VMCVM Faculty Spotlight: Kiri DeBose

Kiri DeBose

Head, Veterinary Medicine Library, Liaison to Animal Sciences

When did you join the veterinary college?
July 2017 (have been at Tech since Aug 2005)

The best part of being a faculty is?
Wow, there are so many things it’s hard to list the best… but for me I would say it’s the variety and seeing the outcomes of my work. Faculty are expected to do a lot of different tasks (teaching, research, outreach, mentoring, committees, service to the profession, just to name a few) and for me this provides opportunities to constantly learn something new; hence I never feel bored or stagnate in the work I do! Additionally, the many connections I’ve made through each of these different activities have resulted in several long-standing collaborations, partnerships, and friendships, all of which provide me with continued motivation to keep seeking ways to make a positive difference.

Best advice I've gotten...
These two are tied:

• Be true to yourself, that will lead you to doing what truly makes you happy in all aspects of life.
• You won’t get along or agree with everyone, but do your best to be as kind, considerate, and respectful to others as you’d like them be to you.

How would you capture the essence of your work in a newspaper headline?
How can I help?

My hidden talent...
I’m ambidextrous.

Words of encouragement to a current veterinary college student...
Every skill you learn starts with not knowing how to do it in the first place. You might stumble or even fail the first few times trying to learn how to do it, but as long as you gain even just a little more practice from each attempt, you've achieved far more than you would have by not trying it at all. So don't give up & don't give in, but always remember you don’t have to do everything on your own. There are so many people willing to be there for you and to help you, but first you must be willing to ask for their help.

A person who has inspired me...
There are just so many people who have inspired me over the years I can’t possibly list just one… but to narrow it down a little, my mom, my sister, certain teachers, and my true-blue friends; each have taught me something about myself and continually provide me with inspiration. I owe each of them each so much for helping make me who I am today, particularly as I try to emulate their kindness, compassion, patience, strength, resilience, determination, independence, and empathy.

One misconception that all students seem to have is?
They don’t need the library because everything is online... Navigating the world of information is much harder now than it ever used to be, and the information landscape continues to evolve (e.g. the increased reliance on AI) in addition to the massive amounts of both good and bad information produced daily. Librarians are here to help you, and many of us go beyond books/articles as we can teach and help with using different kinds of technologies too!

If I had a superpower, it would be...
Transforming people’s hate and fear of our differences into acceptance and respect for them.

This excites me the most about the future of my industry...
The world of information is constantly changing and the services the library provides are always evolving. Five years ago, I would not have thought I would be learning how to build 3D models for prototyping new tools to be used in veterinary medicine, yet here I am. And even traditional services like searching for literature have been evolving as we find better practices for supporting evidence-based medicine!

A cause I'm most passionate about...
Rights of small farmers, animal welfare, and conservation of farmland have all been at the top of my list for quite some time, but with all the recent legal changes, women’s reproductive rights is fast gaining ground.

Favorite way to end the day...
Spending time with my large crew of animals (which is also my favorite way to start the day!), then curl up on the couch with Sox to read a really good book. On weekends having dinner and curl up to watch a movie with my husband.

Top of my bucket list...
Horseback riding in Iceland, Ireland, New Zealand, and Wales; yes, are all tied for first place, though would love to make a world trip of it (that would also enable me to add a few other places as I go from one destination to the next!!)

My favorite quote...
"I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be." - Douglas Adams

How many pets/animals live at home? Can you tell us about them?
We have a bit of a menagerie. ... For traditional pets we have 3 cats (KC, Sox, Winter), 4 dogs (Apollo, Athena, Bella, Oreo – the first three are livestock guardians as well as pets), and 1 house rabbit (Oliver).

There are also 2 sides to our farm. One is the production side (Highlands Prospect Farm) where we raise registered Irish Dexter Cattle (total of 21 right now, expecting 8 calves this spring) and commercial Katahdin/Dorper meat sheep (currently at 27, with 12 ewes bred for spring lambs). Ever~Hopeful Farm is the “hayburner” side. We have 3 horses (Nydalla, Sabrina, Sierra), 1 pony (Molly), 2 donkeys (Finnigan, Sebastian), 5 goats (Avery, Cedric, Durango, Gideon, Lily), and 1 sheep (Guinness) – yes, they are more like large pets than anything else, though the horses do occasionally get ridden and the donkeys driven. And I should note a few on the production side are “production pets” as they have convinced me they are to move to this side of the farm when their production days are done….

Everyone is spoiled regardless of which farm they are on, and each make every day better just by being their wonderful (and often times silly) selves.

Anything else to add?
Don’t limit yourself. If you find you’re not happy doing what you thought you wanted to do, keep your eyes and mind open to finding the things that bring you happiness. My dreams have always included animals, but how that manifested has changed over time to fit what I found makes me happy. As a kid I never thought I’d be a librarian or raise livestock, yet here I am and can’t imagine not doing either now!