To recognize his exceptional contributions to the conservation, care, and understanding of zoo and free-ranging wildlife, James Sikarskie, DVM, MS, DACZM, was presented the Emil Dolensek Award by the American Association of Zoo Veterinarians (AAZV).
Sikarskie began working at Potter Park Zoo and the Michigan State University Colleges of Veterinary Medicine and Agriculture and Natural Resources in 1975, with a stroke of “dumb luck,” in his own words, being in the right place at the right time. He turned “luck” into a lifetime of service to students, animals, and his zoo colleagues.
Sikarksie balanced his teaching responsibilities with 200-300 cases per year at Potter Park Zoo and in the Wildlife Ward that he established in the MSU Veterinary Medical Center. He continued as the zoo’s veterinarian until 2003, when Dr. Tara Harrison was hired.
“Dr. Sikarskie is well-known and loved by his many students and alumni,” shares Harrison. “He has also been on numerous graduate student committees. Many of his alumni have gone on to zoo and wildlife careers. As one of his alumni and mentees, I feel that he is very deserving of this award since he has done so much to not only advance zoo and wildlife medicine, but gone out of his way to advance AAZV and the future of the profession.”
Dr. Dalen Agnew, chair for the Department of Pathobiology and Diagnostic Investigation at the MSU College of Veterinary Medicine, agrees with Harrison. “Dr. Jim Sikarskie has dedicated his life and his passion to zoo and wildlife medicine. He has steadily and consistently, for almost 50 years, taught veterinary students and veterinarians not just how to care for the animals and our environment, but why we should care. He is richly deserving of this honor.
“He has left a huge imprint on the profession and contributed significantly to the science we base our medicine on–medicine not just for the individual animals in our zoos, but the planet we live on.”
In sum, Sikarskie has written and been part of more than $3 million in grants on wildlife issues. His studies include meningeal worm, ivermectin in American Buffalo, diets of deer, and raptors. Of note is Sikarskie’s extensive research on bald eagles, which includes a model for environmental monitoring that uses the health and success of fishing eagle species from each continent as a proxy for environmental health. He has published or co-authored 55 peer-reviewed articles, 9 scientific articles, and 4 book chapters. Sikarskie has received numerous awards including Humanitarian of the Year from the Michigan Humane Society for helping create state laws to prevent private ownership of wolves and wolf-dog crosses.
Additionally, Sikarskie was a part of every major wildlife disease investigation in Michigan, from PCBs (industrial products and chemicals), lead, meningeal worm, and tuberculosis to the most recent threats to wildlife like chronic wasting disease and the toxic Enbridge pipeline spill into the Talmadge Creek. Of course, Sikarskie included his students, colleagues, and trainees in these investigations until he retired from MSU in 2019.
Sikarskie’s career reflects that of Dr. Emil Dolensek, who advanced the profession and served to link the related disciplines of zoo and wildlife medicine. Both Sikarskie and Dolensek earned their doctoral degrees at Michigan State University.
The previous award winners are: James Foster (1991), Wilbur Amand (1993), Mitchell Bush (1994), Murray Fowler (1995), Billy Karesh (1997), Werner Heuschele (1998), Richard Montali (1999), Linda Munson (2001), Eric Miller (2002), Michael Stoskopf (2003), James Carpenter (2004), Elizabeth S. Williams and E. Thomas Thorne (2005), Mike Cranfield (2006), Scott Citino (2007), Mike Loomis (2008), Don Janssen (2009), David Jessup (2010), Elliott Jacobson (2011), Bonnie Raphael (2013), Daniel Mulcahy (2014), Kristen Gilardi (2015), Terry Norton (2016), Suzanne Kennedy-Stoskopf (2017), Doug Armstrong (2018), Edward C. Ramsey (2019), Paul Calle (2021), Jan Ramer (2022)