CVMA was pleased to recognize its 2022 award winners and Life Membership awardees during CVMA Convention 2022. The award winners were announced during a celebration held Friday, September 30 in Keystone, Colorado.
Thank you to all of our exceptional members for your outstanding work and service to the veterinary community — cheers to you!
Distinguished Service Award: Ronald Carsten, DVM, PhD, CVA, CCRT
Dr. Ron Carsten has served the Colorado State Board of Veterinary Medicine for eight years. As many veterinarians know, the veterinary board deliberates on consumer complaints brought forth against veterinarians and the complaints often contain sensitive information. Dr. Carsten has been recognized as a professional and respectful mediator, always offering a balanced and fair perspective as well as wise consideration and commentary during the meetings. He is generous with his time, and he goes above and beyond to provide fair consideration to each agenda item discussion. His term ended in June 2022, and his board colleagues report that he will be sorely missed. His valuable and meaningful contributions have had a direct impact on the practice of veterinary medicine in Colorado and have made the Colorado veterinary profession better and stronger. Congratulations, Dr. Carsten!
Biography
Dr. Ron Carsten grew up surrounded by dogs, cats, horses, cattle, chickens, and rabbits. He frequently rescued strays and injured wildlife so according to his mother, it was no surprise that he became a veterinarian. Lifelong learning, being of service, and striving to always be the best he could be lead to earning an AAS, BS, DVM, MS, and PhD. He has held positions as a certified veterinary technician, surgical technician, associate veterinarian, and practice owner in mixed and small animal practices with extensive emergency services responsibility. As the first veterinarian in Colorado to actively advocate and apply principles of integrative veterinary therapy in practice, Dr. Carsten intensively pursued post-doctoral training in acupuncture (certified), Chinese herbs, western herbs, clinical use of nutritional supplements and nutraceuticals, homeopathy, manual therapies, pain management, canine rehabilitation (certified), and other modalities. In addition to clinical practice, he has a wide range of teaching experiences as a conference and CE seminar speaker, college faculty, and National Cancer Institute faculty. He has engaged in bench and clinical research and coordinated clinical trials. As an industry technical consultant he provided support services, educational programs, and developed clinically focused nutritional supplement products. Dr. Carsten has published numerous articles reporting original research, clinical applications, and a monthly newspaper column for the Glenwood Post Independent. His community and professional service activities have included scientific journal reviewer, founder of Colorado Animal Rescue in Glenwood Springs, and activity on numerous committees, commissions, and boards including the Colorado State Board of Veterinary Medicine.
Veterinarian of the Year: Christianne Magee, DVM, PhD
Dr. Christianne Magee is described as the epitome of the educator-scientist; in her capacity at CSU, she teaches undergraduate, graduate, and DVM students, acting as mentor and teacher to 400+ animal and veterinary science students each year. In addition to her teaching responsibilities, Dr. Magee has been a successful researcher in reproductive physiology and more recently in applied education; when COVID restrictions hit in 2020, Dr. Magee was a college leader in the development of effective online educational strategies, contributing significantly to the success of her students during a difficult time. Despite the enormous and varied responsibilities she has, she is unfailingly attentive to each student who interacts with her, providing guidance and coaching that helps every student success. Her enormous contributions to the development and careers of so many make her a worth recipient of CVMA’s Veterinarian of the Year Award. Congratulations, Dr. Magee!
Biography
Dr. Magee is an associate professor at CSU in the Department of Biomedical Sciences where she serves as the chair for DVM Education and Clinical Services committee and on the Provost’s Council for Engagement. As a veterinarian, Dr. Magee’s passion is helping others to develop the tools or resources that they will need to solve novel problems. She teaches in the CSU DVM program, serving as course director for Veterinary Physiology, the faculty advisor for the DVM tutoring program, and assists with several other aspects of DVM student success and curriculum development. She is the advisor for the Biomedical Sciences Master of Science Animal Anatomy concentration, oversees all aspects of domestic animal instruction in the undergraduate and graduate programs in Biomedical Sciences, and teaches Applied Food and Fiber Animal Anatomy as well as Domestic Animal Anatomy, Dissection, and Case-Based Learning. She is the project lead for the Virtual Veterinary Education Tools team and leads the development of the suite of Virtual Animal Anatomy programs, including the VAA-VR programs used at CSU’s SPUR campus. For the last two years, Dr. Magee has created and led the Zoetis Veterinary Perspectives Summer Institute, a pre-veterinary and One Health career development and discovery program for high school students. Dr. Magee also maintains an active research laboratory where she studies the role of kisspeptin in the horse and collaborates with others to study several aspects of neuroendocrinology using sheep and mouse animal models. Outside of work, she enjoys gardening, skiing, riding horses, and spending time with her husband and daughter.
