Dr. Jane Harms
Yukon
Chief Veterinary Officer
Dr. Jane Harms is a veterinarian and veterinary pathologist with a PhD in wildlife disease ecology. She graduated from the Western College of Veterinary Medicine in 2007, followed by an MVSc and senior residency in anatomic pathology and wildlife health also at WCVM, and passed the American College of Veterinary Pathologists board exam in 2010. She completed her PhD in 2016. Since 2012, Jane held the position of program veterinarian with the Government of Yukon’s Animal Health Unit in the Department of Environment. She became the Chief Veterinary Officer and director of the Animal Health Unit with the Government of Yukon in early 2025.
Dr. Harms has worked with government, academic, and other partners to better understand the role and impact of diseases on wildlife in northern Canada. Her contribution to understanding wildlife health and disease in northern Canada includes work on avian diseases including avian cholera and avian influenza, rabies, Trichinella, winter ticks and other parasites of wildlife, respiratory Mycoplasmas, wood bison health and wildlife capture.
As CVO, Dr. Harms and her team bring a strong One Health focus to a wide range of projects and programs including wildlife health surveillance, livestock health and meat inspection, wildlife and domestic animal welfare, contaminants in wildlife, developing response plans to emerging diseases, addressing veterinary needs in remote and underserved northern communities, and overseeing the implementation of animal health and welfare and control legislation in the Yukon.