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. 

Dr. Porter-Blackwell completed a 1-year rotating internship at the Southern California Veterinary Specialty Hospital (now BluePearl Irvine), a 1-year exotics specialty internship at the Arizona Exotic Animal Hospital, and a 2-year Exotic Companion Mammal Medicine and Surgery residency in Indianapolis at the Avian and Exotic Animal Clinic prior to joining the CBEAM team as an associate veterinarian. She is currently working towards her ABVP specialization in Exotic Companion Mammals. 

When not guest-lecturing for veterinary schools at Purdue, Michigan State, and Romania, Dr. Porter-Blackwell enjoys being outside, doing yoga, and drinking tea with her four rabbits, Clark, Eddie, Rebel, and Gizmo.