Dr. Karra grew up on the west coast of Canada, near the city of Vancouver. She completed her Bachelor of Science in biology at the University of Victoria on Vancouver Island. During this time, she started working as a staff wildlife rehabilitator at a large wildlife rehabilitation center. Here, Dr. Karra fell in love with wildlife rehabilitation and wildlife medicine. Following her undergraduate degree, Dr. Karra moved to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan to attend the Western College of Veterinary Medicine with the goal of becoming a wildlife veterinarian. During this time, she continued to dedicate herself to working with wildlife. After receiving her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine, she did a one-year small-animal rotating internship at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine and then joined the team at the Wildlife Center of Virginia. In her time at the Wildlife Center, she has held the position of veterinary intern, senior veterinary intern, research fellow, and is currently the director of veterinary services. Dr. Karra loves teaching interns, veterinary students, and wildlife rehabilitators from all over the world about wildlife rehabilitation and wildlife medicine. She enjoys all aspects of her job but is particularly fond of treating all things tiny. You will often find her creating micro-bandages and miniature splits for her littlest patients. Her professional goals are centered around advancing the profession of wildlife rehabilitation and learning as much as we can from the patients that come through our doors. Dr. Karra spends her free time with her ever-changing menagerie of pets and her partner, Dr. Patrick, who is also a veterinarian.
Meet the Staff
Veterinary
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Dr. Karra Pierce
Director of Veterinary Services -
Dr. Olivia Schiermeyer
Veterinary InternDr. Olivia grew up in Culpeper, Virginia, and always knew she wanted to be a veterinarian. She completed her Bachelor of Science in biology at the University of Mary Washington, then earned her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree at the Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine. During her veterinary education, Dr. Olivia completed externships with several wildlife rehabilitation centers in the U.S. and Guatemala. Her experiences with wildlife as a student solidified her love of the field of wildlife rehabilitation medicine and for all of our wild creatures. After receiving her DVM, Dr. Olivia spent two years working as a shelter veterinarian in Wisconsin before moving back to Virginia. Dr. Olivia loves treating all of our native wildlife but is particularly fond of songbirds, bats, and snakes. Dr. Olivia enjoys hiking, birdwatching, painting with her partner Dr. Ryan (who is also a veterinarian), and spending time with all of her beloved pets.
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Dr. Marit Bakken
Veterinary InternDr. Marit Bakken is originally from Appleton, WI. She grew up being inspired by the amazing wildlife and scenery she saw on her family's vacations across the USA and decided she wanted to work with wildlife in some aspect, whether that be research, medicine, or policy. Dr. Marit went to Iowa State University, where she majored in animal ecology and minored in psychology. She spent her summers working for the Iowa DNR and doing research on small-mammal distribution and honeybee behavior and physiology. She returned to Wisconsin for veterinary school at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she did research with the USGS National Wildlife Health Center on HPAI in mesopredator species. After graduation, Dr. Marit completed a small-animal rotating internship at VCA Valley Animal Hospital and the Reid Park Zoo in Tucson, AZ, and learned all about living in the desert for a year. She's delighted to come to Virginia for the wildlife veterinary internship and hopes to combine her love for wildlife rehabilitation, emergency medicine and surgery, wildlife research, and education. She loves all native species, but her absolute favorites include bats, waterfowl, and amphibians. At home she enjoys hanging out with her husband Jered and their crew of one tripod dog (Harold), two cats (Casper and Clara), and one guinea pig (Mellie) as well as hiking, exploring local cuisine and historical sites, reading, and playing piano.
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Kelsey Pleasants
Wildlife Rehabilitation SupervisorKelsey was born and raised in Waynesboro, Virginia and has always had a passion for animals. She earned a Bachelor of Science in biology from Longwood University in 2013. During her time at college, Kelsey completed a wildlife rehabilitation externship at the Wildlife Center of Virginia and upon graduation, she completed a year-long wildlife rehabilitation internship. It was during her time at WCV that she realized her biggest passion was working with wildlife. From 2014-2017, Kelsey worked at a wildlife center in south Florida doing wildlife rescue and rehabilitation. She returned to Virginia in the fall of 2017 to re-join the team at the Wildlife Center as a wildlife rehabilitator, eventually becoming the wildlife rehabilitation supervisor. In this role, Kelsey oversees the staff rehabilitators and students, and the care and rehabilitation of the thousands of patients the Center receives each year. Kelsey loves working with Black Bears, baby opossums, and American Robins. In her free time, Kelsey enjoys attending concerts and traveling.
