Degree: B.S. Animal & Nutritional Sciences, Equine Studies minor with an emphasis in equine science, May 2021
Career: Katie is currently pursuing a DVM at Lincoln Memorial University College of Veterinary Medicine, Class of 2025. Her career goals include a career in equine medicine with a focus in the Thoroughbred industry. Katie has a special interest in both sports medicine and theriogenology.
Internships/Undergraduate Research: During undergrad, Katie was a working student at the Animal Science Research, Education and Outreach Center. She says that the time she spent on the farm gave her the strong foundational skills she needed to excel in veterinary school. From learning the basics of animal handling to the hard-earned farm-life work ethic, the time she spent here has proven invaluable. The dairy herd, which has since been dispersed, was Katie’s favorite part of the farm because she was able to assist with the calving and neonatal care that came along with it. Katie also shadowed the WVU Farms veterinarian, Dr. Ashley Bredenberg. Dr. Bredenberg taught her the ropes of large animal and mobile veterinary care, which she quickly fell in love with. During the summers, Katie worked at Cheat Lake Animal Hospital as a veterinary assistant on the emergency care team. She assisted with both small and exotic animal emergencies in addition to helping at the Avian Conservation Center of Appalachia also housed on-site.
WVU Student Organizations: Katie was a member of the WVU Collegiate Horsemen’s Association which allowed her to gain exposure to a variety of careers, disciplines, and professionals within the horse industry. She was also a member of the inaugural group of students that made up the Davis-Michael Sustainability Fellows Program. With this group, she traveled to Trinidad & Tobago to learn about sustainability efforts in other parts of the world as well as to learn a bit about different cultures. In addition to this, she was also a Davis-Michael Scholar, and is now a Davis-Michael Veterinary Scholar. This program allowed Katie to be a tutor for her peers in upper-level sciences classes, which she really enjoyed.
About Attending WVU: “When I first began looking at colleges to attend as a senior in high school, WVU was not even on the list. However, a friend was touring the campus, so I decided to tag along and quickly realized that WVU was everything that I wanted in a school. The farms provided me with the hands-on animal science education I was after, and the Davis-Michael program supported my veterinary goals. What I didn’t realize at the time, was that the entire faculty and staff would be there to support me and home-grow me into the professional that I wanted to be. While you may be able to find a great education anywhere, the amount of love and support I found in my professors at WVU is unmatched. I have always wanted to work with racetrack Thoroughbreds, and with the help of WVU and the Equine Studies program that dream is becoming a reality.”