Rachel attained her DVM from Washington State University. She moved to Davis, CA in 1997 to complete the 4-year residency in Diagnostic Imaging at the University of California, Davis. She then completed a Ph.D. in Comparative Pathology and began as an Assistant Professor of Diagnostic Imaging at UC Davis in April 2005. Between 2005-2021, Dr. Pollard advanced to Associate and then Full Professor of Diagnostic Imaging and spent 5 years as the vice-chair for the Department of Surgical and Radiological Sciences. Dr. Pollard has been voted ‘favourite teacher’ at the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine several times during her 15 years of teaching. Dr. Pollard has served as a member of the American College of Veterinary Radiology (ACVR) exam committee and as the ACVR president. Dr. Pollard is now a Professor Emerita having recently retired from UC Davis and is now a radiologist working with Southern Veterinary Imaging in Nelson, New Zealand. She has a clinical interest in small animal ultrasound and dynamic imaging techniques such as contrast fluoroscopy for the diagnosis of swallowing disorders. During her free time, Rachel enjoys spending time with her husband Kal, two children (Ty and Hunter) and two (poorly behaved) dogs, Zeus and Venus.