Jonathan Sleeman

Dr. Jonathan Sleeman is a veterinarian and most recently the Center Director for the USGS National Wildlife Health Center, where he led a team of scientists and support staff to investigate and research wildlife diseases that threaten wildlife populations, public health, and the economy. His particular focus is bringing together cross-agency leadership and multi-disciplinary teams to find creative solutions to complex challenges. He recently showed this strength in strategic planning and program development when he led the development of an online wildlife disease database to provide early warning of emerging disease threats.

Dr. Sleeman particularly enjoys working in a transdisciplinary environment with a focus on the intersection of science and policy. He has worked in academia for nonprofit organizations and internationally, including serving as the Director of the Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project in Rwanda. Dr. Sleeman received his master’s degree in zoology and his veterinary degree from the University of Cambridge. He completed an internship and residency in zoological medicine at the University of Tennessee. He is a Diplomate of the American College of Zoological Medicine and has been published widely on topics related to emerging diseases of wildlife, epidemiology, risk assessment, One Health, and Ecohealth.

He holds a variety of leadership positions, which include being a member of the World Organisation for Animal Health’s Working Group on Wildlife and a board member for Ecohealth International. As a White House Fellow, Dr. Sleeman is assigned to the Office of Personnel Management where he will be focusing on employee engagement. In his spare time, Dr. Sleeman enjoys the outdoors, including hiking, biking, camping, and skiing (badly). He is looking forward to applying his experiences and skills to assist with implementation of transformative change within the Federal Government.