Christiana Willenborg

Veterinarian

Christiana grew up in Canberra and is a graduate of the Australian National University where she was awarded a Bachelor of Science degree. The final year was completed at the University of Oregon, USA before returning home to complete her Honours. During the degree she spent time volunteering with the Environmental Protection Agency working to relocate sea turtle nests on beaches to increase the numbers of hatchlings that survive. After her first degree, she moved to Sydney and was working in a Virology lab working on a project assessing respiratory viruses in children with asthma. While doing this, she was working at the zoo on a casual basis and here her love for animals grew further. She went back to school and was awarded a Bachelor of Veterinary Biology/Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree.

Today, her day to day includes small animal consults and surgical procedures. Christiana is one of a handful of vets at Vetmed who undertakes keyhole surgeries and is getting more into the orthopaedic side of surgeries. She is also one of the two vets in charge of our kitten rehoming program which ensures all rescues kittens are properly cared for before they find a new home. In her spare time she enjoys playing tennis and learning the guitar.

She also enjoys hiking, camping and travelling and still both works and volunteers at the zoo on a casual basis.