Servantes wins USDA internship for outbreak research

By Amara Osei

The U.S. Department of Agriculture selected Ryan Servantes in August after he applied in February for its Salty Wilson Jr. internship, which will cover his graduate-school tuition and place him with government veterinarians working on animal disease outbreaks in Texas.

A biology major in Lamar University’s pre-veterinary medicine program and a Mission senior, Servantes found the USDA opportunity while searching online for research placements. The program offers financial support for veterinary school tuition, professional experience and government health benefits.

“I’m a real big fan of puzzles,” Servantes said. “I see things and I’m just trying to solve them.” That mindset has carried him from a ranch upbringing to clinical work, undergraduate research and a federal opportunity centered on animal disease.

He grew up on a ranch surrounded by goats, chickens and other animals. A high-school internship at a veterinary clinic in the Rio Grande Valley introduced him to the combination of animal care and problem-solving that would shape his career goals.

Servantes developed an interest in research and field investigations beyond clinical practice. He described every animal entering a clinic as a new challenge and compared the arrival of a dog to another puzzle to crack.

At Lamar, he received a SURF project for a study of angel wing disease in ducks. He wrote his own research proposal, conducted the project and presented his work. The project connected animal, disease and environmental questions, he said, and complemented his veterinary-clinic hours. The announcement provides no duck sample size, study design, results or conclusions.

His decision to seek a research placement also followed his view that most veterinary students want small-animal work. Servantes estimated that 99% of people interested in veterinary medicine want to work with small animals, a proportion he considers unlike his own interests.

What will Servantes investigate?

The internship will pay for Servantes’s studies while he attends graduate school. He expects to investigate animal disease outbreaks, including screwworm, by collecting samples and data in the field and analyzing findings in a laboratory.

He also expects to learn from veterinary students and veterinarians about their experiences during school, professional challenges and practical tips. The stated work combines clinical knowledge with the field and laboratory methods needed to investigate outbreaks beyond an individual patient.

Program details released with his selection do not identify a specific outbreak, animal species, field site, start date, project duration or stipend amount. The current announcement therefore describes a funded training placement rather than an outbreak finding, a new diagnostic method or a control protocol.

How difficult was the selection process?

Servantes applied in February and received the selection in August. The process required multiple rounds of questions, screening and government background checks. He described it as lengthy and marked by waiting, patience, prayer and hope.

Before applying, he regarded the opportunity as a long shot but reasoned that the attempt carried no downside. Once selected, the financial support brought immediate relief.

“I just felt a relief knowing that I won’t have to work so hard and take out loans, and just think about the crushing student debt that comes with these type of grad schools,” he said.

Servantes now plans to concentrate on completing his coursework without the burden of financing his graduate studies through employment or loans.

What does the placement mean for animal health?

• Companion animals: His pathway began in companion-animal practice through a Rio Grande Valley clinic internship and subsequent cases in which a dog presented a diagnostic puzzle. The USDA placement will extend his training from individual patients to field sampling and laboratory analysis. No diagnostic method, drug or vaccine was evaluated, so the selection does not change treatment guidance.

• Food animals: Servantes grew up around goats and chickens, and his federal placement concerns animal disease outbreaks in Texas. The released details do not identify a food-animal species, farm, herd or production program for his assignment, so no measurable barn-level effect can yet be assigned to the internship.

• Public health and outbreak response: The placement puts Servantes alongside government veterinarians in USDA disease-response work, with field sampling, data collection and laboratory analysis as his stated responsibilities. The announcement does not report human cases, zoonotic-event management, policy changes or regulatory findings. No FDA CVM, EMA or USDA approval decision was reported.

Lamar faculty helped Servantes develop the confidence to apply. He said professors and research directors maintained direct relationships with students and wanted them to succeed, opportunities he did not think a larger school would have offered.

He also wants other students to apply for substantial opportunities even when they doubt their qualifications. Servantes said prospective applicants often feel underqualified, but he believes they should act on that concern rather than let it prevent an application.

The next measurable milestone will be Servantes’s first field deployment: which outbreak he joins, what species he samples and whether his funded research produces findings that can inform future outbreak response.