Prof Katja Koeppel graduate from Glasgow University in 2000. She came to South Africa in 2002 and completed her MSc in wildlife in 2004 from the University of Pretoria on probiotics in cheetah. After working in private practice, she joined the Johannesburg Zoo as veterinarian and later head veterinarian until 2015. She received her diplomate from the European College of Zoological Medicine in Zoo Health Management in 2015. She started as senior lecturer at the University of Pretoria and completed her PhD on oral bait rabies vaccine in black-backed jackals in 2021. She is passionate about conservation and the veterinary advisor for the Mabula Southern Ground-Hornbill Project.