Dr Georgina Cole

Veterinary Surgeon, RZSS

BVetMed MSc(hons) MRCVS

After completing a veterinary externship with Bristol Zoo in 2011 Georgina moved to South Africa and began working at the Johannesburg Zoo. While being involved in the clinical care of a varied zoo collection she also undertook field work with wild white rhinoceros, collecting data for her MSc in veterinary research at the University of Pretoria. In 2013 she took up the post of Veterinarian for the Two Oceans Aquarium in Cape Town. At the aquarium Georgina was providing veterinary care for a large aquatic collection as well as a turtle rehabilitation and release program. She was also involved in various research activities including acoustic monitoring of wild seven-gill sharks and tiger sharks, and satellite tracking for investigations into foraging ecology of Cape fur seals.

Georgina joined the RZSS Veterinary department in August 2016 as the second European College of Zoological Medicine veterinary resident in zoo health management at Edinburgh Zoo. Georgina is lead veterinarian for the RZSS Flapper Skate project, which in partnership with St Andrews University, is helping to monitor populations of the critically endangered skate off the west coast of Scotland.

⦁ Bachelor of Veterinary Medicine, Royal Veterinary College, London – 2008
⦁ Master of Science in Veterinary Research (with distinction), University of Pretoria – 2016

Professional and research interests

Georgina has broad research interests in zoological medicine and aquatic animal medicine. The research for her MSc thesis focused on measurement of blood lactate in wild rhinoceros in South Africa. Georgina holds a commercial scuba diving qualification has been involved in various aquatic research projects such as monitoring reef health in the South Pacific, investigating diagnostic tools for detection of the systemic parasite Ichythophonus hofei in aquarium fish and documenting impacts of plastic ingestion in marine turtle hatchlings. Her current research is focused on the health and physiology of the Flapper skate population in the Loch Sunart to Sound of Jura Marine Protected Area.

For a list of Georgina's publications please visit her Researchgate page