Chapter 13: Connections: Bonds with Animals and with Collaborators who Insured a Good Career
Files
Description
Dr. Satterfield begins this Chapter by looking back on the collaborators he has worked with over the years. He says he hopes that the Center will continue to support research and collaborative relationships. He also hopes that the Center will maintain a viable chimpanzee community. He says he is happy not to have any particular post-retirement plans. (He retires at the end of August 2012.) Thinking about people who have inspired him, he recalls a high school biology teacher, Mrs. Lowry, whose class was “great” and guided him to science. At the close of the interview, he speaks again about his connection to the animals he has worked with over his entire career. He returns to the shooting of the chimpanzee, Tony, and notes that the Center requested the services of an MD Anderson grief counselor to help them survive the loss –another example of the human-animal bond.
Identifier
SatterfieldWC_02_20120725_C13
Publication Date
7-25-2012
City
Houston, Texas
Interview Session
William C. Satterfield, DVM, Oral History Interview, July 25, 2012
Topics Covered
The Interview Subject's Story - A View on Career and AccomplishmentsPersonal Background Career and Accomplishments Faith, Values, Beliefs Collaborations
Transcript
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:
What are the things that really stand out in your mind that give you a sense of satisfaction as you look back?
William C. Satterfield, DVM:
As I look back, I don't know—there's a whole body of work, and when I go over it and I look at all of the files that I have, the studies that I've done with different people, I think working with all of the collaborators that I've been able to work with, that has probably been the greatest satisfaction. We've had a good time doing their studies. We've been able to accomplish some things. We've been able to help—I feel like it made some contributions to cancer medicine, and I made a career.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:
What do you hope will be carried on—things that you feel you've instituted that you hope will be carried on by other people who join Keeling?
William C. Satterfield, DVM:
My hope is that we'll continue to do our research here, and my hope is that the faculty here will continue to develop collaborative relationships with Anderson physicians and scientists and that we'll continue with the program. That would be my hope. We'll see what they do, you know? My hope would be that we will have a viable chimpanzee colony at some point. We'll see what happens with that.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:
What do you plan to do after you retire?
William C. Satterfield, DVM:
My plans after retirement are not set in stone.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:
Yeah. Is that a good thing?
William C. Satterfield, DVM:
I think that's a good thing. I'll make it up as I go. I'm open to opportunities.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:
Was there anything in particular that inspired you, as you look back—? I mean, with your focus on collaboration and your desire to do basic research, was there something that inspired you in that direction?
William C. Satterfield, DVM:
Yes, actually, I had a biology teacher in high school that was—we had a really good class. In fact, it was so good that she had a second year of Advanced Biology, and I took that as well, and that really—it really inspired me to have an interest in science.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:
I don't know why—I asked this question of many of the people I talk to—
William C. Satterfield, DVM:
Her name was Mrs. Lowry, by the way.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:
Mrs. Lowry.
William C. Satterfield, DVM:
Mrs. Lowry.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:
I should've known you would remember someone who was that important. That's cool. I'm wondering if you have any kind of—you know—if religion or spirituality is important to you and if you feel that there's a dimension of spirituality in your connection with these animals that you work with.
William C. Satterfield, DVM:
Absolutely.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:
How so? Tell me what that's about.
William C. Satterfield, DVM:
Well, I don't know about spirituality, but there is a connection and it is—I don't know. You know, we talk in veterinary medicine about the human-animal bond and all of our care staff regardless—and I talk to them and they have a personal connection with all of their animals that they take care of, and they have little pet names for them. The animals—one of the guys in the back talked about this macaque that he had a name for it—called Trooper. And he said Trooper would put his little hand out and want to hold Matt's finger or stuff like that. And the chimpanzees, they know them, and some of the animals, basically they communicate with the care staff. They talk to them, and they have relationships with them. I don't see them except as when they need medical care or when we have to do a procedure with them. I don't have the same relationship with them. They see me, and they're not pretty happy. They're not very happy about that because—you know—it's like when you're a kid and you go to the pediatrician. That's not your best friend. You're going to get a shot. You don't like that, and that's kind of the way they feel about me.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:
But you feel the connection to them, though.
William C. Satterfield, DVM:
Oh, yeah. I mean, I know a lot of their quirks and a lot of their habits, and like I was mentioning to you yesterday, it's a personal loss when we lose one, for whatever reason. And it's usually some kind of natural cause. They're dying of old age, and it's hard. And I have to put some to sleep. It's hard. You know, it affects me. We requested the services of the grief counseling in from Houston after this animal was shot, and we had that guy come up here several times. That really upset a lot of our staff. They didn't know how to deal with that. And that's good. I mean, they care about these guys. That's the level of care that's given. They help us, and we care for them. It's a two-way deal.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:
Is there anything else that you feel I haven't asked that I should have or that you would like to say at this point? Anything you'd like to add?
William C. Satterfield, DVM:
I just want to say—and this is something that I've said before—I'm really not any different from any of the other scientists that came here to work on cancer. I just do it on a daily basis, and it's probably not as visible as other people, but that's what we do.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:
Well, I want to thank you very much for—
William C. Satterfield, DVM:
You're quite welcome.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:
—talking with me this morning. It's really interesting.
William C. Satterfield, DVM:
We can go take a tour.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:
Sounds great. I'm turning off the recorder at 10:37. ( End of Audio Session 2)
Recommended Citation
Satterfield, William C. DVM and Rosolowski, Tacey A. PhD, "Chapter 13: Connections: Bonds with Animals and with Collaborators who Insured a Good Career" (2012). Interview Chapters. 1515.
https://openworks.mdanderson.org/mchv_interviewchapters/1515
Conditions Governing Access
Open
