Dr. Mertz has been treating exotic and wildlife species for over 30 years.  He is the director of medicine and programs at New England Wildlife Centers and founder of Odd Pet Vet. As the primary veterinary provider for the Center since 1990 Greg has treated or presided over the care of 100,000 wild animals. He is also the lead veterinarian for the Museum of Science Boston, Massachusetts Audubon’s Drumlin Farm, and Cape Wildlife Center.

As Chief Executive Officer of the Center he is responsible primarily for its operational, medical and educational programs. He is an integral part of the fund-raising team of the Center.  He serves as the Odd Pet Vet, the New England Wildlife Center’s  fee-for-service commercial veterinary practice, originally founded by Greg in 1995.  100% of funds earned help fund the work of the Center.  He treats about 100 species of animals from chickens, pigeons, parrots, degus, rabbits, guinea pigs, rats, mice, hamsters, all manner of snakes, lizards, and turtles, and invertebrates like hermit crabs, cockroaches, tarantulas, millipedes, and scorpions.

The Odd Pet Vet has been featured in Discover Magazine, the Boston Globe Magazine, the Patriot Ledger, the Boston Globe, and the Today Show.  Greg was designated the “Best of Boston 2004” for exotic pet medicine by Boston Magazine.  He currently writes a monthly column for the Pet Gazette as “The Cold Blooded Vet,” and the author of two e-novels “A Field Guide to Wildflowers,” and “(R)evolution”  He is the author of a variety of popular and technical articles about natural history and animal care.

Greg produced and hosted over 150 episodes of New England’s Wild Legacy, a cable access television program that incorporated the talents and energies of elementary, middle, high school, and undergraduate students in featuring the biology of local and regional wildlife.  Greg has also taught over ¼ million students in live presentations about biology, geology and veterinary medicine.  He has been on the teaching staff of Mt. Ida College, Dowling College, The National Museum of Natural History at the Smithsonian, and the Tufts-Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine.  He designed and wrote the curricula for the Sevens and As Clear As Mud educational programs that are presented by the Center and used by many of the Boston and surrounding communities’ elementary and middle schools.

Contact: oddpetvet@gmail.com