Title: Chief Veterinary and Scientific Officer
Gorilla Doctor Since: 2023 (PhD student in 2011!)
Motivation for Joining the Team: Gorilla Doctors is the only organization in the world providing lifesaving veterinary care to an entire great ape population. They also have the longest running and largest biobank of specimens in which to study great ape health. Having worked with the organization since I was a student, seeing the incredible dedication and hard work of the veterinarians and staff inspired me to want to join the team.
Favorite Animal/s (besides gorillas of course): Asian elephants. I am fascinated by their intelligence and long history of working with people.
Recent Blog Posts
- Protecting People and Gorillas: A One Health Deep Dive into Dengue and Zika Virus
- Press Release: Hidden Parasites Could Threaten the Health of Endangered Mountain Gorillas
- Dr. Tierra Goes to Berkeley
Select Publications
- Confirmation of skywalker hoolock gibbon (Hoolock tianxing) in Myanmar extends known geographic range of an endangered primate, International Journal of Primatology, 2024.
- Exposure to diverse sarbecoviruses indicates frequent zoonotic spillover in human communities interacting with wildlife, International Journal of Infectious Diseases, 2023.
- Simian homologues of human herpesviruses and implications for novel viral introduction to free-living mountain gorillas, American Journal of Primatology, 2023.
