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Call of the Wild Continued from page 21
disease that is causing huge die-offs course on it for undergrads in all
of bighorn sheep in North America. majors.
To gather the data, a cross-disci-
plinary team of researchers capture “We have some very complex
bighorn sheep from remote areas problems in our world,” Beechler
of the Mojave Desert and transport said. “You can’t solve them if you’re
them by helicopters to a make-shift surrounded by people who think
research lab set up in a tent. The like you. My courses are designed
team collects and analyzes various to get people to see how others have
samples from the sheep to better expertise in areas that I don’t, and I
understand the disease and limit the need to work with them,” she said.
spread.
Beechler has coordinated a One
4
Beechler’s passion for animals began Health experience to Costa Rica
in childhood. She spent many hours for several years to study microbial
playing and exploring in the national resistance. The 10-week course in
forests of Eastern Oregon, and her summer 2019 brought together a
pets were her closest allies. cross-disciplined team of students
and researchers, and also included
“I read dog body language really medical doctors and medical
well,” Beechler said. “My clients students from Western University of
often comment on it — dogs love Health Sciences in Lebanon, Oregon.
me. I think it’s because I learned
their non-verbal communication Some group members met with
cues very young.” pharmacists and doctors in rural
Costa Rica to learn what antibiotics
Beechler is not afraid to step out they use and how they prescribe
of her comfort zone and readily them. Other team members
encourages her students to do the examined dairy cows to see what
same: “Get new experiences and antibiotics they are resistant to.
don’t say no to something that Other swabbed toads, looking at
5 interests you. You never know where what antibiotics are in the water
life is going to take you,” she said. system and what antibiotic traits
are moving through these different
Almost everything Beechler does animals.
she says ties back to the concept of
One Health— which is a worldwide “Combating antibiotic resistance is
initiative designed to promote a huge public health concern right
interdisciplinary collaborations and now,” Beechler said. “Not only
communications in all aspects of was this experience great for the
health care for humans, animals, students, it was also great for the
and the environment. She is in the faculty. It enabled us to talk about
process of developing a compre- this shared research project from
hensive One Health program at so many different perspectives and
Oregon State and she teaches a develop new thought processes
about it,” she said.
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