Veterinary Events and Conferences

Award winning explorer and presenter revealed as third keynote speaker at BSAVA Congress

vetreportMarch 3, 2021

Lucy Cooke, zoologist, wildlife presenter, author and National Geographic explorer will be the third keynote speaker at BSAVA Virtual Congress 25th-27th March 2021. She will be highlighting her recent studies on the females of the species, as well as revealing how we must all embrace our inner sloth to save ourselves and our planet. She will be joining Jenny Campbell and Dr Ranj each morning at the event.

With the veterinary profession becoming an increasingly female dominated workplace, Lucy will referencing her new book ‘Bitch, the female of the species is more deadly than the male’, to demonstrate how the profession is set to gain advantages from moving away from the traditional male prevalence.

“I understand that the veterinary profession is now almost 80% female so I though it would be fun to give a sneak preview of the content of my new book on female animals,” explained Lucy. “Darwin portrayed female animals as passive and irrelevant to evolution, so they went unstudied. In the last few decades there has been a revolution in our understanding of female animals, spearheaded by most female scientists. They have shown that being female covers a diverse range of physiology and behaviours, but also how females exert as much, if not more, influence on the path of evolution.”

Lucy has a Masters in zoology from New College Oxford, where she studied evolution and animal behaviour under Richard Dawkins. Her work as a writer and producer on Meet the Sloths, won an award and resulted in a 13-part series for Animal Planet. Lucy also founded the Sloth Appreciation Society, which now has over 10,000 members worldwide. Lucy has produced two books of her sloth photographs: A Little Book of Sloth was a NY Times best-seller and her latest, Life in the Sloth Lane, mixes mindfulness tips with inspiring images.

When it comes to sloths Lucy believes that, rather than deriding the sloth for being different, we should try to learn from it instead. She said: “I fell in love with sloths about ten years ago when I first visited a sanctuary in Costa Rica. They are massively misunderstood creatures. People think they are lazy and inferior animals – that have somehow escaped the rigours of natural selection. They are actually incredibly successful – ancient creatures that have survived in one shape or another for around 60 million years precisely because they are slow. They are energy saving icons and have much to teach us about sustainable living.”

Lucy Cooke will give her keynote speech at the BSAVA Congress on Thursday morning. Congress incorporates 180 live sessions and webinars, presented by in excess of 150 speakers. The format blends clinical, practical and interactive content across a number of topics, including opportunities to learn about new innovations and the latest research within the small animal veterinary sector.

The virtual delivery means more than just innovative focussed presentations; there will be a range of training initiatives through multi-media resources and bespoke visits to the virtual exhibition will give delegates interaction with exhibitors when they want and how they want. Health and wellbeing sessions have been woven into the daily experience, together with creative socials including virtual tastings, discos, live music and cocktail classes, for a balance of learning, relaxing and unwinding.

“We are thrilled to welcome Lucy to her first ever BSAVA Congress,” said BSAVA President Ian Ramsey. “Her admirable research and literally slothful experiences together with her captivating talent for storytelling and humour, are sure to make this keynote presentation one of the highlights of the event.”

Prices for BSAVA Virtual Congress start at just £99 +VAT for members. This early bird price expires on 8th March 2021.

To register now visit here.

For information on how to become a BSAVA member visit here. 

Read more articles on the BSAVA Congress here.