Veterinarian Specialist

Job Responsibilities

This employee will serve as the Wildlife Veterinarian for SCDNR and will support the Department's wildlife health program through surveillance, diagnostics, response, and management of wildlife diseases.

Job Duties Include

• Conducting year-round wildlife morbidity and mortality investigations across taxonomic groups and providing veterinary expertise for emerging wildlife diseases.
• Assisting in the capture, handling, and sample collection protocols to ensure animal welfare and safe sample collection.
• Serving as the Agency lead for Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) surveillance and monitoring.
• Establishing and maintaining veterinary-client-patient relationships (VCPR) with Agency hatcheries and the Southeastern Cooperative Fish Parasite and Disease Project (SCFPDP) in order to issue veterinary feed directives to treat pathogens and spawning hormone prescriptions and address other fish health and husbandry-related issues.
• Coordinating with state agricultural agencies, public health departments, departments of environmental quality, and other state entities on disease events with cross-agency impacts.
• Acting as a primary liaison with federal partners such as USDA APHIS, USFWS, and the USGS National Wildlife Health Center.
• Participating in statewide and regional fish and wildlife health working groups and emergency response teams.
• Performing necropsies on select wildlife species when appropriate, ensuring chain-of-custody and biosafety guidelines are followed.
• Preparing and submitting diagnostic samples, interpreting laboratory results and communicating findings to agency staff.
• Serving as liaison between the agency and state/federal diagnostic laboratories.
• Maintaining, updating, and querying fish and wildlife disease surveillance databases.
• Ensuring accurate data entry, metadata standards, and integration with GIS and reporting tools.
• Producing regular and ad-hoc disease summary reports for agency leadership, field staff, and external partners.
• Training agency staff and partners in wildlife disease surveillance, sample collection, safe handling, and reporting protocols.
• Preparing fact sheets, web content, and technical guidance documents.
• Providing expert testimony, media support, and public presentations as approved by the agency.

Minimum and Additional Requirements

Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM or equivalent) from an accredited institution. At least two (2) years of experience with handling and veterinary care of wildlife species including mammals, birds, and fish.

Eligibility for licensure as a veterinarian in the state of South Carolina.

Preferred Qualifications

Board certification or training in zoological/wildlife health, pathology, or preventive medicine. Experience with CWD, HPAI, and other major wildlife diseases. Experience with wildlife anesthesia and handling. Experience with fish health programs or aquaculture disease monitoring. Familiarity with GIS mapping, epidemiological software, or relational databases.