Two College of Veterinary Medicine students have received awards from the Humane Society Veterinary Medical Association (HSVMA) for embodying its mission to protect and advocate for the welfare of animals and promote and support a more humane veterinary profession.

HSVMA’s Veterinary Student Advocacy Award went to Michelle White for founding the HSVMA student chapter at Cornell, volunteering with local farm animal welfare organizations, advocating for the protection of carriage horses in New York City and participating in the HSVMA’s Humane Lobby Days. She also completed an externship at the Fund for Animals’ Cape Wildlife Center in Massachusetts.

Ada Norris received HSVMA Veterinary Student Direct Care Award. She came to veterinary medicine following wilderness emergency medical technician training, serving as an ambulance driver and receiving a Ph.D. in literature. As a Cornell student, she has been involved with projects addressing free-roaming and companion animals in low-income households, including ongoing field work with HSVMA’s Rural Area Veterinary Services program, clinical and investigative work with animal shelters, community outreach to low-income families, a field service project in Madagascar and shelter medicine activities.