Staff Associate Wildlife Veterinarian
Melissa Miller examines every dead sea otter found along the California coast to determine why it died. A wildlife pathologist at the Marine Wildlife Veterinary Care and Research Center in Santa Cruz, she has a joint appointment with the California Department of Fish and Game and the University of California, Davis, Wildlife Health Center. Miller earned bachelor's and master's degrees in wildlife management and animal science at the University of New Hampshire, and completed her veterinary degree at UC Davis. She interned in small animal medicine and surgery at North Carolina State Veterinary School, and in anatomic pathology at the UC Davis Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital. Miller earned a PhD in comparative pathology from the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine. Her love of sea otters notwithstanding, Miller's long-time animal companion is Spaz, an indoor cat.