Zoos Victoria

The Foundation provides an ongoing opportunity for qualified veterinarians to undertake a two-year Residency program based at the Australian Wildlife Health Centre (AWHC), Healesville Sanctuary and the Melbourne Veterinary School, The University of Melbourne.  This residency offers the successful candidate the chance to make a positive contribution to the health and conservation of Australia's unique wildlife. This collaborative program between Zoos Victoria and the University of Melbourne has run for the past 15 years, however the Foundation’s support from 2019 has enabled it to double in size.

The program enables two veterinary residents to develop skills in the medicine and surgery of Australasian wildlife and to complete a primary research project around wildlife or conservation health. The program culminates in the award of Master of Philosophy (Veterinary Science) from the University of Melbourne.

The first resident to benefit from this support – Dr Adelaide Martin - commenced in June 2020 and her research is on the feeding habits of the Helmeted Honeyeater. The second resident, Dr Chloe Steventon, graduated from the program in 2022, with her research investigating historical health and targeted health-based projects in the critically endangered Lowland Leadbeater’s possum. Throughout her residency, Dr Steventon’s masters was elevated to a PhD, her research on Leadbeater’s possum parasites was published in the International Journal for Parasitology, and she was awarded a full-time position as Associate Veterinarian at Healesville Sanctuary.