The Richard Reiff Award for Campus Internationalization, given annually by the Office of Global Engagement, recognizes full-time faculty members who have made exceptional contributions to global education at the University of Georgia.
Sonia Hernandez is the 2025 recipient of the Richard Reiff Award for Campus Internationalization. (Photo by Andrew Davis Tucker/UGA)
Sonia Hernandez
Josiah Meigs Distinguished Professor
Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources
Department of Population Health
College of Veterinary Medicine
Sonia Hernandez understands why global educational opportunities are so important.
“My discipline — the intersection of One Health and conservation — requires a global perspective,” she said. “I want the same for my students — experiences abroad that allow them to grow personally, develop problem-solving skills with unexpected situations and gain an understanding of the nuances of conservation and One Health.”
To help her students broaden their perspectives, she encourages them to develop cultural awareness, instills strong ethical guidelines for conducting research and work abroad that emphasizes collaboration with local communities and professionals, and fosters environments where they can practice key soft skills like teamwork and adaptability.
Hernandez is a trained wildlife veterinarian and has a joint appointment in the College of Veterinary Medicine’s population health department. She developed a class in conservation medicine and biology — the first and only regularly offered course of its kind in the country. This monthlong study abroad course allows interdisciplinary collaboration among undergraduate, graduate and veterinary students and is heavily based on experiential learning with daily lectures to support the activities.
Additionally, Hernandez works with the Odum School of Ecology on some of its international programs, like the Tropical Ecology Maymester and a field ornithology course that is part of the school’s Tropical Ecology Fall Semester Abroad Program.
“Dr. Hernandez fosters curiosity, critical thinking, creativity and initiative in her students by challenging us to engage with real-world problems and empowering us to develop holistic solutions,” one former student wrote.
In 2021, Hernandez represented UGA at the University of Complutense (UCM) in Madrid, Spain, as a Fulbright Scholar where she taught several lectures for both graduate and undergraduate students in zoology. As a result, she created opportunities for UGA students to study in Spain and for UCM students to study at the University of Georgia.
“This integration of scholarship and teaching clearly inspires students and challenges them to achieve new heights that they may never have envisioned before interacting with Dr. Hernandez,” one colleague wrote.
