illustration will make the book a useful guide for readers. Dr. Radcliffe praises Donohue’s work: “She has been able to capture the disease-risk landscape — all the elements that contribute to a disease and might impact conservation efforts. Maybe for some it’s habitat loss or increased transportation, for instance. Laura helped illustrate these ideas and gave the book a really rich visual element.”

“I’m proud to have worked on this book with the editors and authors,” Donohue says. “I feel like I’ve contributed to the learning that comes from it, not just for myself but for those who will use it out in the world when it’s published.”

Wildlife Health and Disease in Conservation will be available from Johns Hopkins University Press in 2023. Funding for this project and Donohue’s position include Cornell University, the University of California at Davis, the Wildlife Disease Association, USDA-APHIS-Wildlife Services, International Wildlife Veterinary Services, the American Association of Wildlife Veterinarians and Veterinarians Without Borders.

Written by Melanie Greaver Cordova. The full version of this story appears on the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine website.