BATON ROUGE - A veterinarian from the LSU AgCenter was chosen as Louisiana's 2023 Veterinarian of the Year. 

Read the press release from the LSU AgCenter below:

Dr.Christine Navarre, the extension veterinarian for the LSU AgCenter, was named veterinarian of the year at the annual meeting of the Louisiana Veterinary Medical Association in mid-February.

The organization’s members selected Navarre for the Ralph C. Cooper Veterinarian of the Year Award, an honor given to the veterinarian who regularly gives “the most of themselves in time, energy and ideas to the veterinary profession in the state of Louisiana,” according to the LVMA awards criteria.

Navarre said winning the award was “amazing.”

“I've had so many people that have mentored me and supported me,” she said. “My parents gave me a love of agriculture. My husband has been behind me. I couldn't do all the things and travel and all the extra stuff that I volunteer for without his support.”

An alumna of the LSU School of Veterinary Medicine, Navarre worked in northeast Texas and then earned a master’s degree at Texas A&M University before spending 11 years as an instructor and researcher at Auburn University.

Navarre became the AgCenter extension veterinarian in 2005, a job that she knew would suit her. Educating and assisting people through extension was second nature to Navarre. She had grown up watching her father, Jim Beatty, who was the state dairy specialist for the AgCenter, serve Louisianians.

“I got to see his passion for helping people,” she said. “That's how I wanted to spend the second part of my career.”

As the extension veterinarian, Navarre is the livestock health specialist for the AgCenter. She writes numerous publications about animal health and travels the state visiting veterinarians and agricultural producers. She also collaborates on research with colleagues at the LSU School of Veterinary Medicine and serves as a guest lecturer for various classes.

“When I took this position, I had to really learn how to be a communicator for producers because I'd spent my time talking to veterinarians and writing research papers, which is a different level than writing fact sheets for a broader audience,” she said. “I've really enjoyed it.”

While Navarre spends many hours with producers raising cattle and horses, which are the largest animal industries in Louisiana, she also works with an array of other animals — sheep, goats, rabbits and even crawfish.

“There’s never a dull moment,” she said. “You never know what you're going to come across.”