About me

I was born in R.A.F. Akrotiri, Sovereign Base Area, which is a British Overseas Territory on the island of Cyprus. I was, however, raised in the predominantly rural county of Suffolk in the United Kingdom. Historically an important agricultural area, Suffolk has given the world the Suffolk Punch horse, the Red Poll cattle and the Suffolk sheep. Most of my early animal experiences however, were with pigs and chickens on my grandparents' small-holding.

On leaving high school, I attended the University of Bristol, originally studying veterinary science but instead graduating in 1990 with a B.Sc. (Hons) in Biochemistry. I then moved to the University of Cambridge, where I completed my Ph.D. in sow welfare in Prof. Don Broom's Animal Welfare and Human-Animal Interactions Group in 1994. I then stayed on at Cambridge as a Post-Doctoral Research Associate, working on a DEFRA-funded project investigating alternative housing systems for farrowing sows, in conjunction with ADAS Terrington, who at that time were still an executive agency of DEFRA. During the course of this project in 1996, I was awarded a Winston Churchill Memorial Trust Travelling Fellowship, which enabled me to visit 14 research institutes and universities across north central Europe that were engaged in research on farrowing systems.

In 1998, I moved to a faculty position as Senior Research Fellow with De Montfort University School of Agriculture, based at Caythorpe in Lincolnshire. During the summer of 1999, I spent 2 months at the University of British Columbia as a Distinguished Junior Scholar at the Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies, which also enabled me to work with the Animal Welfare Program. In early 2001, I was also a Visiting Scholar in the Department of Animal Sciences at Purdue University. After transfer of the DMU School of Agriculture to the Department of Biological Sciences, University of Lincoln in late 2001, I accepted a position as Research Animal Scientist with the USDA-ARS, Livestock Behavior Research Unit and this remains my current job.  

I have researched welfare and behavior of pigs and dairy cattle for 31 years. My major research interests include social and maternal behavior of sows, the manipulation of pig behavior by diet and pig and systems factors influencing piglet mortality. I also have a major interest in the development of novel indicators of animal welfare, and actively engage in inter-disciplinary studies allied to the concept of One Health/One Welfare, collaborating with kinesiology and pharmacology researchers.  I am the author/editor of 4 books and author/co-author of 250 refereed articles and abstracts on farm animal welfare and my research has attracted over $10 million. I am a former Specialty Chief Editor for Frontiers in Veterinary Science and also a Past President of the International Society for Applied Ethology.

Aequitate , humilis , integritate , humanitate commune

Education

2016                F.R.S.B. Elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology
2016                R.Anim.Sci. Appointed as Certified Animal Scientist, accredited by British Society of Animal Science/Royal Society of Biology
2004                Certificate of Applied Management Principles, Krannert School of Management, Purdue University
1994                M.I.Biol. Full member of the Institute of Biology (now Royal Society of Biology)
1994                C.Biol. Chartered Biologist
1994                PhD University of Cambridge, St. Catharine’s College. Farm Animal Behavior & Welfare. 
1990                BSc (Hons) University of Bristol, Biochemistry, Upper Second Class

Professional Appointments

2015-                   Research Animal Scientist (GS14), USDA-ARS
2006-2015       Research Animal Scientist (GS13), USDA-ARS
2004-2006       Research Animal Scientist (GS12), USDA-ARS
2001-2004       Research Animal Scientist (GS11), USDA-ARS
2001-2001       Senior Research Fellow, University of Lincoln, UK
2000                     Visiting Scientist, Danish Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Denmark
1999                     Visiting Scientist, University of British Columbia, Canada
1998-2001       Senior Research Fellow, De Montfort University, UK
1994-1998       Research Associate, University of Cambridge, UK

Academic Distinctions/Honors

  • Research Scholarship, Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries & Food, 1990-1993
  • Winston Churchill Memorial Trust, Traveling Fellowship, 1996.
  • PWIAS, University of British Columbia, Distinguished Junior Scholar in Residence, 1999
  • United States Department of Agriculture, Certificate of Merit, 2002
  • United States Department of Agriculture, Certificate of Merit, 2003
  • United States Department of Agriculture, Certificate of Merit, 2004
  • United States Department of Agriculture, Certificate of Merit, 2005
  • Who’s Who in Science & Engineering, 2005 onwards
  • Who’s Who in the World, 2006 onwards
  • United States Department of Agriculture, 2 Certificates of Merit, 2006
  • United States Department of Agriculture, Certificate of Merit, 2008
  • United States Department of Agriculture, Spot Award, 2009
  • United States Department of Agriculture, Certificate of Merit, 2009
  • United States Department of Agriculture, Certificate of Merit, 2010
  • United States Department of Agriculture, Certificate of Merit, 2011
  • United States Department of Agriculture, Certificate of Merit, 2012
  • United States Department of Agriculture, Certificate of Merit, 2013
  • United States Department of Agriculture, Certificate of Merit, 2014
  • United States Department of Agriculture, Certificate of Merit, 2016

