About me, and the Comparative Challenge Lab
I am a UK-based academic interested in the comparative mental processes and mental health of animals. I look for connections between animal cognition, behaviour, environment and affective state. I have interdisciplinary training in zoology, biological anthropology and psychology.
Key research questions
At the University of Bristol, work in the Comparative Challenge Lab can best be described as experimental psychology with a comparative emphasis; we develop cognitive task apparatuses to test cognitive skills, and/or provide 'enrichment' to impaired environments. There is also a human twist; even though I specialise in the study of nonhuman animals I draw heavily from human studies of learning, motivation and response to challenge. Research takes place on wild animals in their natural habitats, and housed in zoos (including traditional zoos, aquariums, safari parks and sanctuaries) or research centres. To date, I have focussed on 'High EQ' taxa, such as primates and cetaceans due to my background in dolphin cognition and biological anthropology.
Current roles
Previous roles
Current research projects
I am a UK-based academic interested in the comparative mental processes and mental health of animals. I look for connections between animal cognition, behaviour, environment and affective state. I have interdisciplinary training in zoology, biological anthropology and psychology.
Key research questions
- How do environmental challenges affect the way animals feel and behave?
- What are the parallels between human and animal mental health, particularly 'game psychology' (play, challenge)?
- How can we experimentally challenge animals in order to develop cognitive skills?
- As our world rapidly changes (climate change, habitat loss, emerging infectious disease...) how will our wildlife adapt to these changes, and how can we feed cognition into conservation?
At the University of Bristol, work in the Comparative Challenge Lab can best be described as experimental psychology with a comparative emphasis; we develop cognitive task apparatuses to test cognitive skills, and/or provide 'enrichment' to impaired environments. There is also a human twist; even though I specialise in the study of nonhuman animals I draw heavily from human studies of learning, motivation and response to challenge. Research takes place on wild animals in their natural habitats, and housed in zoos (including traditional zoos, aquariums, safari parks and sanctuaries) or research centres. To date, I have focussed on 'High EQ' taxa, such as primates and cetaceans due to my background in dolphin cognition and biological anthropology.
Current roles
- Lecturer, University of Bristol (2022-)
- Assistant Director, ManyZoos project
Previous roles
- Research Fellow (primate welfare and bioacoustics), Anglia Ruskin University (2021-2022)
- Visiting Research Associate, School of Psychological Science, University of Bristol (2018-2022)
- Diverse Intelligences Fellow (2021) funded by the Templeton World Charity Foundation
- Lecturer, Bristol Zoological Society (2013-2021)
Current research projects
- Positive psychology ('happiness') in nonhuman animals
- Game psychology
- Environmental challenge
- Cognitive enrichment
- Application of human mental health concepts to animals, and vice versa
- Validation of novel animal welfare indicators
- Behavioural informatics and analytics (technological/statistical approaches to analysing behavioural patterns)
- Great ape and cetacean cognition
- Primate behaviour and conservation
- Remote logging of behaviour and cognition; new applications of computer technology
- Bioacoustics