Mike Ziccardi
Mike Ziccardi hails from San Diego, where he learned to love the ocean, spent free time on the gorgeous beaches in La Jolla, and immersed himself in marine science and oceanography at the Scripps Institute and Birch Aquarium. A close family friend and NOAA scientist had Mike on board a research vessel at a very young age. Naturally, as it came time to attend college, he sought out a program in aquatic biology, finding just the right fit for him at UC Santa Barbara. Ideally, he would have spent nine months a year on a boat, like the research boat “FLIP” out of Scripps, or like a modern Jacques Cousteau. He had opportunities to participate in research including on plankton, but the volunteer work at the marine mammal rehabilitation center and natural history museum during his sophomore and junior years changed his life. Doing necropsies on the stranded mammals lit a spark that set him on the road to veterinary school.
UC Davis’ veterinary school attracted Mike because of the work of pathologist Dr. Linda Lowenstein who is a world’s expert in marine mammal pathology. During veterinary school, Mike spent as much time as possible working on free-ranging wildlife, including volunteering at the California Dept of Fish and Game’s Wildlife Investigations Lab. He did his MPVM in the fifth year, working part-time at a shot clinic to get experience and money. He then continued on for his Ph.D. in epidemiology including working for a year and a half as the epidemiologist at the Lincoln Park Zoo. This was a great experience but actually made it hard to finish the Ph.D., so he switched away from the job to finish the degree.
After his Ph.D., Mike was a staff veterinarian and then program director for the Oiled Wildlife Care Network. As the director, Mike manages a 13 person team, disaster responses, and a $2.5 million dollar program (including the portion of a competitive grant). The network has 45 member organizations and 1600 responders in the database that needs to be coordinated. He credits the MPVM with helping provide experience and skills that are needed now as he manages research, running a program, and managing a clinical program for wildlife. In this regard, the Ph.D. was great for research but the MPVM provided the foundation for a long track record of leadership.
In 2020, Mike was recruited to assume the Executive Director position of the One Health Institute, along-side his continuing 50% commitment as OWCN director and without salary faculty appointment in the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine Department of Medicine and Epidemiology. OHI has 60 staff and affiliates who look to Mike to for leadership. Right now he is in the midst of a 5 yr strategic plan update, working on balancing the budget, and plotting a course for the institute.
Mike compares himself to a shark, never sitting still. He used his spare time to build a teardrop camping trailer which, now that he and his wife have an empty nest, is beckoning him towards the road trips the trailer was designed for. He loves tinkering and building around his house. He wonders if he should have been an engineer but he knows that leading a global institute promoting One Health, including the health of the oceans, is a great place for his career.