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ILZE K. BERZINS, PhD, DVM, MPH

Ilze K. Berzins has an interdisciplinary approach to her clinical, teaching, conservation and research skills focused around the concept of One Health – healthy ecosystems, healthy animals, and healthy humans. She recently completed a Masters of Public Health (MPH) to expand her career path to better encompass the goals of conservation medicine within One Health. As part of her MPH program, she organized and facilitated a workshop with the veterinary and medical colleges at the University of West Indies in Trinidad. She continues to work in private practice and also is an aquatic health consultant through her program of One Water, One Health, LLC.

She served for three years as the Executive Vice President for Animal Health, Conservation, and Research at the John G. Shedd Aquarium in Chicago. With her team, she was responsible for the health of nearly 32,500 animals, and for the development and implementation of numerous programs within the Daniel P. Haerther Center for Conservation and Research, a center she helped develop.

Prior to her position at the Shedd Aquarium, she was the Vice President of Biological Operations and Veterinarian at The Florida Aquarium in Tampa, Florida. She was with the Aquarium for over 12 years and was responsible for husbandry, animal health, dive programs, and conservation and research programs. She has also helped established The Florida Aquarium’s Center for Conservation and a well received yearly lecture program.

Dr. Berzins holds both a Bachelor and Masters Degree in Biology from Stanford University, a PhD in Zoology from University of California - Berkeley, a DVM from the University of California - Davis and a MPH from the University of Iowa. She completed a three-year post-doctoral fellowship program in Comparative Pathology from The Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions in Baltimore, Maryland.

Research opportunities have taken her to the Florida Keys, various Caribbean Islands, the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama, the Guyana National Zoo and the Karanambu Trust in South America, and on the West Coast both at the Hopkins Marine Biology Station, Pacific Grove, California and the Bodega Marine Laboratory, California.

She has held several teaching positions including visiting Assistant Professorships at the University of Hawaii, University of California - Davis, Northeastern University’s School for Field Studies program, St. John’s University/College of St. Benedict, and the Oregon Institute of Marine Biology, University of Oregon. Currently she holds a Courtesy Faculty appointment with the Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences at the University of Florida and an Adjunct Faculty position with the School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Minnesota.

Dr. Berzins currently serves on two committees for the Minnesota Veterinary Medical Association, Public Health and Governmental Affairs. She was past chair for the Committee for Environmental Issues and has served on the Committee for Disasters and Emergency Issues for the American Veterinary Medical Association. She is past president for the International Association for Aquatic Animal Medicine. She is a board member of the Karanambu Trust  serving as aquatic advisor to help establish the site and surrounding area as a protected, sustainable use region in the interior wetlands of Guyana, South America. She also serves on the board and as scientific advisor for Art of Conservation, in Tulum, Mexico, whose mission is to inspire children to conserve biodiversity through creative learning and one-health awareness.