Jim Desmond

Field Veterinarian, Wildlife Trust

Clinical practice, wildlife conservation, and infectious disease  
 research are all central to Jim Desmond’s veterinary medicine field work. As a Field Veterinarian at Wildlife Trust, Jim runs programs in Bangladesh and India as part of Wildlife Trust’s efforts to conduct targeted viral discovery in emerging disease hotspots.

Under his guidance, teams sample wildlife and domestic animals and research zoonotic pathogens for possible outbreaks.  Jim’s work also includes cataloging existing wildlife diseases and uncovering new pathogens and their possible threat to human health and the health of wildlife populations.

Before joining Wildlife Trust, Jim completed a Doctorate in Veterinary Medicine, a Masters in Comparative Biomedical Sciences, and an International Veterinary Medicine Certificate from Tufts University’s Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine. His Master’s thesis utilized microsatellites to gain new insights into the relationships between deer ticks, Lyme disease, and their hosts. This work established a template for further genetic research of these disease vectors.

Jim comes to Wildlife Trust with a long history of field experience including investigating the prevalence of zoonotic disease in Zimbabwean cattle at the African Center for Holistic Management and managing the care of orphaned orangutans at the Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Center in Sabah, Malaysia. Jim continued his work with orangutans in Kalimantan, Indonesia before moving to Uganda to work with orphaned chimpanzees at The Jane Goodall Institute and the Uganda Wildlife Education Center.