I am extremely honored that the governor appointed me, and I am going to work as hard as I can to justify his confidence in me. I'm excited and looking forward to it. I know it won't be a cakewalk, but I'm anxious to get at it.

To me, Herb has been like the heart and soul of the board. He is a one-of-a-kind.

I have an understanding about disease and the relationship to birds and animals. I won't know near as much as staff veterinarians and researchers, but I will be able to understand what they are talking about and hope to help integrate that into what we are doing.

He is really nice, and now when I propose something he'll say, 'You don't really want to do that,' and I very much appreciate that he will tell me that because sometimes I just need to leave things alone.