About

Welcome to izzyhirji.com! This site serves as Izzy’s creative outlet, a photography portfolio and blog to share images and ideas that have come to fruition over years of experience, travel, insight and reflection. It is hoped to function as a portal for people to get to know Izzy’s thoughts and works and as a contact point for collaboration and consultation.

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“Adventure Awaits Us All” is Izzy’s philosophy that life is meant to be lived, and to it’s full potential at that. With so much to experience in this world – such a diversity of people, cultures, environments and experiences – rather than live in complacency as time goes on, we must actively engage in experiences outside our comfort zone. By seeking out new adventures on a daily basis, by engaging in spontaneity and letting go of control, by letting life lead you to new destinations – spiritually and physically, we can fully embrace our lives on the beautiful and unique Planet Earth.

Izzy is a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine 2014 and holds an honours B.Sc. in Zoology. With a passion for primate conservation and medicine, he has worked with many apes, monkeys and other wildlife around the world – including Story Book Farm Primate Sanctuary, the Orangutan Health Project in Sumatra, the Limbe Wildlife Centre in Cameroon, the Guadalajara Zoo, and the Fauna Foundation.

Izzy has also worked as a Veterinary Research Technician at the Toronto Zoo and as an Animal Caregiver at The Donkey Sanctuary of Canada. For the past 7 years, he has been actively engaged with local and global organizations involving the environment, social justice, animal welfare, politics and faith. These include being a Jane Goodall Institute volunteer, a Roots & Shoots National Youth Leadership Council member, a United Nations Environment Program representative, and many more. He was also the program coordinator and Chairperson of Student Volunteer Connections and is a strong proponent of civil society.

He is extremely passionate about environmental conservation and One Health – integrating animal health, human health and environmental health. In his spare time, he is a photographer, an avid cyclist and loves to be immersed in nature.