Peta’s love and passion for wildlife started well before her nursing career, completing a Bachelor of Applied Science in Wildlife Biology with her career aim to always be actively involved in conservation and animal welfare. She completed her Vet Nursing qualification not long after and has been veterinary nursing for 22 years. 

Peta started out in a small animal practice that admitted hundreds of wild animals yearly, sparking a passion specifically for nursing our native wildlife. This passion has led to an exciting career veterinary nursing in the zoological and wildlife industry, including working at RSPCA, Australia Zoo Wildlife Hospital, Alice Springs Desert Park and Animals Asia’s Vietnam Bear Rescue Centre. 

In 2013 Peta successfully gained a senior veterinary nurse position at Perth Zoo before moving into the supervisor role, which she has now been in for the past 9 years. She is passionate about providing the best possible care to her patients and passing on that knowledge to new generations of zoo and wildlife veterinary nurses and is excited about the collaboration and future opportunities between ASZK and ZWVNA. 

Amongst many of Peta’s favourite animals in the wombat.

Kate has been nursing at Perth Zoo for the past 23 years. She becomes more passionate for the job with each passing year and couldn’t imagine doing anything else. She has a special interest in conditioning to facilitate medical procedures, hand raising neonates, Primates and Marine mammals. 

Kate's dedication to conservation has seen her travel to many corners of the globe volunteering her skills to assist with projects such as Friends of the Western Ground Parrot, Free the Bears, Zoo Peru, Wildlife Asia and Zoo Peru. Her work with the Black Cockatoo program at Perth Zoo has seen hundreds of birds successfully treated, rehabilitated and released back into the wild, significantly impacting the numbers of these endangered birds. Kate won the Veterinary Nurses Council Vet Nurse of the Year award in 2019.

Debbie Pritchard is a registered Veterinary Nurse with a plethora of animal industry qualifications. In 1992 Debbie successfully gained the position of Divisional manager, Taronga Veterinary and Quarantine Center and now 30 + years later maintains a part-time position within the hospital as a Senior Zoo Veterinary Nurse/Keeper where she particularly enjoys working with the wildlife patients and the specialist aspects of clinical nursing, hospital husbandry and wildlife rehabilitation.

“I am passionate about this industry and all it represents with its powerful conservation and animal welfare targets. I am proud to have strived for the recognition and understanding of what the Zoo & Wildlife Veterinary Nurses of Australasia have contributed within this field; from zoo population veterinary care and health management to rewilding conservation programs and everything in-between.”

Jodie’s veterinary nursing carer began as a kennel hand in private small animal practice in her young teens. She progressed to a full-time qualified veterinary nurse in 1989, and in 1991 began working at Taronga Zoo Sydney as a bird keeper. Six months later Jodie transferred to the wildlife hospital in the position of zoo veterinary nurse, where she worked for 3 ½ years before moving to Dubbo to work at Taronga Western Plains Zoo. Jodie has worked in various roles since arriving in Dubbo, but nursing has always been her passion. She has a keen interest in hand raising native and exotic species. ‘I am very fortunate for the opportunities I have had during my zoo carer working with a diverse variety of wildlife, incredible staff and dedicated wildlife carers. Zoo and wildlife veterinary nursing is a wonderful carer with many challenges and amazing experiences, and I am fortunate to have been doing it for nearly 32 years.’

Gerry Ross has been nursing for almost 23 years. She began her career at a bird specialist clinic where she developed a love of working with birds. She moved on to work at a small animal practice, completing her nursing certificate while developing her knowledge and interest in anaesthesia and surgery. 

In 2005, Gerry started working for Zoos Victoria as a nurse at Healesville Sanctuary’s Australian Wildlife Health Centre, further growing her passion for wildlife and conservation. In 2007, she stepped into a senior nursing role and in 2016 Gerry took on the role of hospital manager (non-clinical) overseeing the staff and operations of the wildlife centre. 

Currently, Gerry manages a large team with a range of full-time, part-time and casual staff, and is responsible for budgets, forward planning and projects. Gerry’s role is to ensure staff have the ability to provide the best wildlife welfare and rehabilitation possible, through the provision of skills, equipment and facilities. 

Gerry’s favourite animal is the echidna.

Jenny's zoo career began in 1988 at Melbourne Zoo, where she joined the Native Mammal team as a keeper. Over the following 12 years, she built deep expertise in animal husbandry and was later given the opportunity to serve as Project Officer for the Eastern Barred Bandicoot recovery team — working to save a Victorian species on the brink of extinction. In this role, she helped establish breeding and holding facilities across Victoria and developed a species-specific husbandry manual for captive management.

In the early 2000s, Jenny moved from zookeeping into veterinary nursing when she joined the Veterinary department. Over the years she gained broad experience across many species, and in the final six years of this chapter she stepped into the role of Veterinary Hospital Supervisor, leading the team.

Jenny now works with the Veterinary team at Werribee Open Range Zoo, delivering high-quality care to the zoo's collection as well as wildlife referred through the RSPCA Wildlife Hospital. She enjoys all aspects of veterinary nursing, with particular interests in anaesthesia, hand-rearing, and conservation fieldwork.

