Jennifer Martines, Senior Wildlife Rehabilitation Technician for International Bird Rescue, has always carried a big dream: to travel the world and help wildlife wherever she is needed. After college, she was hired to study Kentish Plovers in China. When she started at Bird Rescue, she was sent to South Africa, where she helped raise orphaned flamingo chicks.
In January, that dream carried her to South Korea. What was originally planned as a personal trip took a meaningful turn when an opportunity arose to attend a wildlife conference alongside Dr. Rebecca Duerr, Director of Research and Veterinary Science for Bird Rescue.
On International Day for Women and Girls in Science, we are proud to highlight Jennifer’s journey and the global impact of women advancing wildlife care and conservation. Here, she shares what the experience meant to her, in her own words.
A World Connected by Wildlife
It was wonderful to be a guest at a lecture series regarding intake/triage and care of wild waterbirds specifically geared toward international vets and vet students. The conference, hosted by the Korea Wildlife Center Association, was called, “Workshop on Capacity Building and Cooperation for Wildlife Rescue and Treatment Professionals.” During Dr. Duerr’s lecture, attendees listened through headphones as her talk was translated in real time, allowing everyone to engage fully despite language differences.
The hosts were most welcoming and gave us a tour of their wildlife hospitals and rehabilitation centers. Due to most wildlife hospitals functioning as small animal clinics, they have access to many in-house diagnostic systems in place for rapid and accurate diagnosis of infectious diseases, genetic characteristics, and hereditary diseases of wildlife. Back home, not having immediate access to these in-house diagnostics means we often have to rely on external labs, which can be costly and take time.
While many aspects are similar in how we tackle wildlife rehabilitation, one fascinating feature is that the government in South Korea allocates resources for wildlife conservation, leading to wildlife conservation policies being more universal within the country. At Bird Rescue, as a nonprofit, we rely on donations, grants, and volunteer support to carry out our work. A big part of our job is raising awareness so people understand the challenges wildlife faces and feel inspired to contribute. In South Korea, because government support covers much of the work, the public isn’t as directly involved, which means awareness and engagement can be lower. This made me appreciate the role our community plays in sustaining and advancing wildlife care at home.
It was also interesting to learn that human and wildlife conflicts are global, thus many of the issues that wildlife faces in the United States are also what they faced in South Korea such as habitat loss, window strikes, and human interference. Experiencing this firsthand reminded me how connected our work is and how much we can learn from sharing solutions across borders.
Overall, I truly enjoyed this experience, conferences function as a site of learning and sharing. To be able to participate on an international level was truly a humbling and fun experience! I hope to bring these insights back home and continue building connections that strengthen wildlife care in the years ahead.