nvsl

Hello, I’m Dr. Suelee Robbe Austerman.  I work at USDA’s National Veterinary Services Laboratory in Ames, Iowa. 

Agriculture has always been my first love.  I grew up on a ranch, but like many girls of my generation, there were limited opportunities to become part of the operation.  During college, I fell in love with veterinary medicine – as I could combine my interests in agriculture and science.  I spent my first six years out of vet school in large animal practice in South Dakota.  Then, I taught food supply veterinary medicine at Iowa State while working on my Masters and PhD.  While working on my PhD, I joined USDA’s Agriculture Research Service working on Johne’s disease.

Hello, I’m Dr. Beth Lautner, Director of USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS)'s National Veterinary Services Laboratories (NVSL) in Ames, Iowa.  We’re the animal health reference and confirmatory lab for USDA.  We work mainly with livestock and poultry health, but also deal more and more with companion animal issues.  It is exciting to be on the front lines of what’s going on with regards to animal health.

I grew up on a livestock farm and had many dogs and cats.  I always enjoyed working and interacting with animals and admired the veterinarians I met.  From the time I was twelve, I knew I wanted to be a veterinarian.  After vet school, I practiced for 12 years in a mixed animal (livestock and dogs/cats) practice.  It was a great opportunity to learn a lot of different aspects of veterinary medicine.