The week of October 10 thru 14th the NCSU CVM will be hosting the The Jim Wright Visiting Scholar. Everyone in the EMC community is encouraged to attend the formal lectures, and visit or meet with Dr. Ruth Francis-Floyd, this year’s Jim Wright Visiting Scholar during the week of activities.
Dr. Francis-Floyd, a veterinarian, ACZM diplomate, researcher and educator is a professor at the University, of Florida where she has pioneered the integration of aquatic health clinical and research investigations across college boundaries. Her career has seen her working with many aquatic industries to help develop solutions to serious problems that have threatened those emerging industries. From catfish to high production tropical fish, and marine mammals to invertebrates, Dr. Francis-Floyd has a vast wealth of experience and insight. Her passion and propensity for problem-solving and bringing disparate groups together to examine complex problems make her a well-storied, engaging, and informative presenter, and we are honored to have her joining us next week.
Dr. Francis-Floyd will be presenting on her work looking at an important outbreak of disease sea urchins ion Tuesday, October 11th at 12:15 PM in the North Theater at the College of Veterinary Medicine, and will give a lecture on Health Management of Tropical Fish in CBS 817 at 4:15 PM on Thursday, October 13th, in South Theater. She will be available for meetings and discussions during her visit; any interested faculty who would like to talk with Dr. Francis-Floyd about her research, can contact Dr. Michael Stoskopf to make arrangements.
The Jim Wright Visiting Scholar program is a tribute to Dr. James F. Wright, who was an esteemed member of the faculty at NCSU’s CVM. Dr. Wright came to NCSU and joined the CVM faculty after a very productive and interesting career that included many contributions to the discipline of zoological medicine. Dr. Wright was was the first full-time veterinarian at the National Zoo in the 1950s and helped refine protocols for projectile tranquilization and immobilization of wildlife both in the USA and in Africa. He conducted important investigations into the health effects of radiation, and worked with the Environmental Protection Agency to study the effects of environmental stress on animals before joining the faculty at the NCSU College of Veterinary Medicine in the early 1980s in what was then the Department of Microbiology, Parasitology, and Pathology. Over 10 years, from 1984 to 2004, working with his good friend, the former head of pathology at UNC Chapel Hill, Dr. Fred Dahldorf, Dr. Wright pioneered the in-house pathology services at the Zoological Park, and in so doing planted the earliest seeds for what has become a long and productive partnership between the NC Zoo and the College of Veterinary Medicine. He is remembered not only for his work, but for his warmth and his dedication, and is an honorary diplomate of the ACZM.
