Greg (left) performs an endoscopy on a cat to remove rubber bands from it's stomach.
Greg Bishop was a SeaDoc Society summer intern back in 2011, which was somehow more than a decade ago! Like many interns who have passed through SeaDoc Society to monitor the Marine Mammal Stranding Network, Greg has gone on to do great and exciting work. This month, his latest paper received a high honor.
He received the Open Reports Best Paper Award for his paper, Feline parasites and the emergence of feline lungworm in the Portland metropolitan area, Oregon, USA 2016–2017. As he shares in our short interview below, this is a study of domestic animals that also teaches us about wild species and the interconnectedness of the ecosystem, from people and pets to wildlife and microscopic organisms.
“Another valuable contribution to the literature stacking up which shows higher than expected prevalence of parasite infections in cats,” wrote one judge for the award.
Enjoy our chat with Greg below. Come for his experience on Orcas Island as a SeaDoc intern and stick around to hear about his favorite muppet species!
When were you a SeaDoc intern and what was valuable about that experience?
I was an intern for the summer of 2011, between my second and third year of veterinary school. I still think about my time there a lot. Not only did I get hands-on experience with wildlife in one of the most beautiful places on Earth, but I spent time with some fantastic people. Besides having fun cruising through channels in the Tadpole though, one of the biggest skills I took away from the internship was an ability to dive deep into science. I spent a lot of time as an intern reading scientific literature, and thinking about how to use data to make a positive impact on ecosystem health.
What have you been up to since and how did that lead to this paper/honor?
I've been a practicing veterinarian now for about 10 years. Most of the animals I see are pets, but the skills I gained as an intern set me up to think big picture. Thanks in part to my training at SeaDoc, I've kept an eye out for population level insights that can improve animal health. That's what led me to collaborate on this study with my state's public health department.
Congratulations on having your work honored! Can you tell us something cool about the paper?
It's a study about cats, but it has implications for wildlife and human health. We looked at parasites that are shed by free-roaming cats, and found a really high incidence of lungworm (a parasitic infection that causes respiratory disease in cats). While this is an important disease in pet cats, we also found 11 other parasite species in these samples, some of which can cause serious disease in people and wild animals. Parasites are fascinating, because to them, our bodies are their entire habitat. It really shows how interconnected animal, human, and ecosystem health really are.
Bonus: What's your favorite species in the Salish Sea?
Impossible to answer, that's like asking 'who's my favorite Muppet?'. I can't have just one! But here's a few of my favorites:
Favorite to see - orcas (especially hunting!)
Favorite to hear - pigeon guillemot
Favorite to study - harbor seal (I did my internship project on them)
Favorite to eat - Dungeness crabs!