Sustainable Livestock Systems

Research Interests

I have been involved with farming throughout my life having been brought up on a family farm in Perthshire. I graduated in Zoology (University of St Andrews) before studying for my PhD under Professor David Wood-Gush at Edinburgh who introduced me to the study of farm animal behaviour and welfare.  

After completing my thesis I joined SAC and since then have been involved in a range of research areas which have included:

• understanding the causes and welfare implications of stereotypic behaviours
• assessing the impact of intensive farming environments on welfare
• genetic and environmental influences on social and maternal behaviour
• development of approaches for assessing welfare

I currently coordinate the Scottish Government programme on Livestock Welfare which has the aims of: (a) improving welfare; (b) scientific assessment of welfare; (c) integrating animal welfare with other issues and concerns.  This programme is multidisciplinary involving behaviour scientists, geneticists, developmental biologists and economists.  Main areas of research are directed at neonatal mortality, animal temperament and stress, welfare concerns of intensively and extensively managed species, development of welfare assessment approaches, economic modelling of farmer decisions that impact on animal welfare and assessment of the wider effects of welfare improvements on trade and the environment. 

In addition we have a number of projects funded by the BBSRC, Defra, the EU, animal charities and industry. We work closely with consultancy colleagues in order to deliver the results of our research to farmers. We also run the MSc in Applied Animal Behaviour and Welfare jointly with the University of Edinburgh. 

For the future we plan to develop further our links with BioSS (Biomathematics and Statistics Scotland Research Institute) on development of welfare assessment tools and with the University of Edinburgh Royal (Dick) Veterinary School (R(D)VS) in terms of joint research and teaching activities in animal welfare.  Overall there are 60 + staff and students currently involved in animal welfare-related work in SAC and we see great opportunities in the future for our science and also improving animal welfare in practice.

Research Projects

• Scottish Government:  Livestock Welfare
• Defra: Genetic selection for improved pre-weaning survival of piglets (Genomum)
• BBSRC:  Perinatal programming of stress responses, nociceptive mechanisms and the welfare consequences
• Defra: Identifying and characterising robust dairy cows (Robust Cow)

Teaching

I teach on the MSc in Applied Animal Behaviour and Welfare and also undergraduate students on SAC courses and at the R(D)VS.