Morag Clinton, PhD, BVMS

What’s the work that you do?

In Arctic regions such as Alaska, environmental change is progressing rapidly, with the impacts already seen on important fisheries. As a veterinarian and PhD, my research is focused on the health of aquatic organisms. Through use of molecular techniques and classic pathology, I seek to understand the etiology and consequences of both environmental stressors and infectious disease. Through studying the consequences of disease as well as the factors that can predispose to it, I aim to improve our understanding of impacts of environmental change and disease on animal health.

What keeps you going?

Living in and collaborating in Alaska has given me the opportunity to work with Indigenous groups and villages on projects that aim to answer questions identified as important by communities, for communities. I feel very lucky to have the opportunity to be a part of producing meaningful data that can be used in advocacy or science-based management towards safeguarding animal health. I also love that I have the opportunity to visit places and study aquatic animals that are so important to the people that rely on them, and I strive in all of my projects to find creative, low impact solutions to our monitoring or disease surveillance objectives.

What’s your message to the world?

I believe my work matters not only because the health of animals is key to their survival, but the health of aquatic animals is also so closely linked to environmental and human health. By exploring the impacts of environmental change, disease emergence, and other stressors that can negatively impact aquatic animals, we learn more about what changes the Arctic may need to endure in the future. Fish are critical to many of the ecosystems and communities across Alaska, the place I work and live. I feel very thankful that I can play some small part towards understanding and hopefully safeguarding human, animal and environmental health.