PhD Studentship: Utilising naïve observers in animal behaviour and welfare research: methodological developments and impacts on conservation education outcomes Newport, Newport, Wales
Job description
PhD Studentship: Utilising naïve observers in animal behaviour and welfare research: methodological developments and impacts on conservation education outcomes
Research Office
Title of project: Utilising naïve observers in animal behaviour and welfare research: methodological developments and impacts on conservation education outcomes
Director of Studies: Dr Ellen Williams
36 month funded studentship.
The expected start date for the studentship will be the beginning of October 2023. The student will be registered for a PhD at Harper Adams University and based at Harper Adams University, Edgmond, Shropshire, UK. The studentship will cover the current Home tuition fee rate plus a yearly stipend set at the UKRI figure – currently £17,668 per year (2022/23 academic year) with an expected small increase from September 2023.
International applicants would need to be able to fund the difference between Home and Overseas fees which will be £10,890 for the 2023/24 academic year with the first year’s fee’s being paid in full before Visa documentation can be issued.
About the project:
Global biodiversity losses are at an all-time high and conservation science is now a priority discipline [1]. Citizen science has been identified as a powerful tool for tackling conservation issues [2] and specifically as a means of wildlife monitoring [3]. Public participation in scientific research also has positive impacts on wildlife conservation [4]. Zoos are at the forefront of saving species from extinction. One of the key missions of modern zoos is to educate the public. Zoo visitors have more positive perceptions in relation to conservation initiatives the more they interact with animals [5]. Preliminary research has shown that improving zoo visitor assessments of animal welfare is important in promoting conservation education outcomes [6]. Citizen science is widely utilised in wildlife conservation [3,7,8] and it has the potential to be useful in evidence-based management of animals. However, it is beneficial to the advancement of science only if measures are reliable, valid and accurate. It is likely that engagement in animal behaviour research, including affective state (emotional status, to which visitors may feel a connection) and assessment of animal experiences, will increase visitor knowledge of animal welfare science, induce empathy for species, and encourage pro-conservation behaviours.
The aim of this project is to develop reliable and valid methodologies for utilising naïve observers to gather animal behaviour data and to understand the role that citizen science and research engagement in zoos plays in visitor attitudes towards conservation and knowledge of animal welfare science.
This multi-disciplinary study incorporates quantitative and qualitative data analysis and will be undertaken at multiple zoological collections within the UK. Focal species will include (i) charismatic and non-charismatic species, (ii) primates and non-primate species and (iii) mammalian and non-mammalian species. This project will involve coding animal behaviour to create high resolution behavioural data for target species. The student will then be assessing the reliability and validity of behavioural data undertaken by naïve observers. The student will then undertake social science research to quantify the impact of public participation in research on their attitudes towards conservation and animal welfare science.
The successful applicant will be developing protocols which can be applied across facilities to incorporate citizen science into animal management. Understanding the impact of engagement in citizen science on zoo visitors will help to contribute to the UN sustainable development goals, specifically reducing biodiversity loss through encouraging and supporting behaviour change. The successful applicant will identify factors which predict pro-conservation behaviour in zoo visitors, and begin to develop conservation education protocols that support wide-scale conservation action.
References:
[1] Williams et al. https://doi.org/10.1111/conl.12720
[2] McKinley et al. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2016.05.015
[3] Sun et al. https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2021.682124
[4] Shirk et al. http://dx.doi.org/10.5751/ES-04705-170229
[5] Godinez & Fernandez. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01746
[6] Sherman et al. https://doi.org/10.3390/jzbg3020023
[7] Lee et al. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26267782
[8] Lawson et al. 10.1007/s10393-015-1054-z
Harper Adams University is one of the premier UK Higher Education institutions focused on the land-based and food supply chain sector. With around 2,800 undergraduate students, plus those completing postgraduate, research and CPD programmes, Harper Adams University is the UK's largest single provider of higher education for these subjects. Programmes fall into eleven broad subject areas – but none operate in isolation. Community and collaboration are key at Harper Adams, meaning everyone, including staff, students and industry partners, benefits from a close network of knowledge and opportunity exchange. Situated in Shropshire, the campus and the surrounding area provide an excellent working and living environment for staff and students alike.
Harper Adams is consistently positioned highly in a range of national ratings, performance measures and league tables. The University has been the highest performing modern university in The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide for the last four years, climbing to 17th place in the overall league table. In the 2020 guide Harper Adams was named Modern University of the Year and runner-up University of the Year. In the 2019 Whatuni? Student Choice Awards, based on student reviews, Harper Adams won the Student Support category for the fifth time – the only university to have taken the title since the awards began - and won the category for best job prospects for a fourth year running. In the 2020 QS World Rankings for Agriculture and Forestry published in March 2020, Harper Adams was ranked first in the UK for academic reputation and second in the world for its reputation with employers.
Applied research is at the heart of the university’s activity, with the work of a thriving academic community underpinning both teaching and work with the industries allied to Harper. The 2014 Government Research Excellence Framework rated all of the university’s research as “of international quality”, and more than half was deemed “world leading” or “internationally excellent”.
