Donald J. Forrester, Ph.D.

Professor of Pathobiology

College of Veterinary Medicine

1998 Awardee

Donald Forrester, a renowned wildlife disease specialist at the UF College of Veterinary Medicine, has studied the prevalence, distribution, transmission and impact of diseases on free-ranging populations of mammals, birds and reptiles for more than 30 years. “Don Forrester has been patient in his endeavors, studying long-term die-offs and disease relationships in common loons, wild turkeys, Florida panthers, white-tailed deer and other species,” said Ellis Greiner, chair of the college’s Department of Pathobiology, in which Forrester is a professor.

Forrester’s 1992 book Parasites and Diseases of Wild Mammals in Florida has been called “a monumental reference work specific to Florida mammals” and “a veritable warehouse of information.” He has served as president of the Wildlife Disease Association, an international society with representatives from more than 50 countries, and is a past editor of the Journal of Wildlife Diseases.

Forrester also has collaborated with other UF researchers in studying various aspects of wildlife diseases. He has worked with state and federal agencies to solve problems relating to parasites and diseases of both wildlife and domestic animals. His research projects under way address disease problems affecting wading birds, double-crested cormorants, sandhill cranes and Florida black bears. He has been at UF since 1969.