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Elizabeth Noderer
Wildlife RehabilitatorLiz was born and raised in Carmel, Indiana, in a large suburb of Indianapolis. She graduated early from Purdue University in 2018 with a B.S. in interdisciplinary agriculture with minors in wildlife science and natural resources/environmental science. Liz's love of wildlife started while she was in college when she began volunteering and later interning at Providence Wildlife Rehabilitation Center in Westfield, Indiana. During her time there, the director of the center began teaching and providing her with a base knowledge and tools to pursue a career as a wildlife rehabilitator. After graduating, Liz took a six-month position at the Miami Seaquarium, where she worked closely with the staff to take care of and monitor resident and rehabilitating manatees and sea turtles. From there, she became a fellow at C.R.O.W (Clinic for the Rehabilitation of Wildlife) in Sanibel, Florida for six months working with all native Florida species. After moving from Florida, Liz completed a season at the Indianapolis Zoo as a macaw trainer to assist with training and running the free-flight shows. Liz also worked as a veterinary technician before joining the Wildlife Center as a wildlife rehabilitator in the fall of 2021. Liz’s hobbies include drawing, painting, watching new shows with her fiancé, and hanging out with her bird, Green Bean. Liz enjoys working with young mammals and all birds (especially waterfowl) and is excited to have the opportunity to work with a wider variety of native mammals.
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McKenzie Stewart
Wildlife RehabilitatorMcKenzie (Mac) was born and raised in Orlando, Florida, where she grew up camping and spending time outdoors. She earned her BS in natural resource conservation from the University of Florida in 2017 and has since worked in wildlife conservation and rehabilitation across the southeast. Mac particularly enjoyed a year spent in south Florida working on several field research projects, including a native rodent population study and a project tracking and capturing invasive Burmese pythons and Argentine Tegus in the Florida Everglades; this is where her love for reptiles began! Mac moved to Philadelphia in 2019 to work as a veterinary technician with companion animals, but she quickly realized her true passion was working with wildlife. This led her to move to Virginia for a seasonal position with Rockfish Wildlife Sanctuary, just across the mountain from the Wildlife Center. She was thrilled to join WCV’s permanent rehabilitation staff in the fall of 2021. Although Mac loves working with many kinds of wildlife, she is particularly fond of Virginia Opossums, herons, Ospreys, and all snake species. Outside of her work at WCV, Mac enjoys exploring the hiking trails around Charlottesville, playing board games with her friends, and spending time with her cat Theodore and her snake Kevin.
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Jess Ransier
Licensed Veterinary TechnicianJess is originally from Baldwinsville, New York, a small suburb outside Syracuse. She graduated in 2015 from Unity College, with a B.S. in Captive Wildlife Care and Education and a minor in Zoology. After graduating from Unity, she completed a six-month fellowship at the Clinic for the Rehabilitation for Wildlife (C.R.O.W.) in Sanibel, FL, which solidified her love of wildlife and veterinary medicine. After completing her fellowship at C.R.O.W., Jess went back to school to pursue a degree in Veterinary Technology at Genesee Community College in Batavia, New York. Upon graduation from GCC, Jess joined the WCV team and completed the 13- month diagnostic LVT internship during the 2018-2019 season. She was then subsequently hired as one of the full-time LVT staff in July of 2019 and is now the LVT supervisor, which is one of three full-time LVT positions. Jess loves working with all wildlife but is especially fond of Barred owls. In her spare time, Jess enjoys spending time outdoors with her beloved dog, Bonnie, and working on small projects around the house with her husband, Anthony.
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Rachel Wolffe
Licensed Veterinary TechnicianRachel grew up in Short Hills, New Jersey, a suburb of New York City. Her love of all creatures and the outdoors led her to attend the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry. She graduated with a B.S. in conservation biology. After graduating, she moved to Lexington, Virginia with her family. Rachel then went back to school to pursue a degree in Veterinary Technology through Blue Ridge Community College. While in vet tech school, she started volunteering at the Wildlife Center, first with the rehab department, and then with the treatment team. After graduating from vet tech school, Rachel spent some time in small-animal medicine but realized that her passion is for wildlife and conservation. This led her back to the Wildlife Center for a 12-week externship during the summer of 2021. Rachel is very excited to be continuing as the Vet Tech Intern for 2021-2022. While she does not have one favorite animal, she is especially fond of reptiles and amphibians. In her free time, Rachel enjoys reading, baking, and hiking in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains with her dog Tilly.
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Elka Hutcheson
Wildlife Rehabilitation InternElka was born and raised in Michigan near the city of Detroit. She completed her Bachelor of Science in biology in 2021 at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Her first experience with wildlife was at the Wildlife Center of Virginia where she completed a rehabilitation externship and fell in love with wildlife. Elka continued to advance in the field, working at many different wildlife centers including C.R.O.W. (Clinic for the Rehabilitation of Wildlife), the Bird Center of Michigan, and Howell Nature Center. After graduating, she joined the Wildlife Center staff as a seasonal assistant in the summer of 2022. She stayed on to become the rehabilitation intern from 2022-2023 and is extremely excited to continue learning. Elka loves all wildlife species but is very fond of working with skunks, amphibians, and any raptors. In her free time, Elka enjoys going birding and herping! She also loves to crochet and has recently learned how to pin and preserve insect specimens as a hobby.
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