Dr. Porter-Blackwell is a Northern California native who grew up trying to make friends with the neighborhood tree squirrels. Volunteering at a local wildlife center helped confirm her passion for unusual animals. Dr. Porter-Blackwell graduated from University of California-Davis with a Bachelors of Science in Evolution, Ecology, and Biodiversity, before obtaining her veterinary degree from Western University of Health Sciences in 2013. In veterinary college, she adopted her first rabbit since childhood, and decided to dedicate her career to providing high quality small herbivore medicine. Since graduating, Dr. Porter-Blackwell has completed a small animal rotating internship, an exotics focused specialty internship, and a residency program. She is the current Vice President of the Association of Exotic Animal Veterinarians and has served as the Education Committee Chair. In her time on the committee, Dr. Porter-Blackwell spearheaded the development of client education brochures about disease and general care for common exotic mammals.When not at the clinic or helping to advance the care of exotic species, Dr. Porter-Blackwell enjoys being outside, doing yoga, and drinking tea with her four rabbits, Clark, Eddie, Rebel, and Gizmo.Training:Bachelor’s of Science in Evolution, Ecology, and Biodiversity; University of California, Davis. Davis, California. 2009-2013Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine; Western University of Health Sciences. Pomona, CA. 2014-2018Small Animal Rotating Internship, Southern California Veterinary Specialty Hospital (BluePearl Irvine). Irvine, CA. 2010-2019Exotics Medicine and Surgery Internship, Arizona Exotic Animal Hospital. Mesa, Arizona. 2019-2020Residency, ABVP: Exotic Companion Mammal Medicine and Surgery, Avian and Exotic Animal Clinic. Indianapolis, IN, 2020-2023Publications:Porter-Blackwell, Rae, et al. "Successful treatment of a mandibular multilobular tumor of bone in a ferret (Mustela putorius furo)." Journal of Exotic Pet Medicine 49 (2024): 9-11.Porter-Blackwell, Rae, et al. "Pilot study: correlation of the surface skin temperature between the leg and foot using thermographic imaging in captive hawks." Journal of Avian Medicine and Surgery 34.2 (2020): 164-171.Porter-Blackwell. “The Effect of Multidrug Resistance Transporter Activity on Mercury Bioaccumulation in Strongylocentrotus purpuratus Pluteus Lavae From Consuming Contaminated Isochrysis galbana. UC Davis Explorations: The Undergraduate Journal. 15 (2014): Online.Presentations:Porter-Blackwell, R., Lennox, A.M., Tobias, J. and Vecchio, N. Successful treatment of a mandibular multilobular tumor of bone in a ferret (Mustela putorius furo), The Joint Conference, New Orleans, LA. 2024Rae Porter-Blackwell, DVM; Angela Lennox DVM, DABVP-Avian, ECM; DECZM-Small Mammal; Ethan Biswell, DVM; MS; DACVP (Anatomical Pathology), Spontaneous regression in a rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) with epitheliotropic cutaneous lymphoma, ExoticsCon, Session # 2596, Denver, CO. 2022Rae Porter-Blackwell, DVM; Angela Lennox DVM, DABVP-Avian, ECM; DECZM-Small Mammal, Nicolas Vecchio, DVM, DACVS-SA, CCRP, Rectovaginal fistulation and reduced bladder sphincter tone in a French Lop rabbit, ExoticsCon 2022. ExoticsCon, Session # 2688, Denver, CO. 2022Kristopher Irizarry, Carlie Day*, Rae Porter-Blackwell*, Caleb Cato, Lawrence Chang, Joseph Geiger, Denise Henry, Jennifer Hernandez, Hung Fion, Preet Kaur, Jeffrey Koury, Mariana Lucero, Garrett Teskey, Curtis Eng, David Kersey, Qingshun Quinn Li, Wael Khamas and Josep Rutllant. Bioinformatics Analysis of Protein Coding Genes Associated with Cold Tolerance Phenotypes in Animals: Implications for Assessing Adaptation of Invasive Reptile Species. International Plant and Animal Genome Conference XXV, San Diego California, (* these authors contributed equally and are listed alphabetically by last name), 2017