Olivia Arnold ’24, now a graduating senior, has spent her time at UMass Amherst steeped in animal sciences. She has worked at the Hadley Farm Equine and Livestock Research and Education Center, where she gained valuable hands-on experience with sheep, horses, goats, and pigs. She also took a summer job at the Westford Veterinary Emergency and Referral Center, where she was able to put her learning into practice. Most recently, she served as a teaching assistant for a course held at the South Deerfield Beef Cattle Farm. She calls this her favorite experience at UMass because it presented a unique opportunity to work with larger animals.
Olivia has also been awarded several scholarships, including the Richard and Sandi Johnson Scholarship and the Jay A. Pirog Scholarship within the Department of Veterinary and Animal Sciences. Last year, as a recipient of the Maureen Flanagan Fund Scholarship, she attended a study abroad program in the Calga region of New South Wales, Australia. At Walkabout Wildlife Sanctuary she joined 16 other pre-vet students in learning about typical Australian wildlife, suturing and diagnostics, common wildlife illnesses and treatments, and parasitology and toxicology, among other topics. The experience allowed her to step out of her comfort zone and led her to consider a veterinary career in wildlife conservation.
