We are pleased to announce that Dr. Jennifer Riley has joined the staff of the Blue Ridge Wildlife Center as our wildlife veterinarian. Dr. Riley joined the Blue Ridge Wildlife Center in the Spring of 2016. A licensed veterinarian in Virginia, Dr. Riley graduated from Tufts University in 2013, and has a lifelong passion for wildlife and wildlife medicine. Her extensive experience includes veterinary positions at the Bleize Wildlife and Referral Clinic in San Ignacio, Belize, The Center for the Rehabilitation of Wildlife (CROW) in Sanibel, FL and at Lion Country Safari in West Palm Beach, FL. We are indeed fortunate to have Dr. Riley leading the way in wildlife rescue for the BRWC in our new wildlife hospital facility.
The level of service as well as the community outreach of the Blue Ridge Wildlife Center are exemplary and represent a high bar. Some weeks ago I visited a local retirement home where the residents' mobility varies widely, from highly active to housebound. Many of them were able to attend the Wildlife Center's release of a barn owl and a screech owl on the retirement home's wooded premises. Those who perforce remained indoors can nonetheless join in the ongoing daily conversations about who last heard the owls and from which part of the wood. The Center not only provides rescue and nurture for creatures in harm's way, but actively seeks to include in its working life the human residents of the countryside it serves. A better informed community can eventually result in heightened protection for wildlife. The Center brings its work full circle.
As a volunteer wildlife rehabilitator at the Blue Ridge Wildlife Center, I am constantly inspired by Dr. Burwell’s commitment to the all-too-often overlooked animals of the world. Every patient is treated with kindness and compassion – with sights set on its eventual release back to the wild. For those unfortunate patients that are too injured for release, Dr. Burwell eases their suffering with gentle hands. BRWC cares for birds, reptiles, amphibians, and mammals – at times, even insects! No species is too small or insignificant to warrant care and respect. I can unequivocally say that I am honored to give my time to such an organization. BRWC lives up to its mission statement and more!
Review from Guidestar
I volunteered at the Blue Ridge Wildlife Center for four years and I must admit that it is a quality organization committed to helping Virginia's native wildlife. Belinda Burwell and her staff are dedicated to treating injured animals and work extremely hard to maintain such an important establishment. I'm proud to have volunteered there. -Zach Moran-
Review from Guidestar
As a practicing veterinarian in Clarke County, Virginia, I can't help but sing the praises of Dr. Belinda Burwell and the Blue Ridge Wildlife Center in Millwood, Virginia. She and her staff work tirelessly to rescue, treat, and release injured, sick and orphaned area wildlife, as well as support and contribute to much needed research in this field. In addition, the BRWC runs numerous programs aimed at educating the general public about native wildlife and encourages participation from the community at many levels. I have had the privilege of working with Dr. Burwell, and know firsthand her remarkable dedication, commitment and passion for her work, and the enormous positive impact she and the BRWC have made to Wildlife Medicine and rescue. A very worthy organization, Dr. Burwell and the BRWC provide a much needed and extremely valuable service to both the community and our native wildlife. I wholeheartedly believe we are most fortunate to have them so hard at work in our community.
I was introduced to the BRWC while taking training to become a Virginia Master Naturalist. As a naturalist, one of our roles is to volunteer in service to our communities to help preserve and protect our native plants, animals and wild places and to educate the public on the importance of our natural world. As such, the program introduced us to a variety of valuable organization that do their work, in part, with the help of skilled volunteers. Of all of the organizations that we were introduced to, it was clear that the BRWC would figure prominently in my volunteering future. I began volunteering 3 years ago to help them develop an educational outreach center at the facility. I continue to be amazed at all they do under the direction and skilled medical care of Dr. Burwell to provide for so many injured and orphaned animal each year. It may be a small center, but it has a really big heart and the dedicated volunteers to make a very real difference in the northern Shenandoah Valley.
Review from Guidestar
Dr. Burwell and her staff at Blue Ridge Wildlife Center in Millwood, VA are extremely dedicated to helping injured and orphaned native wildlife in the Shenandoah Valley and surrounding area. They provide veterinary services to wildlife at no cost 24/7. More importantly, they work to educate the public on the importance of wildlife and maintaining their ever diminishing habitats. The wildlife center has also attempted to gather data on various diseases/injuries found in wildlife (lead in raptors and parvovirus in raccoons) which help with research. As both a donor and a client, I feel that BRWC is a valuable positive addition to the ecology and environment in the Shenandoah Valley.
This team of wildlife heroes is amazing on so many levels. As a volunteer, you will be allowed to perform duties that you could only dream of...they allowed me to hold an owl while they medicated it...they allowed me to access anything within limits of safety for me and the animals. They will teach and show you anything you want to know. The vet is VERY knowledgable and sophisticated, care so much about her mission and is patient despite how busy she is. This foundation deserves so much...they are passionate about their contribution to the local ecosystem. I truly believe in this foundation and their work!
I am a person who is on lots of non-profit Boards, but on of the most effective is the Blue Ridge Wildlife Center (BRWC). I am always amazed at the number of songbirds, raptors, small mammals and other various critters that BRWC manages to save every year. From turtles who have been struck by a car, to raptors that break their wings in contact with transmission lines; our vet and founder, Ms. Belinda Burwell, manages to put them back together and after a few months, send them out to fulfill their lives.
It's one of the most important Boards I serve on. i can't think of any other organization that does so much with so little to keep the biodiversity of our part of the world flourishing.
Thank you Belinda; and thank you BRWC......
George L. Ohrstrom II
Review from Guidestar
I would like to take this opportunity to give praise and support to the Blue Ridge Wildlife Center from the viewpoint of having met their founder, president and veterinarian Belinda Burwell, DVM. I met Dr. Burwell at a National Wildlife Rehabilitators Association in Chicago about three years ago. I have not yet had the privilege of traveling to the East to visit the Blue Ridge Wildlife Center, but I have kept in touch with Dr. Burwell via email. I am an apprentice wildlife rehabilitator from Iowa. There are several things about Dr. Burwell which have impressed me and one of them is that she has been so very helpful to me in her willingness to share her knowledge and experience with me when I've had the need for the specific expertise of a wildlife veterinarian. Wildlife veterinarians are few and far between. Her
Review from Guidestar