Wildlife veterinarian Dr. Heidi Stout will talk about the complex needs of birds after an oil spill at 7 p.m. at the Tuesday, April 17, meeting of the Virgin Islands Audubon Society. The meeting will be held in the Gifft Hill School. The public is invited to attend this informative meeting.
Dr. Stout oversaw the response efforts during the Deepwater Horizon oil spill (also referred to as the BP oil spill) in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010. The rehabilitation effort for the Deepwater Horizon oil spill involved managing oiled-bird care facilities in four states. Her presentation will include an overview of this catastrophic event as well as several other examples from significant spills around the globe. Dr. Stout has worked as part of international teams responding to catastrophic incidents affecting wildlife throughout the world, including Spain, France and the Galapagos. She also headed the veterinary response for 20,000 oiled penguins in South Africa.
She is a 1991 graduate of the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine and has worked in the non-profit community for more than 20 years as part of Tri-State Bird Rescue and Research’s internationally recognized oiled-wildlife response team. Dr. Stout began her career with Tri-State, headquartered in Delaware, as a summer intern and climbed the ranks to become executive director. She now lives on St. John and is a consultant for Tri-State.
