Inaugural Shalin Liu Professorship in Wildlife Medicine Awarded to Dr. Maureen Murray

Shalin Liu came face to face with a water buffalo when she was 12 years old. Walking alone on a sunny day in her home country of Taiwan, she passed a sweet potato farm and a river before encountering the water buffalo just several feet in front of her. Both stood still, taking in one another. She recalls his giant head, bright dark eyes, and long eyelashes. She felt no fear and sensed the same in him. She says of the experience, "From that day on, I knew that any kind of animal is like my family."

Shalin's decades of support for wildlife conservation are testament to her conviction, including funding the new Shalin Liu Professorship in Wildlife Medicine at Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University.

The inaugural professorship was awarded to Dr. Maureen Murray, V03, Gabriel and Valerie Schmergel Term Director of Tufts Wildlife Clinic (TWC) and associate clinical professor in the Department of Infectious Disease & Global Health at Cummings School. A celebration of the new professorship, hosted by Dr. Sunil Kumar, president of Tufts University, and Dr. Alastair Cribb, dean of Cummings School, will be held at the end of the month on campus.

"I respect and admire Shalin and the work she does so much that it is hard to describe how meaningful it is to me to receive the inaugural Shalin Liu Professorship in Wildlife Medicine," says Murray. "The work we do at the Wildlife Clinic is heavily dependent on philanthropy, which can vary from year to year. Shalin's generous gift will help put the Wildlife Clinic on more solid ground for the future."

Shalin was one of the early donors who stepped up and helped build the Shalin Liu Performance Center in Rockport, Massachusetts, where chamber musicians could play with the backdrop of sweeping ocean views.

As founder and executive director of the nonprofit organizations Summer Star Wildlife Sanctuary and Summer Star Meadow, she preserved 45 acres of nature land and 55 acres of old farmland in Boylston, Massachusetts, making the land a home for the wildlife of New England and for human visitors too. She has also funded wildlife preservation initiatives at Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming. Annually, she offers 20 seventh-grade students and five teachers the opportunity to travel on the weeklong Expedition Yellowstone Program.   

Cummings School came into Shalin's life when her daughter took a summer course with the previous director of Tufts Wildlife Clinic, Dr. Mark Pokras, V84, associate professor emeritus of infectious disease and global health at Cummings School. Shalin and Pokras struck up a friendship over their shared love of nature. Together, they established an international exchange program for Cummings School students at National Pingtung University in Taiwan. Shalin went on to sponsor students gaining fieldwork experience in conservation medicine at Pingtung Rescue Center for Endangered Wild Animals.

On Murray receiving the Shalin Liu Wildlife Medicine Professorship, Shalin says, "Maureen is the one to follow Mark Pokras' footsteps. It doesn't matter if it's a porcupine, a snake, or a tiny squirrel; she's in there doing the surgery. In all of New England, there's only one university teaching wildlife medicine in a hospital, only Tufts. Through teaching, they save lives."

Murray comments on the impact of Shalin's gift, "The challenges our wildlife face in a rapidly changing environment are only increasing. Fostering an appreciation for the value of nature and modeling for our students how they, as veterinarians, can care for our wildlife is more and more important. This professorship ensures that wildlife medicine and the related One Health concepts will continue to be an integral part of the Cummings School veterinary education."

Just a few miles apart, TWC and Summer Star naturally collaborate in their protection of wildlife. Among the shared educational programs, Shalin sponsors the Mark Pokras Lecture Series on wildlife conservation at Summer Star. She has also supported Pokras' research into the effects of lead poisoning on loons.

Ten years ago, as the rising roster of patients at TWC began to challenge capacity, Shalin funded the Shalin Liu Healing Cage to rehabilitate birds of prey as they recover and strengthen their injured wings. The cage is live-streamed into the visitor's center at Summer Star.

"Shalin is a kindred spirit to the team at the Wildlife Clinic—we share with her a dedication to protecting wildlife and nature and to educating students and others about the amazing wildlife we share our environment with," says Murray.

TWC has often released healed wildlife patients at Summer Star, including many turtles and owls, over the years. "When they come to me and say, 'Would you be available to open your place to certain animals who would do well in your forest?' I always say yes. This is the fun part," says Shalin.

Shalin describes a day when two rehabilitated owls from TWC were released at Summer Star. "Usually, birds will stay a little bit and then fly away—or they just totally disappear before you realize it. It's really heartwarming. One barred owl flew high to the top of a pine tree. He turned to face us. We were all quiet to see what he wanted to do. He turned back because his future was facing south in the big forest. He repeated this three times. The bird doesn't know who you are or what you are, but he knows you are safe. Finally, the barred owl flew south. Some never look back, and some might stay around for three months at Summer Star."

On her philanthropy, Shalin says, "To embrace nature is a dream come true for me." A poem left by a visitor in the Summer Star guest book struck a chord with Shalin and reflects this sentiment:

I came to meet someone;
Only to arrive at an oasis of beauty.
Where the care and love,
Shines through the branches of every tree.