Mikaylie started her career in wildlife medicine by volunteering at Taronga Western Plains Zoo while studying veterinary nursing certificate and working full-time in a domestic vet clinic in 1998, for two years.
Starting in 2000, Mikaylie has 26 years wildlife veterinary nursing experience with a range of exotic, Australian and New Zealand native animals across all taxa. Starting work at Taronga Veterinary and Quarantine Centre/Zoo and moving onto Taronga Western Plains Zoo, Vancouver Aquarium, Perth Zoo, and finally Auckland Zoo where she has been the clinical coordinator for the last 14 years.
Mikaylie’s passion for pinnipeds saw her working at Vancouver Aquarium, rescuing, and rehabilitating harbor seal pups and then going on to volunteer in Alaska at the Alaskan SeaLife Centre, comparing rehabilitating skills for harbor seals from the two aquariums. This passion has found Mikaylie working on many fieldwork projects including satellite tagging adult male Australian sea lions in WA, adult female NZ sea lions, rescuing leopard seals and capture and restraint of NZ fur seals, NZ sea lion pups and harbor seal pups.
Mikaylie originally moved into wildlife medicine to work with exotic wildlife, however throughout her career, she has seen her passion develop more into field conservation, being able to practically make a difference on the ground with Australian and New Zealand native mammals and birds (all birds but particularly kakapo).
Mikaylie is a wildlife expert for the NOWRT (National Oiled Wildlife Response Team) Auckland region tier 2 and national response tier 3.

Shanna has worked as a veterinary nurse for over 20 years across shelter medicine, private practice, education, and more than a decade in zoo, wildlife, and exotic animal care. Her background includes teaching veterinary nurses, extensive clinical work with a wide range of species, practice management and varied field work. Shanna holds a Master’s degree in Ecology and Biodiversity, where her research focused on Salmonella distribution within native lizard populations and island ecosystems involved in the takahē translocation network. Shanna has a particular interest in disease ecology, and in the husbandry and rehabilitation of native New Zealand birds and reptiles.

Rebecca’s first job was cleaning budgie cages and fish tanks around 40 years ago. A few years later an unfortunate dog accident led to the start of a very satisfying and rewarding career in veterinary nursing at a small animal clinic.
Since 1999, Rebecca has worked with Zoos SA at both Adelaide Zoo and Monarto Safari Park with a small stint at Healesville Wildlife Sanctuary. She attended the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust for a conservation summer school in 2002 and has been passionate about saving species from extinction ever since.
'I have been lucky to share my skills overseas, and in very remote locations - working with likeminded people to help endangered wildlife.’
These days, Rebecca leads a wonderful team of nurses, teaching and learning, to give the best welfare outcomes to collection animals and wildlife patients.

Niki has been a veterinary nurse for over 15 years with experience in the zoo, wildlife and exotics sector. Originally trained in wildlife biology, with a Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Ecology and Conservation Biology, before completing veterinary nursing qualifications to focus on the clinical care, rehabilitation and conservation of native wildlife and zoological species.

Her career experience includes roles with RSPCA Queensland Wildlife Hospital, Currumbin Wildlife Hospital, Perth Zoo and Murdoch University Animal Hospital, as well as roles within QLD Government, specialist ophthalmology, internal medicine, and exotic referral clinics. These roles have all contributed to her love of critical care, surgical nursing, rehabilitation and species-specific husbandry of a vast range of species in both clinical and field settings.

Currently, Niki is working at Currumbin Wildlife Hospital and in a specialist exotics practice supporting multiple small-scale zoological institutions. She is passionate about education, collaboration and supporting veterinary nurses through connection within the zoo, exotics and wildlife veterinary field.

Renee Lowery is a Rehabilitation and Offsite Supervisor and Veterinary Nurse at Currumbin Wildlife Hospital, with a strong passion for wildlife medicine, rehabilitation, conservation, and release programs across Australia. Since beginning her wildlife career in 2015, Renee has developed extensive hands-on experience working with native wildlife species including raptors, koalas, marine birds, reptiles, possums, bats, and snakes.

Renee completed her studies achieving qualifications in Animal Studies, Captive Animal Management, and Veterinary Nursing. She has further expanded her expertise through professional development and specialist wildlife training.

Her wildlife rehabilitation interests focus heavily on raptor medicine and release conditioning, koala rehabilitation, seabird response, reptile incubation, and wildlife emergency response. Renee currently serves as the Raptor Coordinator with Wildcare Australia and holds QLD wildlife permit endorsements for rehab, rescue, and release. 

Throughout her career, Renee has contributed to a number of significant wildlife conservation and rehabilitation projects. These include White-bellied Sea Eagle satellite tracking and release programs in collaboration with PhD research projects, complex peregrine falcon rehabilitation cases utilising falconry techniques, koala bushfire recovery and orthopaedic rehabilitation, seabird and pelagic bird rescues and releases, reptile incubation projects, and numerous successful raptor reunites and hand-raising cases. Her work has supported successful releases across Queensland and New South Wales, including several landmark rehabilitation outcomes.

Renee has also participated in volunteer conservation programs, ongoing wildlife rescue and rehabilitation programs. She continues to pursue advanced training in wildlife emergency response, oiled wildlife management, venomous snake handling, leadership development, advanced first aid, mental health first aid, and wildlife search and rescue.