A respected and well-known scientist, Joe Gaydos is the Science Director for the SeaDoc Society, a marine conservation program of the UC Davis Karen C. Drayer Wildlife Health Center.

Joe is a bestselling author, a popular and entertaining public speaker, and a sought-after expert voice on wildlife health issues who has advised policymakers from Washington State to Washington D.C.

As a world-traveling wildlife veterinarian, surgeon and research scientist, Joe has studied and cared for animals ranging from bush babies to killer whales. He’s been charged by a silverback gorilla, clawed by a cheetah, and bitten by, well, practically everything. He’s published more than 50 peer-reviewed science papers and co-written the Nautilus Gold Award-winning The Salish Sea: Jewel of the Pacific Northwest and Explore the Salish Sea. And, he hosts the YouTube series Salish Sea Wild, produced by his friend Bob Friel who actually knows what he is doing and is the main reason the show has been so successful.

For the last two decades, Joe has been working on wildlife and ecosystem conservation in the Pacific Northwest. He’s one of the world’s few wildlife vets and an expert on diseases that impact both human and wild animal health in species including seabirds, harbor seals, river otters, porpoise, and killer whales.

Joe lives on Orcas Island (Washington) with his family and a slightly below-average dog, where he loves to run the trails, scuba dive, and enjoy the wildlife and wild areas of the Salish Sea.