Student Spotlight

Explore Emma Wallace’s inspiring journey from earning a UF master’s in Shelter Medicine to succeeding in veterinary school. Learn how her academic experiences, hands-on lab work, and research on preventing pet relinquishment shaped her career path and passion for animal welfare.

I don’t think it can be quantified. It really has been invaluable. I am so much smarter and more effective at my job with this degree under my belt.

As a student of the online Shelter Medicine program at the University of Florida, Christa Nelson serves as the director of operations at the non-profit Stafford Animal Shelter in Livingston, Montana. 

I went to Cambodia 10 years ago for a different job in a completely different field before I found a very neglected dog. I realized there was so much more to do in terms of animal welfare in Cambodia, so I decided to quit my job and start my own organization.

Being a student in the Shelter Medicine program has been such a great experience.  I have been in the animal welfare field for close to 20 years and wish I had found this program sooner.

There’s not another program like UF’s that offers non-veterinarians the opportunity to learn from some of the very best in the field and in their own home and at their own pace!

I do not think that I would feel so empowered to help the Belize City HS if I weren’t currently enrolled in the shelter medicine class.

I couldn’t have found a better program for me; it met my desire to be a better shelter director.