Conservation & Science Staff Bios

Education

• Licensed Certified Veterinary Technician (1979)
• Licensed Emergency Medical Technician—Paramedic (1990)

Areas of Expertise

• Hematology of domestic and exotic animals
• Exotic animal parasitology and cytology

About Joel Pond:

Joel has been involved with zoos in various capacities since 1968, including volunteer programs during high school and college and his hire as Lincoln Park Zoo’s first zoo veterinary technician in 1976. He has worked in private practice, emergency practice (human and veterinary) and as a supervisor in a commercial veterinary clinical laboratory. He is a consultant for Idexx Veterinary Laboratories. 

Since the beginning of his career he has been active in veterinary technician associations, beginning with his home state of Illinois. In 1981 he co-founded the Association of Zoo Veterinary Technicians (AZVT), which is now an international organization of zoo veterinary technicians. He is a past executive director for the AZVT. He is also an advisory board member of the Fox Valley School of Veterinary Technology and regularly gives short courses at Joliet Junior College’s veterinary technician program.

His areas of professional interest are hematology (exotic and domestic animals), exotic animal parasitology and cytology. He, along with his colleagues, serves as a member of the Peregrine Falcon Banding Project in Northeastern Illinois in collaboration with the Field Museum of Natural History. Joel is also involved with the Gombe Ecosystem Health Project at Gombe Stream National Park in Tanzania, where he screens for internal parasites. He gives frequent lectures to allied health organizations and veterinary technician groups on topics of veterinary clinical pathology.