by Maryanne Tocidlowski, DVM, DACZM

About Her Story

"Like most budding veterinarians, I had a small collection of my own pets as a child, I loved science and animals—at least most of them—and if I found an injured or sick wild creature, I’d try to take care of it. But insects and spiders never interested me. When it came time to work on the dung beetles, I had to swallow my fear and go for it."

About the Author

Maryanne Tocidlowski was raised in New York State and decided to become a vet at the age of 10. She graduated from Daemen College in Buffalo, New York as a medical technologist, and then worked in a human hospital hematology laboratory for six years before attending veterinary technician school. Dr. Tocidlowski graduated with an associate’s degree in animal health technology and was then accepted to Purdue University’s College of Veterinary Medicine. After her graduation in 1993, she did a one-year small animal internship at the New Haven Central Animal Hospital in Connecticut; next came a three-year residency in zoological medicine at North Carolina State University and the North Carolina Zoological Park. Dr. Tocidlowski joined the staff of the Houston Zoo in 1997 as an associate veterinarian, and became a Diplomate of the American College Zoological Medicine in 1998.