The ‘Tea Break’ category are for fun, giving you a glimpse of what it’s like working in animal welfare science.
The last couple of posts have been pretty heavy and I love how much you guys have engaged with them. The discussion has been fabulous and really gratifying. But this week I want to change gears a little and do something lighthearted. As you know I’m a bit of a Read more…
As a researcher with an interest in personality, I have been accused of anthropomorphising animals in the past. I argue that personality is an outcome of predictable behaviour patterns and statistical distributions. To me this is a perfectly formed argument that has emerged from years of PhD work, but PhDs Read more…
Wednesday was the International Society for Applied Ethology‘s UK regional conference. We tend to do these every other year and it was my second regional conference. I absolutely love this society. It’s incredibly friendly and supportive. In fact the worst questions at this conference were asked by me, as one Read more…
The Sochi Winter Olympics have been troubling me for some time now. They begin on the 7th February and continue through to the 23rd of February. I haven’t decided if I will watch them or not. I usually very much enjoy the Winter Olympics (figure skating and the ski jump Read more…
Every so often, usually late at night or early in the morning, when I’m on a farm and I’m cold and miserable, I wonder why we care about animal welfare. After all, they’re not human. Why do we worry about their lives? Why do we want them to have the Read more…
Earlier this year I entered FameLab 2014, a competition where scientists speak for about 3 minutes on a topic of their choice. The scientists have to be engaging, to speak in an understandable manner, and most importantly – they have to teach their listeners something about science. I entered the Read more…
