Current Projects
current projects are summarised below. If you are interested in collaborating, please feel welcome to contact me!
Comparative Game Psychology
Location/collaborators: University of Bristol Species: Non/human primates, ratite birds More details: How we (and other animals) feel when we play games and puzzles. Bioacoustics and affect Location/collaborators: Anglia Ruskin University , Durrell (Jersey) Species: Callitrichids, great apes More details: I helped to establish a new programme of research on zoo primate acoustics. We are interested in how primates perceive, discriminate and respond to sound, and I am particularly interested in welfare impacts. Curiosity across intelligences Location/collaborators: Diverse Intelligences Institute/Templeton World Charity Foundation Species: Humans, animals, artificial intelligence More details: This project (2021-) explores how curiosity is defined, measured and induced across diverse intelligences. Why is the study of curiosity in nonhuman animals stifled? What methodologies from human curiosity might we apply to animals, or vice versa? What features of human and animal curiosity might be developed in artificial systems? Great Ape Game Lab (previously Gorilla Game Lab) Location/collaborators: University of Bristol (previous: Bristol Zoo Gardens) Species: All species of great ape More details: Great Ape Game Lab uses novel technology to explore the cognition and welfare of great apes living in zoos and sanctuaries. The original seed-funded project 'Gorilla Game Lab' was a collaboration between Bristol Zoological Society and the University of Bristol (www.gorillagamelab.com). The re-branded and expanded project will now consider further applications of AI and remote sensing technologies to the health of great apes worldwide. Endangered Brain/Lemur Bootcamp Location/collaborators: Lemur Conservation Foundation (previous: Bristol Zoo Gardens, Wild Place Project). Eckerd College Florida, University of Bristol, Hunter College New York, San Diego Institute for Conservation Research Species: Cross taxa comparisons, experiments on Lemuridae lemurs More details: 'Endangered Brain' is a collection of projects which link cognition and conservation in threatened species. The Lemur Bootcamp project sits within the Endangered Brain theme, and is an established longitudinal project (2017-) which currently runs at the Lemur Conservation Foundation. Lemur Bootcamp investigates the foraging and spatial cognition on lemurs living in a wide range of habitats. We do this by making naturalistic observations of spatial navigation (for example tracking lemurs through forest habitat) and testing their cognitive skills with a novel task apparatus (see image left). The overarching aim of Lemur Bootcamp is to assess whether lemurs living in human care would have the necessary skills to be reintroduced into the wild. The project subscribes to the 'STRANGE' framework (Webster & Rutz, 2020), declaring rather than concealing individual differences in behaviour and cognition. Cetacean welfare, cognition & communication Location/collaborators: Six Flags Discovery Kingdom, University of Bristol Species: Bottlenose dolphins More details: I am interested in how dolphins solve problems. They are highly collaborative, and therefore the cognitive problems I have designed to date allow social use. Before this, I was involved in research on dolphin language. I am currently interested in studying visual signals of success; i.e. how does a dolphin respond immediately in the "Eureka moment" of solving a problem? I have advised many zoos holding cetaceans on how to produce 'cognitive enrichment' for dolphins, and am very keen to support research focused on enhanced welfare standards and welfare assessment. Fluctuation analyses of swimming patterns Location/collaborators: Various Species: South American fur seals, bottlenose dolphins More details: I have been undertaking research in collaboration with University of Bristol and University of the West of England students, to apply detrended fluctuation analysis (DFA) techniques to the swimming behaviour of marine mammals. Cognitive enrichment for various zoo animals Location: Zoos worldwide Species: Primates, cetaceans, birds Funding: Usually individual student project allocations More details: Since I completed my PhD in 2013, I have continued to have a strong focus on cognitive enrichment for captive animals and enjoy supervising student projects in this area. |