A Norfolk vet has been awarded a travel scholarship at the British Veterinary Association's (BVA) Members' Day.

Eastern Daily Press: Taverham vet Helen Inzani has been awarded a travel scholarship at the British Veterinary Association’s (BVA) Members’ Day. Photo: BVATaverham vet Helen Inzani has been awarded a travel scholarship at the British Veterinary Association’s (BVA) Members’ Day. Photo: BVA (Image: BVA)

Helen Inzani, who is based in Taverham, Norwich, was handed the Harry Steele-Bodger Memorial Travel Scholarship yesterday (Thursday). the scholarship is awarded annually to a penultimate or final-year veterinary student or a recent graduate to support a piece of research, a veterinary or agricultural school visit, or another course of study overseas.

Helen graduated with a degree in veterinary medicine and an intercalated degree in zoology from the University of Cambridge this summer and began working as a small animal and exotics vet at All Creatures Healthcare earlier this month.

She aims to use the £1,000 grant to support her project on raptor rehabilitation at the Audubon Centre for Birds of Prey in Maitland, USA and at other similar centres in Florida.

Helen will be working with vets and scientists at the institutes early next year in their endeavours to rehabilitate birds of prey and evaluate the techniques they use in housing, feeding and retraining birds to fly, as well as the diagnostic and therapeutic techniques.

Eastern Daily Press: Taverham vet Helen Inzani has been awarded a travel scholarship at the British Veterinary Association’s (BVA) Members’ Day. Photo: BVATaverham vet Helen Inzani has been awarded a travel scholarship at the British Veterinary Association’s (BVA) Members’ Day. Photo: BVA (Image: BVA)

Combined with her observations at the Raptor Foundation in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, she hopes to be able to determine what advances could be made to enable more birds in centres across the UK to be rehabilitated.

She said: 'Receiving the Harry Steele-Bodger Memorial Scholarship was a special moment for me. It has enabled me to extend my elective project on the rehabilitation rates of birds of prey to Florida. There, I will have the privilege to learn from world-leading experts in raptor rehabilitation and hopefully share this knowledge with centres back home! I am hugely grateful to all the trustees of the Harry Steele-Bodger fund and BVA for their tremendous support.'

Apart from an abiding interest in wildlife and exotic species, Helen is a keen whitewater and novice freestyle kayaker and can be found on the broads or chasing whitewaters when not in practice. She also enjoys spending time with her pet Leopard gecko, Dotty.