Erin B. Ryan
PhD Student
Animals in Society
About
Currently, I am working with AgResearch New Zealand to investigate new ways of researching human-animal bonds in agricultural settings. I hope to use an approach that considers together the welfare of animals, the well-being of humans, and the health of the environment. I chose the Animal Welfare Program for its intersectional focus on animal health and well-being, ethics, and policy, all areas I believe to be important to improving the lives of animals.
I am from Vancouver, BC. Throughout my education I have worked on various projects that have focused on the welfare of animals, using animal behaviour measures (e.g., improving the lives of captive Western lowland gorillas at Smithsonian National Zoo and understanding play behaviour in dairy calves at the UBC farm), while other projects have focused on public attitudes to inform the development of policy affecting animals (e.g., attitudes towards housing pregnant pigs in groups versus gestation stalls and attitudes towards the use of genetic modification of animal genomes).
Education & Awards
MSc. (Animal Welfare Science) University of British Columbia