"Veterinarians have so many diverse careers open to them," says Bethany Grohs, V.M.D., a member of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Environmental Response Team. Dr. Grohs has successfully combined her long-term interest in environmental issues with a degree in veterinary medicine to craft a career in which she is as comfortable working in the field as she is developing policy for the Federal government's response to terrorist attacks and foot-and-mouth disease. "My background in toxicology, pathology, ecosystem health, microbiology, wildlife medicine, and herd health all contribute to the skills I use when responding to animal emergency response issues," she says.

 

With a bachelor's degree in biology and a semester spent in Kenya at the School for Field Studies' Wildlife Management program, Dr. Grohs continued her education at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine. In 1998, she graduated with a D.V.M., having earned numerous awards, including being named an Association for Women Veterinarians Scholar and a Lois Fairchild Public Service Fellow. Dr. Grohs' ongoing curiosity about the world around her found additional satisfaction in the numerous seminars she took during and after she received her professional degree-including an intensive short course in aquatic wildlife and ecosystem health, and a seminar in Canada assessing ecotoxicological risks.

 

Her first position after veterinarian school was at a mixed-animal clinic in rural Montana , where she practiced veterinary medicine and surgery. But her interest in environmental issues eventually prompted her to accept a position with the EPA as a member of their Environmental Response Team.

Dr. Grohs' work at the EPA has been as varied and timely as the daily headlines. "I enjoy the challenges that come with each new case," she says. "I rarely do the same thing twice but every solution I come up with builds on something I learned previously." For example, during the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in the United Kingdom , Dr. Grohs collected blood samples, conducted physical examinations of suspected animals, and educated farmers. In other work she has collected environmental health samples and satellite-tagged bottlenose dolphins along the New Jersey coast.

Since the terrorist attacks of 2001, Dr. Grohs' job at the EPA has taken on a new dimension. Her work now includes multi-agency planning for counter-terrorism response, and decontamination and disposal issues. For example, in the aftermath of the World Trade Center attack, Dr. Grohs investigated the search and rescue dogs' exposure to hazardous materials and designed their decontamination system. And during the 2001 anthrax incident on Capitol Hill in Washington , D.C. , Dr. Grohs served as the EPA's science support coordinator. In this role she briefed the press, Senators and staff, and the EPA administrator. "I enjoy the freedom and independence my job offers," says Dr. Grohs, "as well as the diversity of work I do with a wide range of agencies and people."