We are very excited to present our interview with Dr. James Morrisey as the third interview in our on-going series.
Dr. Morrisey could you please introduce yourself?
I am currently a Senior Lecturer at
Cornell University and the head of the Companion Exotic Animal Medicine
Service. I teach about exotic pets and zoological species in the clinics, the
class room and in the field. I also teach communication skills here at Cornell.
In my free time I sing, dance and act as well as teach aerobics, cycle and eat
out.
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| Dr. Morrisey with a young Howler monkey in Honduras |
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Hi
Dr. Morrisey! Thank you for agreeing to
be interviewed. Please introduce
yourself. Where did you grow up? Where did you go to school?
I grew up in Maryland outside of DC and Southern
California, so consider myself bi-coastal! We moved to southern California when
I was 11 so spent my formative teenage years in a nice, laid back beach
community. I went to undergrad at the University of Maryland and majored in
Zoology and Dance. I went to vet school at Cornell University.
Tell
us about your job. Did you always know you wanted to be a wild life and
zoo veterinarian? What made you decide
to pursue this career?
Yes, I grew up going to zoos and loving wildlife
and exotic animals so I always wanted to work with them in some form. I found I
liked science and medicine so becoming a zoo vet became my goal. During my
internship at Kansas State I found I really enjoyed the client contact and
working with exotic pets, so now work mostly with those species and only do
zoo/wildlife work when I’m travelling in Central and South America.
What
is your most memorable experience in your career this far?
I have had a lot of great experiences in my job
and feel very lucky to do what I do. I get to travel around the world, teaching
and working in a variety of places. I’ve had some great experiences working in
Central and South America lately. We take students on trips to Honduras and
I’ve worked with a wildlife refuge in Bolivia that’s been very exciting.
What
are your thoughts on the state of acceptance of the LGBTQ population within the
veterinary field and in zoo/wildlife medicine in particular? Have you
ever had any positive or negative experiences?
I have been fairly blessed in my life and rarely
have had negative experiences relating my sexuality. I am a positive person by
nature and try to approach any situation with a positive attitude and find that
works very well for me. I’ve found the field of veterinary medicine to be very
accepting of the LGBTQ population, which isn’t surprising since it tends to
attract smart, kind and caring people.
Do
you have any advice for negotiating your first job, especially with issues like
partner benefits?
My advice is to remain positive and accept
yourself for who you are. If you act like
being gay or asking for partner benefits is an ‘unusual’ request then it
may be construed that way, but if you act like that’s the most natural thing in
the world, it tends to be less of an issue. It’s no different than asking about
benefits for your spouse if you’re a heterosexual couple.
Do
you have any advice or a system for whom to come out to in the work setting?
Again, I think accepting yourself for who you are
and realizing that it is simply one, very natural, part of what makes you the
unique person you are will go a long way towards making it a non-issue. I think
we get so stressed out and worked up in our minds about how to tell people but
it’s really no different than telling people you’re ethnicity or the color of
your hair. It’s simply a part of the whole package that is you.
Did
you have any memorable LGBTQ mentors?
When I was in vet school, there were a few other
students and faculty that were very helpful in getting me to accept my
sexuality as another piece of the puzzle that makes me unique. Tom Graves and
Larry Carbone were so easy going and accepting and just said “oh hi, you’re
gay, cool, now let’s talk about this other cool thing..” it was really great to
just be accepted and then treated like a friend.
What
are your thoughts on the current climate for the LGBTQ community (e.g. with
upcoming presidential elections, our current struggles for marriage equality,
etc.)?
I think we are making progress slowly and
steadily, which is the best way to go. Not forcing issues but not dropping them
either. The best thing that each of us can do is just be a good person and open
about our sexuality. It’s much harder for people to oppose and dislike that
which they don’t know, so make friends in all areas of life especially those
people that are very different from you. Treat them with the respect and
openness with which you would like to be treated. I think that sends a powerful message.
What
is your favorite non-veterinary pastime?
I’m an avid biker. I love to do multiple day,
long distance rides for charities, it’s a great feeling to be working with
people towards a common goal. I also
love watching cheesy sci-fi and horror movies
Anything else you’d like to say?
Stay
positive, stay fit and love what you do!
Thank you so much!
