Dominic Travis, DVM, M.S.
Dominic is a well-respected leader on biological and environmental security issues who joins the Center from the University of Minnesota’s College of Veterinary Medicine. As marine mammals and the environment face tremendous challenges including climate change and overfishing, he will continue to build the Center’s capacity to address these issues and inspire action.
Dominic brings over two decades of experience in research, and developing and building educational programs. His work has focused on biological and environmental security and defense, specializing in emerging issues and threats, such as infectious diseases, toxins and natural disasters.
Dominic spent the last 11 years as a tenured Associate Professor and faculty member at the University of Minnesota’s College of Veterinary Medicine, where he led the university’s One Health Division, an initiative to find innovative solutions to complex problems crossing human, animal and environmental health.
Prior to that, Dominic served as the Senior Director and Vice President of the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago. As part of the zoo’s leadership team, Travis strategically integrated conservation and education missions into their programs and oversaw the rapid growth of the Conservation and Science program.
Dominic is a well-respected and active participant on several U.S. government advisory committees – including those at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services, U.S. Geological Survey, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as well as the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy – with a focus on the area of human-animal disease and threats from wildlife to public health.
As Chair of the Zoo Animal Health Network, he created and led partnerships between the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and United States Department of Agriculture, among others, to organize a public and animal health surveillance network comprised of over 250 zoos and wildlife rehabilitation centers focused on emerging diseases. He has been quoted and appeared in top-tier media outlets, including the New York Times, Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, Nature, 60 Minutes, ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX national newscasts, National Geographic Television and PBS, and more.
Dominic received his master’s degree in Aquatic Animal Health focused on marine ecology from the University of Maryland and his doctorate in Veterinary Medicine from Michigan State University.
Areas of Expertise
- Veterinary Medicine and Aquatic Animal Health
- Human-Animal Disease and Threats to Public Health
- Developing and Building Educational Programs
- Biological and Environmental Security
- Emerging Diseases
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