Vol. 11, No. 4, April 2015 |
 Printer-Friendly PDF Version |
Growing Jobs in Florida: Agriculture Front & Center
|
The Florida Animal Control Association (FACA) held their 2015 Educational Conference from February 27th through March 1st at the Wyndham Lake Buena Vista Resort in Orlando.
Surrounding the conference theme of "Uncovering the Tools for Success," the weekend-long event held special breakout sessions that included dog fighting and dangerous dog investigations, shelter safety-net programs, proactive community animal control, and public/private partnerships to save lives.
Attendees were also able to hear about legislative updates and a special presentation on building community disaster resiliency through the presentation, A Brief History of Animals in Disaster & How the Local Shelter Can Help.
Florida SART Planner, Leslie Stout, attended the conference and staffed the booth for the Florida State Agricultural Response Team. Ms. Stout said, "The conference went great, and there were a lot of interesting vendors who had their wares there for you to look at [in addition to there being] a lot of great information."
Ms. Stout said there were as many as 70 conference attendees that interacted with her about SART, nearly half already knowing about SART and its mission or had taken SART advertised classes. Other attendees “were interested and most had ideas of how we could help their county in the future,” said Stout.
Additional information about the FACA conference may be found online at http://floridaanimalcontrol.org or on their Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Florida-Animal-Control-Association/553466908016966?ref=br_rs
SART Spotlight: Where in the World is Kendra Stauffer?
Dr. Kendra Stauffer, alumnus of the SART Steering Committee, and current One Health Program Lead for the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, talks with The Sentinel on her current work and whereabouts.
The Sentinel: Dr. Stauffer, you’re currently in Tbilisi, Georgia (situated between southwestern Russia and northeastern Turkey). Can you tell us what you're up to? How did you end up there?
Dr. Stauffer: With my work in Georgia, I’m leveraging networks and resources to have a cross disciplinary approach and cross agency approach to any One Health issue. Most of these are zoonotic diseases, and because my funding for the position comes through the U.S. Department of Defense, Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA), most of my focus is on dangerous pathogens like Brucellosis, Anthrax and CCHF (Crimean congo hemorrhagic fever). Rabies is also a top priority disease here.
I wound up in Georgia due to opportunity and qualifications. I had been looking for an epidemiology field position where I could use my skills both as a veterinarian and an epidemiologist. When this position opened, they wanted not only a medical epidemiologist but also someone that had experience in emergency management and food safety and security, which―because of my previous experience with USDA APHIS―was perfect for me.
 |
The Sentinel: Tbilisi is a bit of a departure from Gainesville, Florida. What’s it like to live so far away from the U.S.?
Dr. Stauffer: I love working in Georgia and I have met some truly wonderfully intelligent and motivated young scientists and medical professionals. The country is beautiful and it is situated in an area that allows easy travel to Europe and Asia. The challenges of the position are not speaking the language and the cultural differences.
Georgia is also heavily funded by outside donors (numerous countries have projects/programs here) which create short-term benefits, but long-term capacity building is a challenge with the donor-donee relationship. Integration and coordination with all of the different donors and contractors here is quite a challenge to building long term sustainability within the government of Georgia.
 |
The Sentinel: Despite the challenges, what is the impact of the work you’re doing?
Dr. Stauffer: The short term impact is increasing knowledge and teaching the human, animal, and environmental sides how to do joint outbreak investigations. The long term is building capacity in disease surveillance, reporting, and then translating that into Public Health initiatives either through education/communication, rule-making, or policy. And on the food safety side of things, if Georgia can meet European Union standards, then they can increase trade with the EU, which is hugely economically valuable for the Georgian people.
When it comes to impacts for the United States, biosecurity protection for U.S. agriculture and security against dangerous pathogens is a mission of DTRA. We’re working to control or eliminate zoonotic and infectious diseases before they make it to the States. We’re also training a cadre of people in their native country to be able to prevent, detect, respond, and recover from a disease outbreak. This increase in the public health capacity of Georgia and other developing countries help protect and defend the U.S.
Moreover, by providing education and training for Georgians, they can help their own people to increase their social economic status and hopefully, every generation does better than the one before.
The Sentinel: I understand you were called to Liberia to help support the Ebola response. Can you tell us about that? How did the citizens treat you?
Dr. Stauffer : The locals were wonderful! They gave me my own Lofa County name – Sonnie, which I find just amazing since I had only known them for 2 months. If you love and treat people well, they will see that you truly care about them and show that in return. I had such a great working experience there and never felt any negativity or threat to me.
|
The Sentinel: Now that you’re back in Georgia, what surprises you the most about living there? Dr. Stauffer: It is startling to be in a country where there is so little wildlife――especially after living in Florida. I have been told that the wildlife was either killed or eaten (especially during the hard years after the collapse of the Soviet Union, or was killed because people saw wildlife as competition for their livestock). So, you have a country about the size of South Carolina and you can travel all over it and see very little wildlife, especially larger land mammals. The good is that I see hope and motivation in the young people. The generations under 35 years of age are really wanting to build a better country for their people, and they have such hope and drive to make it happen. |
The Sentinel: Florida certainly misses you. Any chance you’ll make it back?
Dr. Stauffer: I would love to, but it’s just about finding the right federal position to match my background and skillset. Florida has been home to me for 8 years of my life, and I love it there. We’ll just have to see what the future holds.
The Sentinel: Any other cool stories you want to share with the Florida SART readership?
Dr. Stauffer: Oh, yes! Recently, I did a talk via Skype with the public health club at the University of Florida, College of Veterinary Medicine. In retrospect, my work there turned out to be some of the greatest moments of my life; and it’s an amazing feeling to serve as a mentor and help students find their ways on their own career paths.
Coming up, I have a talk on my experiences in Liberia for the CDC Ebola response. I’m also chairing sessions in Zagreb, Croatia at the CBRNe Science and Consequence Management (CSCM) Congress on the Global Health Security Agenda.
When I look back on my career, I just find it amazing that I was the first ever to graduate from college in my family―let alone attend a professional school―and now I am traveling the world as a disease outbreak investigator and hopefully helping countries to improve the lives of their people through better public health.
The Sentinel: Thanks, Kendra, for your time. It’s remarkable to hear of the work that you’re doing in support of the nation. Best of luck, and keep in touch!
Egg Industry Orders a Side of Kevin Bacon
 |
Actor Kevin Bacon is set to star in an upcoming egg industry campaign, this according to Candice Choi of the Associated Press (AP).
Launching both an online and print campaign, the American Egg Board says the advertisements will feature the "Footloose" actor and puns using his last name. The group says this is the first time they have used a Hollywood celebrity for work of this nature.
According to the AP, “The online spots feature a woman making eggs for breakfast, when Bacon appears lying suggestively on the counter behind her. At one point, she leans in to sniff the actor and says she loves the smell of bacon, when her husband walks in.”
Once considered a symbol of cholesterol, new research and a growing protein craze have helped grow the industry in recent years.
Read more at: http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory/kevin-bacon-eggs-actor-stars-egg-industry-campaign-29580810