Current Undergraduates & Scholars
Below are undergraduate students, scholars, and employees that work in the lab and contribute to its projects.
Sydney Burke, Undergraduate Assistant
Sydney is in the final year of her undergraduate degree, pursuing a Bachelor's in Wildlife Science with a Pre-Veterinary emphasis from the Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources at the University of Georgia. She is passionate about studying the impacts of infectious wildlife and zoonotic diseases on ecosystems and public health. She is an advisee of Dr. Sonia Hernandez in a Senior Thesis project on the anesthetic protocols of skunks and raccoons in high-containment (BSL-3) facilities during a SARS-CoV-2 research project.
Ethan Cooper, Research Technician
Ethan graduated from the Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources at the University of Georgia with a Bachelor’s in Aquatic Science. He has had experience working with Loggerhead sea turtles while interning as a Research Assistant at the Georgia Sea Turtle Center, working with native plants at the State Botanical Gardens of Georgia, and working with clapper rails as a Research Technician for UGA. As a research technician for the Hernandez Wildlife Disease Lab, he hopes to gain experience working as part of a team in a research lab and gain an understanding of all aspects of wildlife research.