He studied veterinary medicine in Munich (1979 – 1984). After finalizing his post doc specialization including habilitation in 1996 at the Clinic for Birds, Munich, Germany. His professional appointments included serving as a guest professor at the Clinic for Poultry at the Vet. Med. University of Vienna, Austria (1998 – 1999) followed by an appointment as an associate professor at the Raptor Center at the University of Minnesota, USA (1999 – 2003). Ever since, he serves as the head and director of the Clinic for Birds, Reptiles, Amphibians, and Ornamental Fish at the Center for Clinical Veterinary Medicine of the University Ludwig Maximilian of Munich, Germany.

Rüdiger is a member of the EAAV since 1994, serving as the chairman from 2001 through to 2003. His professional interests include imaging techniques and medical photography, orthopedics, anesthesiology and ophthalmology with special emphasis on visual perception and animal welfare related aspects of poultry keeping.

Steve graduated from the Royal Veterinary College in London in 2002 and completed an ECZM Avian Medicine and Surgery Internship/Residency Program from 2004 – 2008. He gained the RCVS Certificate in Zoological Medicine in 2006 and his ECZM Diploma in Zoological Medicine (Avian) in 2011. Until 2016 he led the avian and exotics service from a busy mixed practice in Buckinghamshire. Steve now works as the sole charge vet at Tiggywinkles Wildlife Hospital in Haddenham where they care for over 10,000 British Wildlife cases per year. His main areas of interest are avian orthopaedics and wildlife/exotics legislation.

He graduated in 2012 at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of Naples University, Italy. Since then he worked as Exotic Veterinarian in many Italian Veterinary Clinics. He obtained the specialization in Infectious Diseases in 2015 and the ISVPS General Practitioner Certificate in Exotic Animal Practice in 2016. He was the Head of Exotic Animal Medicine and Surgery Service in various italian veterinary clinics (Brescia, Rome and Naples). He was the Director of Psittacine Section in Birds Rescue Center in Castel Volturno (Caserta). He has been the author of various works at national and international conferences on Exotic Animals. He is actually specializing in Avian Pathology at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of Naples and his fields of interest are avian surgery, infectious diseases and neurology. He currently works both in Public
Health Service and as referral veterinarian for Exotic Animal Medicine and Surgery in Naples (Italy). He is also the national representative of the EAAV for Italy.

Susana graduated from Lisbon’s Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, having practiced exotic and wild animal medicine in several locations. Notable amongst these are GREFA Madrid, Lisbon’s Wildlife Rehabilitation Center, the University of Trás-os-montes and Alto Douro. Currently responsible for the Zoological Medicine and Surgery Department of Anicura’s Alma Veterinária Hospital and does consults in other practices. She is strongly interested in Haematology, Dentistery, Orthopedic surgery, Internal medicine and Conservation Medicine.

Author of articles and communications, specially interested in peer formation and sharing knowledge. Her main objectives: advocating for a heightened standard-of-care and demistifying zoological medicine, ensuring adequate care for all animals of every species and empowering colleagues and students to do so practicing evidence-based medicine.
Member of the Portuguese Scientific Bird Ringer’s Association. She joined the EAAV Student Section as Communications Officer in 2018, taking part in organizing the 1st and 2nd EAAV Student Section Workshops. Since May 2019 she has been a member of the Advisory Board, having become Webmaster in 2021.

Ines graduated from the Warsaw University od Life Sciences in Warsaw, Poland in 2018. Since the beginning she was focused on avian medicine and learned from experienced avian veterinarians not only in Poland but also abroad. In 2020 she started work on her PhD thesis focused on avian bornaviruses and antiviral therapy at the same university. Apart from scientific work she is a practitioner avian vet and since graduation she is working in exotic animal clinics.

Yvonne van Zeeland (DVM, MVR, PhD, Dip. ECZM) graduated with merit at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine (Utrecht, the Netherlands) in 2004. After having worked briefly in private practice, she returned to Utrecht University to successfully complete an internship in Companion Animal Medicine, residency in Avian Medicine and PhD on feather damaging behavior in Grey parrots. Aside from her recognition as a specialist in Avian medicine, she also became de facto recognized in Small mammal medicine. Yvonne currently works as an Associate Professor at the Division of Zoological Medicine, where she devotes her time to research, teaching and patient care of birds and small mammals. She also actively contributes to the (inter)national development and advancement of avian and exotic animal medicine through lectures, publications and membership of various professional organizations and committees. Amongst others, she has previously served as President of the Association of Avian Veterinarians (AAV), and currently serves as Examination Committee Chair for the European College of Zoological Medicine, Associate Editor for the Journal of Avian Medicine and Surgery, and co-editor of Current Veterinary Therapy in Avian Medicine and Surgery, Volume 2 (in press). For her ongoing and outstanding contributions to the field, she received the Lafeber’s Avian Practitioner of the Year Award in 2021.

Sara graduated in 2021 from Alfonso X el Sabio University, Spain. In that same year she obtained her postgraduate in Exotic animal medicine from Improve, and should have her GPCert soon. Once graduated she has been a supervised veterinarian for exotic animals in different mixed animals hospitals, but also in exotic exclusive hospitals like Los Sauces.
Currently she tries to deliver exotics specific care to areas where the specialized care is not available as Dra. Saramander as she continues to train in this field.

Dion is a Master’s student of veterinary medicine from Utrecht University in the Netherlands. He has been Student Chair of the Faculty Council and Educational Board of his faculty as well as an active member in the local avian and exotics student association: Archaeopteryx. Moreover he is currently also involved in the organisation of Amsterdam Pride.
His love for birds started with rescueing orphaned ducklings at a young age, as he grew older he started owning and breeding several breeds of poultry such as silkie chickens. At Utrecht University his love for avian medicine grew when taking part in extracurricular education. To gain experience he started volunteering at a wildlife rehabilitation centre. He joined the EAAV in 2023, becoming the Student Section’s Communications Officer. Later, in 2024, he joined the Advisory Board accumulating the functions of Officer for Social Media.
Currently Dion has the ambition to become an avian vet and share his love for birds with the world.