Lions and Vultures and Tox, Oh My
04/14/22 • 29 min
How human activity, chemical exposures, and environmental factors combine to contribute to wildlife population declines is at the forefront of the research by Dr. Caroline Moore and other teams at the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance. Dr. Moore unravels the role of toxicology in wildlife conservation with co-hosts Anne Chappelle and David Faulkner.
About the Guest
Caroline Moore, PhD, DVM, serves the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance as a Scientist in Disease Investigations. In this role, she works as a veterinary toxicology researcher, providing molecular and diagnostic toxicology support. She uses toxicology, pathology, molecular diagnostics, and epidemiology to better understand how environmental contaminants, such as heavy metals, pesticides, and harmful algal blooms, create roadblocks to wildlife conservation and how to prevent them.
Dr. Moore is working on developing and applying environmental and diagnostic toxicology in Kenya, where pesticides are used indiscriminately; in Peru, where mining activities release mercury into the environment, impacting birds, bats, nonhuman primates, ocelots, and more; and in Zimbabwe, where harmful algal blooms may be an increasing threat. She is especially interested in developing noninvasive in situ diagnostic tests to better understand the challenges to endangered species and how toxicant exposures may impact future generations through altered epigenetics.
Dr. Moore earned her bachelor’s degree in biochemistry and molecular biology from the University of California Santa Cruz, assisting with necropsies and research on the decline of the southern sea otter. She earned her doctorate in pharmacology and toxicology and her veterinary medical degree at the University of California Davis while on a US Environmental Protection Agency STAR grant investigating how globally present microcystins have toxic effects on the nervous system. She spent the next year as a National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences postdoctoral fellow at the University of California Los Angeles researching how environmental contaminants may cause reproductive toxicity through epigenetics, and the next two years as the SDZWA Steel Endowed Pathology Fellow, establishing successful ways to incorporate more toxicology into conservation field programs.
Dr. Moore is an active member of the Society of Toxicology, the American College of Toxicology, and the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, serving on committees and boards for comparative veterinary toxicology, early career professionals, diversity and inclusion, and regional support for Southern California. As an avid hiker, camper, and wildlife enthusiast, Dr. Moore has always felt the need to support conservation efforts through her research.
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How human activity, chemical exposures, and environmental factors combine to contribute to wildlife population declines is at the forefront of the research by Dr. Caroline Moore and other teams at the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance. Dr. Moore unravels the role of toxicology in wildlife conservation with co-hosts Anne Chappelle and David Faulkner.
About the Guest
Caroline Moore, PhD, DVM, serves the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance as a Scientist in Disease Investigations. In this role, she works as a veterinary toxicology researcher, providing molecular and diagnostic toxicology support. She uses toxicology, pathology, molecular diagnostics, and epidemiology to better understand how environmental contaminants, such as heavy metals, pesticides, and harmful algal blooms, create roadblocks to wildlife conservation and how to prevent them.
Dr. Moore is working on developing and applying environmental and diagnostic toxicology in Kenya, where pesticides are used indiscriminately; in Peru, where mining activities release mercury into the environment, impacting birds, bats, nonhuman primates, ocelots, and more; and in Zimbabwe, where harmful algal blooms may be an increasing threat. She is especially interested in developing noninvasive in situ diagnostic tests to better understand the challenges to endangered species and how toxicant exposures may impact future generations through altered epigenetics.
Dr. Moore earned her bachelor’s degree in biochemistry and molecular biology from the University of California Santa Cruz, assisting with necropsies and research on the decline of the southern sea otter. She earned her doctorate in pharmacology and toxicology and her veterinary medical degree at the University of California Davis while on a US Environmental Protection Agency STAR grant investigating how globally present microcystins have toxic effects on the nervous system. She spent the next year as a National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences postdoctoral fellow at the University of California Los Angeles researching how environmental contaminants may cause reproductive toxicity through epigenetics, and the next two years as the SDZWA Steel Endowed Pathology Fellow, establishing successful ways to incorporate more toxicology into conservation field programs.
Dr. Moore is an active member of the Society of Toxicology, the American College of Toxicology, and the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, serving on committees and boards for comparative veterinary toxicology, early career professionals, diversity and inclusion, and regional support for Southern California. As an avid hiker, camper, and wildlife enthusiast, Dr. Moore has always felt the need to support conservation efforts through her research.
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Previous Episode
The Delicious World of Food Safety
Even chocolate companies and wineries need toxicologists. Alexandria G. Lau, ToxStrategies Inc., has worked for both and shares her experiences with co-hosts Anne Chappelle and David Faulkner. They also discuss the research and development that goes into new food products and how toxicologists play a role in food safety.
About the Guest
Alexandria G. Lau, PhD, DABT, ToxStrategies Inc., is a toxicologist with a decade of experience in the food and beverage industry. She has extensive knowledge of global regulations related to consumer products, including pesticides (US Environmental Protection Agency), food and packaging (US Food and Drug Administration, European Food Safety Authority), and alcoholic beverages (Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau).
Working for a prominent vineyard/winery, Dr. Lau managed the company’s global quality and food safety efforts, decreasing pesticide use and overseeing growers and vintners to ensure global regulatory compliance and supply chain flexibility. For a major food product manufacturer, she managed a large portfolio of products and food safety initiatives, developing and maintaining global policies, standards, and programs for everything from contaminant/allergen management to labeling and stakeholder communication. Dr. Lau also served at a senior level for a global manufacturer of consumer products, working in safety assessment and regulatory toxicology to support development of pest control products, ensuring regulatory compliance that included California Proposition 65.
Dr. Lau earned her PhD in toxicology and pharmacology from the University of Arizona, Tucson. She maintains a current and robust body of expertise through frequent continuing education and participation in professional associations and scientific conferences. She is often an invited speaker for association and industry events, and she has published extensively in the scientific literature. She also serves as an invited reviewer for the journals Toxicology Research and Application and Toxicological Sciences.
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Next Episode
Anthropogenic Ghosts on the Coast
While no longer national news, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill is still impacting the ecological health of the Gulf of Mexico and the livelihoods of the communities that rely upon the gulf’s aquatic life, as Robert “Joe” Griffitt of the University of Southern Mississippi reveals. Dr. Griffitt and co-hosts Anne Chappelle and David Faulkner discuss how ecotoxicology is both an applied and a basic science, as well as how scientific discovery is not always a linear process.
About the Guest
Robert “Joe” Griffitt, PhD, is a Professor at and Director of the University of Southern Mississippi School of Ocean Science and Engineering.
Ecotoxicology, toxicogenomics, and bioinformatics are the focus of Dr. Griffitt’s research. Specifically, his lab investigates the impacts of metallic nanoparticles in aquatic and marine ecosystems and the effects of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill on the northern Gulf of Mexico. In both cases, his lab uses a combination of molecular and whole-animal endpoints to try to assess toxicological impacts at both cellular and organism levels.
Dr. Griffitt earned a BS in marine biology from the University of North Carolina Wilmington and an MS in marine science and a PhD in environmental science from the University of South Carolina. He completed his postdoctoral research at the University of Florida.
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Adverse Reactions - Lions and Vultures and Tox, Oh My
Transcript
[00:00:00] Adverse Reactions “Decompose” Theme Music
[00:00:05] David Faulkner: Hello, and welcome to Adverse Reactions Season 2. My name is David Faulkner, and this is my co-host,
[00:00:11] Anne Chappelle: Anne Chappelle.
[00:00:12] David Faulkner: As much fun as the first season of Adverse Reactions was, I think Season 2 is better.
[00:00:16] Anne Chappelle: Hidden.
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