About Amber
Email: ambermz2@illinois.edu
Title: Visiting Scientific Specialist
Office address
Wildlife Veterinary Epidemiology Lab/Pest Management Lab
Personal Information
2023 B.S., Animal Sciences, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Interest
I am a recent graduate from U. of I. with a major in Animal Sciences and a minor in Wildlife and Fisheries Conservation. During undergrad, I worked in two labs: one centered around wildlife camera trapping, and the other centered around molecular genetics and comparison between wild silver fox genotypes and domestic silver fox genotypes. I graduated as an ACES James Scholar where I completed research on the factors that influence eastern gray squirrel and fox squirrel populations in the Champaign-Urbana area using camera trap data. I joined the Wildlife Veterinary Epidemiology Lab in May 2023, and am currently working as an Academic Assistant. In this role, I enjoy having the opportunity to assist other researchers on their projects, most of which study Chronic Wasting Disease in white-tailed deer in Illinois. I have had the opportunity to join IDNR for Canada goose banding as part of a fellow researcher’s graduate project, and I look forward to joining future field research! I plan to obtain my master’s in the future with the ultimate goal of becoming a conservation biologist.
Publications
De Miguel, R., Hague, D., Johnson, J. L., Zilinger, A. M., Kukekova, A., and Lezmi, S., 2024. Congenital Spongiform Leukodystrophy in Two Female Littermate German Shepherd Puppies. Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine.