About Us
Meet the Veterinary Expeditions Team
Dr. Carol Walton, CEO/Owner of Veterinary Expeditions
Carol has been leading natural history trips for 40 years to many different areas in the world...
Carol has been leading natural history trips for 40 years to many different areas in the world
She grew up in Panama and attributes this to her early love of and lifelong fascination with the tropical rainforest. Carol attended Louisiana State University, earning a bachelor’s degree in Zoology and a doctorate in Veterinary Medicine. During all her years at university however, it was the Amazon rainforest that held her attention the most. She spent twelve summers working as a naturalist guide at a remote rainforest lodge on the Tambopata River in Peru and also participated in many scientific expeditions to unknown areas of that country.
After working as a veterinarian for several years, she wanted to be more involved with conservation and she eventually followed her heart back to the Amazon and oversaw the building of the Tiputini Biodiversity Station, a remote scientific research facility in eastern Amazonian Ecuador. After working as Co-Director of the station for five years, she returned to the U.S. in order to launch her own wildlife tour company.
She is committed to educating people about the wonders of the natural world in the hopes that they will, in turn, see the value and need for conserving such amazing places and the creatures that live there. She has extensive knowledge of basic ecology and enjoys teaching and showing others the diversity that abounds in each different habitat. In addition to her love of the tropics, she is passionate about both polar regions and Vet-Ex alternates offering polar bear trips and trips to Antarctica! Carol has worked 20 seasons as a naturalist guide and lecturer aboard expedition cruise ships to Antarctica (representing more than 75 trips to Antarctica!), so she is uniquely qualified to organize these trips and is personally familiar with many of the expedition ships.
Carol has also lived and worked in Botswana at safari camps and has traveled extensively throughout Southern and Eastern Africa. Each year Vet-Ex offers trips to destinations like Botswana, Zambia, Namibia, Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania, South Africa and Madagascar! Carol's unabashed passion for wildlife and nature is her driving force and her life's mission is to help conserve wilderness in every way she can!
Her enthusiasm is contagious and her clients return home from each trip with a much better appreciation for and understanding of the wildlife they've seen and the unique places they've visited!
Dr. Rick LeCouteur, Director of Education
Dr. Rick LeCouteur graduated from the University of Sydney Veterinary School, Australia, in 1975...
Dr. Rick LeCouteur graduated from the University of Sydney Veterinary School, Australia, in 1975.
After a year in private small animal practice in Sydney, Australia, he completed an Internship and Residency in Small Animal Surgery at the Ontario Veterinary College, University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada. He then completed a Residency in Neurology and Neurosurgery at the School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, Davis.
He stayed in Davis, and from July 1980 through January 1984, completed a PhD in Comparative Pathology at the University of California in Davis. From January 1984 through August 1989, Rick was a faculty member in Neurology and Neurosurgery at the College of Veterinary Medicine, Colorado State University, Fort Collins. In September 1989 Rick returned to Sydney, Australia, to establish a Specialty Practice in Neurology and Neurosurgery. In January 1995 he returned to the USA to accept the position of Professor of Neurology and Neurosurgery at the University of California at Davis, where he remained until his retirement in June 2015.
Rick is a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine (Neurology), and a Diplomate of the European College of Veterinary Neurology (ECVN). He is passionate about veterinary education and has given lectures at veterinary conferences in over sixty countries. He has served as Editor-In-Chief for Clinician’s Brief, and as Chief Veterinary Officer for the North American Veterinary Community (NAVC).
Rick first met Carol over a decade ago while he was serving on the Board of Directors of the NAVC, and has since been on numerous expeditions with her (Polar Bears, The Pantanal, Antarctica, the Amazon, Galapagos, Rwanda/Tanzania, and many more). Rick is co-founder of Veterinary Expeditions with Carol and is an invaluable and integral asset of the company, both behind the scenes and on the expeditions! His keen sense of humor, good organizational skills, and enthusiastic passion for wildlife and destinations help make each expedition a resounding success and lots of fun! Rick often selflessly donates his time before or after expeditions to provide the local veterinary communities in the countries we visit with veterinary educational opportunities, consisting of both lecture presentations and hands-on demonstrations.
Veterinary Expeditions provides the perfect opportunity for Rick to combine his appreciation for wildlife and conservation, curiosity regarding travel, and dedication to veterinary education and teaching.
Sherry Vogt, Director of Operations
Sherry has a diverse background, having been trained in design and education, with a bachelor’s degree...
Sherry has a diverse background, having been trained in design and education, with a bachelor’s degree in fashion design and a master’s degree in clothing and textile education.
At heart, she is a manager and has been managing companies her entire adult life. She started off overseeing 16 fabric stores in the US and then after moving to Ecuador with her husband Charlie in 1989, began designing and producing clothing. Sherry has lived in Ecuador for the past 31 years and spent several years working in eco-tourism running a lodge in the Amazon, after which she spent the past 25 years designing and producing clothing in Ecuador, including building her own clothing company!
Sherry has spent a lifetime developing her wide range of organizational skills and is in her element working with people and creating organized systems. When not working, she seeks every chance to be out in nature and has been traveling around the world for 35 years with her naturalist husband Charlie. She and Carol have been best friends for over 25 years and she is so happy to be an integral part of the Vet-Ex team!