Recent Grant Funding

1. Agency/ Title of Grant: Open Philanthropy Project/ Bringing the science of farm animal welfare to developing countries
2. Duration of Funding: 04/01/2018 to 03/31/2020
3. Total amount of award: $135,412
4. Role: PI with ISAE Development Sub-Committee
91. Agency/ Title of Grant: National Pork Board / Mitigating the negative effects of in utero heat stress on piglet welfare following weaning and transport
2. Duration of Funding: 04/01/2018 to 09/30/2019
3. Total amount of award: $50,253
4. Role: Co-PI with J. Johnson, B. Richert, T. Safranski, M. Lucy, C. Byrd
1. Agency/ Title of Grant: Open Philanthropy Project/ Travel awards for scientists from developing countries to attend ISAE Congress
2. Duration of Funding: 04/01/2017 to 08/31/2017
3. Total amount of award: $40,000
4. Role: PI with ISAE Development Sub-Committee
1. Agency/ Title of Grant: VA Office of Research and Development SPiRE/ Development of a clinically-relevant spinal cord injury (SCI)-induced pain model
2. Duration of Funding: 04/01/2016 to 03/31/2017
3. Total amount of award: $200,000
4. Role: Collaborator with C. Floyd, R. Sorge, University of Alabama, Birmingham
1. Agency/ Title of Grant: Purdue AgSEED / Development and evaluation of cooling pads to improve sow productivity, reproductive performance and animal well-being
2. Duration of Funding: 03/01/2015 to 04/3/2017
3. Total amount of award: $ 75,000
4. Role: CoPI with A. Schinckel, R. Stwalley, S. Boregowda, E. Winslow, K. Stewart, K. Ajuwon, B. Richert, J. Johnson
1. Agency/ Title of Grant:  ANIHWA-ERA-Net / Ending tail docking and tail biting in the EU – Hazard characterization and exposure assessment of a major pig welfare problem
2. Duration of Funding: 10/01/2013 to 09/30/2016
3. Total amount of award: $ 3,481,171
4. Role: Collaborator with A. Valros, L.J. Pedersen, A. Janczak, M. Bracke, S. Edwards, A. Prunier, S. Gunnarsson, D. Sandercock
1. Agency/ Title of Grant: National Pork Board / Designer diets to decrease aggression and increase welfare
2. Duration of Funding: 12/01/2012 to 09/30/2015
3. Total amount of award: $ 147,273
4. Role:Co-PI with D. Lay, B. Richert
1. Agency/ Title of Grant:Purdue OVPR Research Cores Supplemental Funding Program / Culex devices for Purdue Translational Pharmacology Facility
2. Duration of Funding: 01/01/2014 to 12/31/2014
3. Total amount of award: $ 68,540
4. Role:Collaborator with G. Knipp, R. Kuhn, D. Smith, S. Byrn, C. Kissinger, L. Freeman, H. HogenEsch, R. Pinal
1. Agency/ Title of Grant: Global Animal Partnership / Evaluation of tear-staining as an indicator of stress in the welfare assessment of pigs
2. Duration of Funding:  03/01/2012 to 08/31/2012
3. Total amount of award: $ 4,904
4. Role:PI
1. Agency/ Title of Grant: National Pork Board / Innovative scientific techniques to evaluate alternatives to the use of carbon dioxide euthanasia procedures
2. Duration of Funding: 01/01/2011 to 12/31/2010
3. Total amount of award: $ 49,255
4. Role: Co-PI with D. Lay, J-L Rault
1. Agency/ Title of Grant: USDA-National Research Initiative / Heart rate variability: unravelling the sympatho-vagal mechanisms of stress responses and well-being status in pigs.
2. Duration of Funding: 01/01/2007 to 12/31/2010
3. Total amount of award: $ 375,000
4. Role: Co-PI with D. Lay, R. Marchant-Forde and H.W. Cheng
1. Agency/ Title of Grant: Animal Compassion Foundation / Understanding aggression when sows are mixed in indoor and outdoor housing systems
2. Duration of Funding: 09/01/2007 to 04/31/2010
3. Total amount of award: $ 35,000
4. Role: PI
1. Agency/ Title of Grant: National Pork Board / Understanding and reducing aggression using pre-exposure, when sows are mixed in a grouped gestation system
2. Duration of Funding: 04/01/2008 to 09/30/2010
3. Total amount of award: $ 75,952
4. Role: PI
1. Agency/ Title of Grant: National Institute of Health – SBIR Phase II / Movement-responsive cage for simultaneous pharmacology studies in minipigs
2. Duration of Funding: 09/01/2007 to 08/31/2009
3. Total amount of award: $ 1,235,777
4. Role: Co-PI with D. Mann, C. Kissinger, L. Matthews and G. Knipp

External Recognition

Editor for Scientific Journals:
  • Frontiers in Animal Welfare Science – Specialty Chief Editor, 2014-2021
  • Journal of Animal Science – Editorial Board, 2004-2006, 2006-2008, 2009-2011
  • Livestock Science – Section Editor, Animal Behaviour and Welfare, 2010-2014
 
