Tyler (T.J.) Kasperbauer gained his PhD in Philosophy from Texas A&M University where he wrote a dissertation on moral psychology and animal ethics.
He is currently completing post-doctoral research at the University of Copenhagen, working with the well-known Peter Sandøe.
T.J.’s main areas of research are applied animal and environmental ethics, moral psychology, and philosophy of psychology.
In this episode, we explore his interesting research into the area of disgusting animals and their traits, why they disgust us, why they should, and what it means for people’s relationships with them.
What evolutionary and developmental processes are involved in creating physical variation?
Is selection responsible for moulding the diversity of life?
Or does developmental bias via drive and constraint determine how animal shapes change?
Abby Drake is interested in the processes that produce macroevolution and dictate which physical appearances, evolve and which do not.
She is especially interested in learning how species evolve: What mechanisms produce enough physical or behavioural change to ensure reproductive isolation on the population level?
To this end, she studies developmental processes that lead to large modifications of morphology, using variation in vertebrate skulls to answer these questions.
Abby uses three-dimensional scan data to capture each specimen’s 3D geometry.
This type of data allows her team to look at the shape of the skull holistically using a sophisticated shape analysis called geometric morphometrics.
While she also works on cetaceans, owls and primates, this episode focuses on her extensive work examining canids: when did wolves become dogs, how have we shaped them, and where might they go in the future?
Podcast
Images
Dog vs wolf skull shapes
Video
A thin-plate spline warping of a wolf skull into a French Bulldog. Data are from Drake, A.G. and Klingenberg C.P. 2010.
Dog walking benefits with Dr Carri Westgarth Dr Hayley Christian
Did you know scientists are studying the ways that you walk your dog?
What motivates you, how long you exercise for, what features (like footpaths and dog parks) promote human activity – all these questions and more, are being studied by researchers, Hayley Christian and Carri Westgarth.
Hayley’s background in human health teamed with Carri’s expertise in canine behaviour and welfare have created a research team exploring the human, dog and environmental factors that best promote active and healthy communities.
Does your pet have a glass half full, or glass half empty take on life?
It’s a recent discovery that many animals can be optimistic or pessimistic based on their experiences.
Dr. Melissa Starling holds a Bachelor of Science in Zoology and recently gained her PhD from the Faculty of Veterinary Science at the University of Sydney with a topic that covered elements of dog behaviour, personality, emotions and cognition.
She has long had a passion for animal behaviour and animal training that has intensified as she learns more.
In this episode, we talk to Mel about her PhD research investigating optimism and pessimism – or cognitive bias – in dogs.
“Do goats have emotions?” is something rarely searched for on Google, but if you think about it, it’s a very good question.
The answer is yes, goats do have emotions.
Believe it or not, they also have social networks, puzzle solving skills, and impressive long term memories?
We’re not even kidding! Alan McElligott is based at the School of Biological and Chemical Sciences at the Queen Mary University of London, where he and his team research cattle, fallow deer, and goats.
In this episode, we talk about their recent work, and how it contributes to improved understanding of animal behaviour and behavioural ecology, raising important considerations for animal husbandry and welfare of goats in companion animal, livestock and pest contexts.
Briefer, E. F., de la Torre, M. P., & McElligott, A. G. (2012). Mother goats do not forget their kids’ calls. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2012.0986.
Barbara Natterson-Horowitz Zoobiquity connecting the health of humans and animals
Have we forgotten that people are animals too?
Barbara Natterson-Horowitz is a Professor of Medicine in the Division of Cardiology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA in the United States.
Barbara Natterson-Horowitz
In addition to patient care, she is actively involved with medical education and research.
Kathryn Bowers is a Fellow at the New America Foundation in Washington, D.C and an experienced journalist, editor, writer, producer and teacher of writing at UCLA.
In this episode we talk about how they entered this field of one health, and what they researched to connect the physical and mental health of humans and animals.
When someone turns a fun hobby into a game changing tool for good, it’s inspirational!
That’s exactly what Lian Pin Koh has achieved in bringing affordable drone technology to aid conservation scientists.
A tropical ecologist by training, Associate Professor Lian Pin Koh received his PhD from Princeton University, where he studied the environmental and policy implications of oil-palm development in Southeast Asia.
He then spent several years researching key scientific and policy issues concerning tropical deforestation and its impacts on carbon emissions and biodiversity while based in Zurich.
Lian Pin currently leads the Applied Ecology & Conservation group at The University of Adelaide in South Australia, where they ultimately seek to do good for society.
In this episode, we speak with Lian Pin and learn about his exciting work using drones in conservation.
Imagine deciphering the first form of intentional communication to be recorded in the animal kingdom, such as how chimpanzees communicate.
That’s exactly what Dr. Catherine Hobaiter has done after years of following wild chimpanzees in the Budongo Forest of Uganda, Africa.
She studies the evolution, acquisition and flexibility of communication and social behaviour, in particular through long-term field studies of wild chimpanzees.
For the past seven years, Cat has been working as a primatologist at a forest research-station in Uganda to better understand chimpanzee communication and behavior.
She hopes to to advance our understanding of great ape communication, and in addition, by looking at areas of overlap or species specific traits, she hopes to also gain an understanding of the evolutionary origins of language.
In this episode, we learn from Cat about her exciting observations of a communication system where animals don’t just share information through behaviour, but deliberately send messages of meaning to each other.
Listen in, and you’ll find out exactly how how chimpanzees communicate.
Podcast
How chimpanzees communicate
How chimpanzees communicate
Publications
Dr. Catherine Hobaiter – Studying how chimpanzees communicate
Are jockeys using whips to steer and stay safe, or are they simply whipping tired horses?
These are questions that prompted Professor Paul McGreevy of the University of Sydney to research the use of whips in horse racing.
Paul is recognised by the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons as a specialist in Veterinary Behavioural Medicine.
His research focuses on the behaviour and welfare of horses and dogs, and he is the author of six books and over 120 peer-reviewed articles on animal behaviour.
Paul’s award-winning research examining the use of whips in horse racing aims to further our awareness of the experience of horses, extending to a recent experiment capturing the thermographic effects of his own leg being hit with a padded whip.
As the Spring horse racing carnival hits its peak in Melbourne, Australia this week, we asked Paul to discuss his findings and what it means for horses, beyond the glamour and excitement of race day.
Podcast
Publications
Paul McGreevy – Why are whips used in horse racing?
Here’s a fact: bees are responsible for the successful production of around a third of the food you eat.
As one of our oldest domesticated animals, bees and people share an amazing history.
But the future is uncertain, with devastating global declines in both feral and managed populations.
Boris Baer and Barbara Baer-Imhoof, in conjunction with their colleagues at the Centre for Integrative Bee Research at the University of Western Australia, are researching many aspects of honey bees, in the field and in the lab.
In our first episode featuring an invertebrate species, we learn more about our relationship with bees, what would happen if they vanish and ways we can help them thrive.
Podcast
Video – More Than Honey Trailer
Bees! More than Honey trailer
Publications
Boris Baer & Barbara Baer-Imhoof – The importance of bees. Photo: Andrew Ritchie
Stuerup, M., Baer-Imhoof, B., Nash, D. R., Boomsma, J. J. & Baer, B. When every sperm counts: factors affecting male fertility in the honeybee Apis mellifera, . Behav. Ecol. 24(5): 1192-1198. View online at Behavioral Ecology.
