Sherri Goss is training manager for the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee, part of the VC-CFO’s Animal Care office.

When did you join the University?
March 2004.

What's your day-to-day role in stewarding university resources?
I provide support to faculty and research staff who work with animals in the following ways: assist in their protocol and amendment review process, complete laboratory inspections to ensure compliance and safety, and provide training classes to ensure humane animal care and competency of staff supporting the campus teaching program.

What's an example of how you delight customers?
I am a very feeling oriented person and am able to assess people’s learning styles and concerns fairly easily. I allow people to work at their own pace and encourage them to self-assess their progress so they do not feel pressured or discouraged. Many people are fearful to work with rodents and I have been able to help many staff and students overcome their fear to be able to successfully develop skills to complete their research.

What do you like best about working at UC Davis?
I enjoy all of the people I get to meet and interact with. It is fun to learn about other people’s experiences from other states and countries.

What’s the most challenging part of your job?
The most challenging part of my job is knowing that there are people in the community who do not support working with animals for biomedical research. There are many misconceptions about the people in our field and how we interact with animals. The husbandry staff, veterinary staff, IACUC and research staff are in this field for science but also because of their love of animals. We are held to very high expectations in terms of humane animal care by federal, state and institutional policies and we take this responsibility very seriously.

Tell us one thing about yourself that most people wouldn’t know.
One of my very distant relatives is Martin Luther who started the protestant reformation.

What’s something you like to do when you’re not at work?
I like to run. I just finished my second half marathon.