Referee for Scientific Journals & other Media:
  • Acta Agriculturae Scandinavica
  • American Journal of Veterinary Research
  • Animal
  • Animal Behaviour
  • Animal Production Science
  • Animal Science
  • Animal Welfare
  • Applied Animal Behaviour Science
  • Australian Journal of Agricultural Science
  • Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture
  • Australian Veterinary Journal
  • Behavioral Processes
  • Biosystems Engineering
  • CABI International
  • Canadian Journal of Animal Science
  • Ciência Rural
  • Comparative Medicine
  • Developmental Psychobiology
  • Equine Veterinary Journal
  • Ethology
  • Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience
  • Frontiers in Molecular Neuroscience
  • Frontiers in Veterinary Science
  • Genes, Brain & Behavior
  • Innate Immunity
  • Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics
  • Journal of Animal Science
  • Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science
  • Journal of Dairy Science
  • Journal of Ethology
  • Journal of the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science
  • Journal of Veterinary Behavior: Clinical Applications and Research
  • Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine
  • Livestock Science
  • Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise
  • New Zealand Veterinary Journal
  • Physiology & Behavior
  • Pig News and Information
  • PLoS one
  • Preventive Veterinary Medicine
  • Professional Animal Scientist
  • Research in Veterinary Science
  • Revista Brasileira de Ciência Avicola
  • Transactions of the American Society for Agricultural and Biological Engineers
  • Veterinární Medicína
  • Veterinarski Arhiv
  • Veterinary Science
  • Blackwell Science Book Publishers
  • Pig Information Gateway
  • Animal Science Image Gallery  

Referee for Scientific Grants:
Canada
  • Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, multiple times
  • Agriculture & Food Council of Alberta, Canada
  • OMAFRA/University of Guelph Research Themes, multiple times
Denmark
  • Danish Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries
European Union
  • European Union Framework V, multiple times
  • EU Expert ID EX2012D128276
Ireland
  • Teagasc Internal Research Project scheme
The Netherlands
  • Dutch Research Council (NWO)
United Kingdom
  • Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, UK – Project Grants scheme, multiple times
  • Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, UK – Future Leader Fellowship scheme
  • Universities Federation for Animal Welfare, multiple times
United States
  • Animal Behavior Society Student research Grants
  • Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research – Accelerating Advances in Animal Welfare
  • Minnesota Agricultural Experimental Stations
  • National Pork Board, multiple times
  • Purdue Research Foundation, multiple times
  • Purdue University AgSEED scheme
  • USDA-NRI – Animal Well-Being
  • USDA-NRI – Managed Ecosystems
  • USDA-SBIR
  • USDA-CSREES National Needs Fellowships in Animal Well-Being
 
Referee for Scientific Meetings:
  • American Society of Animal Science
  • American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists
  • British Society of Animal Science
  • International Society for Anthrozoology
  • International Society for Applied Ethology – Annual Congress
  • International Society for Applied Ethology – NA Regional Meeting
  • International Conference on the Assessment of Animal Welfare at Farm and Group Level (WAFL)
 
Conference and Meeting Duties

Organizing Committee Chair
  • 45th International Congress of the ISAE, Indianapolis, USA, 2011

Program Committee member
  • British Society of Animal Science, 1999-2001
  • 41st International Congress of the ISAE, Merida, Mexico, 2007
  • 42nd International Congress of the ISAE, Dublin, Ireland, 2008
  • 45th International Congress of the ISAE, Indianapolis, USA, 2011
  • 54th International Congress of the ISAE, Bangalore, India, 2020
  • American Society of Animal Science, 2008-2010
  • 1st Pig Welfare Symposium, Des Moines, Iowa, 2017
  • 2nd Pig Welfare Symposium, Minneapolis, MN, 2019

Session Chair
  • 33rd International Congress of the ISAE, Lillehammer, Norway, 1999
  • ASAS Meeting, St. Louis, 2004
  • 39th International Congress of the ISAE, Japan, 2005
  • ASAS Meeting, Cincinnati, 2005
  • 41st International Congress of the ISAE, Merida, Mexico, 2007
  • ASAS Meeting, Montreal, 2009
  • ASAS Meeting, Denver, 2010
  • 47th International Congress of the ISAE, Florianopolis, Brazil, 2013
  • 49th International Congress of the ISAE, Sapporo, Japan, 2015
  • 51st International Congress of the ISAE, Aarhus, Denmark, 2017
  • 1st Pig Welfare Symposium, Des Moines, Iowa, 2017
  • 2nd Pig Welfare Symposium, Minneapolis, MN, 2019

Graduate Student Competition Judge
  • 41st International Congress of the ISAE, Merida, Mexico, 2007
  • North American Regional ISAE Meeting, Montreal, Canada, 2009
  • 46th International Congress of the ISAE, Vienna, Austria, 2012
  • Health and Disease: Science, Culture, and Policy Research Poster Session, Purdue University, 2014
  • 50th International Congress of the ISAE, Edinburgh, UK, 2016
  • North American Regional ISAE Meeting, Ames, Iowa, 2017

Media Coverage of Research