Sonia M. Hernandez, DVM, DACZM, PhD

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I was born in Puerto Rico in 1969, although no one in my family is from Puerto Rico. My mother is Cuban and she left Cuba with her family in 1961, spent some time in Puerto Rico, and eventually married a Spaniard. When I was 1 yr old, we moved to Spain and I grew up in Madrid. My family moved to New Orleans in 1981. I lived in Louisiana until 1996. I then lived in Arizona for two years, upstate New York for 3 and the remainder in Georgia. I have been teaching and conducting research in Costa Rica since 1994.

 

I am currently a Professor who has been in a joint position at the Warnell School of Forestry & Natural Resources and the College of Veterinary Medicine--at the Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study since 2008. I hold a DVM from LSU and PhD in Ecology from UGA. I am a Diplomate of the American College of Zoological Medicine. I teach various courses to undergraduate, graduate and veterinary students, including Wildlife Disease Investigation for graduate students and a study abroad Conservation Medicine & Biology course in Costa Rica. My lab is dedicated to investigating wildlife diseases, and specifically how human activities affect the ecology, health/diseases of wildlife. In 2013, I received Warnell’s Outstanding Teaching Award; in 2017 I was awarded the University-wide Richard B. Russell Award for Excellence in Teaching and in 2018, Professor of the Year at Warnell. I recently became a USA Fulbright Scholar and will be conducting research in Spain for 6 months in 2021. I am the proud mom of Paxton, and twins, Ashton and Maya.