Student Highlight: Zoe Logan

By Sophia Flippin, Honors Student Intern, sophia.flippin@wsu.edu

Meet Honors student Zoe Logan, a graduating senior. Originally from Rocklin, California, Zoe came to WSU to major in animal science with the goal of becoming a veterinarian. She is especially interested in treating exotic animals in a general practice setting or specializing in cardiac or neurosurgery.

Zoe has prioritized pursuing veterinary experiences outside of the classroom while at WSU. She serves as both vice president and facility manager of the WSU Raptor Club. The student-led group cares for 10 non-releasable birds of prey by feeding, watering, and monitoring them for sickness. Zoe often worked with Sprite, an owl who recently passed away. She routinely socialized Sprite by spending time with him at the Stauber Raptor Facility while he stood on a falconry glove. Providing enrichment opportunities for the birds has been the group’s recent focus. In addition to caring for the birds Zoe and other club members participated in donation walks throughout the year to collect funds and items for a silent auction, an event held each April. Auction proceeds go toward caring for the birds.

The Honors College curriculum also provided Zoe with the opportunity to become involved in veterinary research, something she hadn’t initially considered. Working with animal science professor Marcos Marcondes and graduate student Valerie Achziger, she helps study the use of the dietary supplement zeolite to decrease the microbial population’s rate of methane production within a cow’s rumen. The team uses an artificial fermenting rumen in a laboratory setting to feed zeolite to the microbes and to measure resulting methane levels. Zoe earned the Fries Research Grant for her work and presented her overall study and research results at the recent Showcase for Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities.

Zoe believes that the variety of classes built into the Honors curriculum and the high-caliber professors she’s learned from along the way have broadened her knowledge and skills in ways that helped her get accepted into veterinary school. Dr. Robin Bond’s Honors 380 course on Greek literature and culture stands out to her. Learning how to read and write some classical Greek and class discussions about Homer’s The Iliad and The Odyssey were especially captivating, she said.

When asked what advice she would give to underclassmen, Zoe attests to the importance of establishing a positive routine and healthy habits that balance schoolwork with other responsibilities.

“Starting college is an adjustment at first, so it’s important to note what study strategies or routines work best for you. Either way, it gets easier, and it is important to not get too overwhelmed,” she said.

After graduating this spring, Zoe will be heading to the island of Grenada in the Caribbean to further her veterinary studies at St. George’s University.