Wildlife Health Specialist Group

FOLLOW US

Commissioned by the IUCN Species Survival Commission to serve as a first response for wildlife health concerns across the world.

South America

South America

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Regional Coordinator: Dr. Marcela Uhart

Marcela Uhart is an Argentine veterinarian graduated from Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires (UNCPBA), Argentina in 1995. Dr. Uhart joined the Wildlife Conservation Society’s (WCS) Field Veterinary Program sixteen years ago. She now supervises the health program’s activities in eight Latin American countries, and oversees the work of a team of over 35 local veterinarians. Her work focuses on creating and strengthening local wildlife health capacities, providing veterinary support for the management and conservation of wildlife in the region, and promoting an ecosystemic or One Health approach to address disease related conflicts at the wildlife, livestock, and human interface. Dr. Uhart has led projects and international training workshops for multilateral agencies such as FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization for the United Nations), the OIE (World Animal Health Organization) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). She chairs the Latin America Section for the Wildlife Disease Association and is the Regional Coordinator for the IUCN SSC Wildlife Health Specialist Group in South America. Dr. Uhart is an associate professor at UNCPBA, a PhD advisor for the National Research Council of Argentina, and mentor of numerous veterinary and biology undergraduate students in the region. She has published over 35 articles in peer-reviewed journals, about 20 papers in local scientific and outreach journals, 10 book chapters, and presented at more than 130 local and international scientific conferences. Dr. Uhart currently coordinates the USAID-funded PREDICT activities in 4 Latin American countries, and is Associate Director for the WCS Global Health Program in Latin America.