President’s Award: Representative Karen McCormick, DVM
Many Colorado veterinarians know that the Colorado Veterinary Practice Act was up for renewal this year by the state legislature. Luckily enough for Colorado’s veterinarians, they had a fierce and strong supporter of veterinary medicine in Representative McCormick, who spent hours upon hours promoting veterinary medicine and the renewal of the practice act at the state capitol. Representative McCormick is a CVMA member as she is a veterinarian herself; she is the Chair of the House Agriculture, Livestock, and Water Committee, and was the sponsor of the veterinary practice act renewal bill in the House of Representatives. CVMA was so fortunate to have her support during the legislative process. Congratulations, Dr. McCormick!
Biography
Dr. Karen McCormick represents House District 11 from Longmont. She sits on the Health and Insurance Committee and serves as Chair of the Agriculture, Livestock, & Water Committee. She is also Chair of the Water Resources and Agriculture Review Interim Committee. Rep. McCormick grew up in a career Navy family with a father that served 30 years in the US Navy as a fighter pilot, retiring as Rear Admiral. She attended the University of Florida obtaining a Bachelor’s in Agriculture and then a Doctorate in Veterinary Medicine. Practicing veterinary medicine for over 33 years further strengthened her belief in the power of compassion. She ran her own successful small animal clinic, serving as a valued member of the business community for over 16 years. She has volunteered with two non-profit organizations dedicated to promoting animal health as well as with Intercambio, teaching English to the immigrant community in Longmont. She has worked as a communications coach to help train veterinary students at Colorado’s premier veterinary teaching hospital at CSU. She is a member of Citizens Climate Lobby and Boulder Rotary. Rep. McCormick and her husband Gregg, a native Coloradan, have been married for 33 years. They have lived in Longmont for over 28 years where they raised their three children: twin daughters and their oldest child who identifies as non-binary. The family also has a large Golden Retriever named Pippin. Being outdoors in Colorado is one of her favorite pastimes. Rep. McCormick is passionate about our state and working for policies that help Colorado families. As the Representative for House District 11 she will continue to advocate for families, health care, education, LGBTQ rights, reproductive rights, economic opportunity for all, the future of our planet and much more.
President’s Award: Senator Joann Ginal
Senator Joann Ginal was the key sponsor of the Colorado Veterinary Practice Act bill in the Senate; congratulations, Senator Ginal, and thank you for your support!
Biography
Joann Ginal is currently serving as a Colorado State Senator in Senate District 14 representing Fort Collins and Larimer County. She serves as Chair of the Senate Local Government Committee and as Vice Chair of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee. She has been a resident of Fort Collins for over 30 years. Senator Ginal has served in the Colorado Legislature for the past eight years. From 2012-2018, she was a State Representative in District 52, and for the past three years, she has been a State Senator in Senate District 14. She won and retained her Senate position in the November 2020 election. Before holding elected office, Senator Ginal spent 25 years as a scientist specializing in reproductive endocrinology in the pharmaceutical and medical industry. Her dedication to improved healthcare included holding positions spanning from sales and marketing to clinical field research as a medical liaison specializing in women’s health, neurology, and cardiology. She is currently the only scientist in the Colorado State Senate, and her contributions to matters related to healthcare and public health are significant.
Life Membership awardees
CVMA also recognized its Life Membership awardees. The CVMA Life Member awards recognize current CVMA members who are entering their 40th year of membership with CVMA. This means they have been members of CVMA since 1982…an impressive amount of time to be dedicated to organized veterinary medicine! CVMA offers a complimentary membership to veterinarians who reach the 40-year milestone of membership with CVMA in recognition of their support to the Colorado veterinary community.
Congratulations to the following 2022 Life Membership awardees!
- Catharine Eppinger, DVM
- Gregory Cooper, DVM
- Steven Batch, DVM
