Robert A. Cook

Robert A. Cook, V.M.D., M.P.A. is an Adjunct Professor of Environmental Affairs at Columbia University in New York City and the Chief Veterinarian and Vice President of the Wildlife Health Sciences (WHS) Division of the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS). He has 20+ years of experience in zoo and wildlife medicine and has served in his present capacity as Chief Veterinarian for the last 13 years. It was under Dr. Cook’s guidance that the Field Veterinary Program was established in 1989 as the first global effort to support the health and conservation of wildlife populations in native habitats.

The WHS programs in Clinical Care, Pathology and Field Veterinary Medicine are responsible for the health of over 23,000 animals in five New York facilities including the Wildlife Centers in Central Park, Queens and Prospect Park, the New York Aquarium and the Bronx Zoo. The WHS Division also oversees the health-related programs at the WCS Wildlife Survival Center on St. Catherines Island, Georgia. With the Field Veterinary Program taking the lead, WHS is deeply involved in the health aspects of the Wildlife Conservation Society’s international conservation programs, providing services and research to a number of the 300 WCS projects in 53 nations.

Dr. Cook graduated from the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine in 1980 and pursued a career in zoo and wildlife medicine thereafter. Recently he fulfilled his desire to have a more global impact on wildlife health issues by returning to school to receive his Masters in Public Administration from Columbia University in 2002. With his background in both the health of wildlife and global policy issues on these matters, he accepted an adjunct teaching position at Columbia University in its School of International and Public Affairs.

Dr. Cook is Chair of the Animal Health Committee of the American Zoo and Aquarium Association (AZA) as well as Chair of the Captive Wildlife and Alternative Livestock Committee of the United States Animal Health Association. He is a past President of the American Association of Zoo Veterinarians. Dr. Cook also has a long-standing interest in pain amelioration and is a scientific advisor to the Mayday Fund. In addition, he serves as a scientific advisor to the Morris Animal Foundation and as a member of the Conservation Endowment Fund Committee of the AZA.