Dr. Cheryl Rosa rejoins UAF as attending veterinarian and director of Animal Resource Center

Dr. Cheryl Rosa joined the University of Alaska Fairbanks on the Troth Yeddha’ Campus in her new role as attending veterinarian on July 17.

She most recently served as the deputy director of the U.S. Arctic Research Commission in Anchorage where she worked to strengthen Arctic research and the federal government’s ties to the State of Alaska, Arctic Indigenous groups and international partners.

Rosa is not new to UAF. Before her time at the U.S. Arctic Research Commission, she was a research professional working for the Office of the Vice Provost for Research where she applied her previous five years of experience as a wildlife veterinarian and research biologist for the North Slope Borough Department of Wildlife Management in Utqiagvik. She has worked as an emergency veterinarian in several states and completed a non-traditional residency in Wildlife Medicine at UAF, working under Dr. John Blake from 2000-2006. During that time she also provided volunteer veterinary services for the National Park Service’s helicopter wolf captures in Denali and Yukon Charley National Parks.

Rosa received Bachelor of Science degrees in both Zoology and Animal Science and a minor in Wildlife and Fisheries Biology in 1993 from University of Massachusetts Amherst. She received her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree through Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine in 1997 and completed her Ph.D. in Wildlife Biology in 2006 here at UAF.

As the attending veterinarian and director of the Animal Resource Center, Rosa will be responsible for the health and well-being of all animal subjects used in research or teaching activities at UAF. This role includes the oversight of husbandry and animal housing. The UAF attending veterinarian is also the director of the UAF Animal Resources Center. ARC is the operational component of the University’s centralized animal research program and resides within the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research.

Rosa returns to Fairbanks to take on these critical roles as we say farewell to Dr. John Blake and wish him the best in his longtime coming retirement. We are excited to welcome her to Troth Yeddha’!