As a child, Karyn Havas ’01 wanted to help sick animals the way some kids long to fight fires or put away bad guys. She thought veterinary medicine meant spending days with cuddly creatures like her pet guinea pig − not the study of diseases like brucellosis or Rift Valley fever. Havas got a job at a dairy farm while in high school in Pennsylvania. There was nothing cuddly about it, and she loved it. After graduation, she chose to study biology at the University of Mary Washington and spent summers and breaks working on a horse farm and in an animal hospital. Those educational and work experiences, Havas said, solidified her desire to become a veterinarian. Havas set goals and made plans. “I always have a plan,” she said with a laugh. After graduating from UMW, she completed Cornell Veterinary School on an Army scholarship. In 2011, she earned a Ph.D. in veterinary epidemiology from Colorado State University. Today she is a major in the Army, putting her skills and education to … [Read more...]