Young researchers are currently working with the cats, in order to have a better and deep understanding of these grogeous animals.
This is the first presentation of these scientists, and videos are to come where they will describe their research !!
Meet our researchers ;0))
Lauren Finka BSc(Hons)MSc
International Fund for Cat Welfare(IFCW)and Centre Of Applied Pet Ethology(COAPE)Scholar
I am currently in my first year of a PhD with the University of Lincoln, studying in the area of cat welfare. The main focus of my PhD is to look for reliable behavioural indicators in the domestic cat, as they relate to an individuals’ sociability towards humans. The research will inolve developing non-invasive measures to aid in the assessment of cats, associating behaviours and their structuring with emotional states. The application of this research will be particularly relevant within shelter and rescue environments where behavioural assessments of cats are often very difficult, and must be carried out over relatively short time periods.
Hannah Thompson
I am an undergraduate studying Animal Behaviour Science at Lincoln. This summer I have been lucky enough to secure a UROS scholarship investigating the influence of handler familiarity and body area on behavioural response in domestic cats to being stroked; with a focus on whether the sequence of areas handled effects the behaviour response. This is my first research project and I am really looking forward to finding the outcomes, which I hope will enable the welfare of cats to be enhanced through educating owners in handling their cats in a more “preferable” manor.
Justin Moorman
My name is Justin Moorman, and I am from the United States. My undergraduate degree is in Animal health Technology with an emphasis in zoology. When I graduated I became a Licensed Veterinary Technician. After working in the field for a few years, I realized most of my continuing education was going towards behavior and its practical application, so I decided to pursue higher education in the subject. I am currently a student in the MSc program in Clinical Animal Behaviour. My current research is asking if cats can tell the difference between pictures and the real objects that they represent.
Evy Mayes
I am Evy Mayes and I am coming towards the end of my MSc by Research degree.
Understanding how cats perceive the world and in what way they process natural stimuli has important implications for understanding their behaviour and also for meeting their husbandry and welfare needs in the home and in confined environments e.g. a cattery. Almost nothing is known about how cats perceive the stimuli in their environment. This project hopes to uncover what elements of a stimulus are most salient to a cat when making decisions.
My project represents a first step in investigating cat perception and cognition. Cats will be presented with stimuli which differ in several parameters (e.g. colour and odour) using a two-alternative forced choice procedure (a T-maze). The cat will be trained to approach one stimulus (e.g. a red square that smells of limonene vs. a blue square that smells of menthol) for a food reward. Once the cat has learned to make a discrimination then different elements of the stimulus will be set against each other (e.g. the animal will be asked to choose between a blue square that smells of limonene and a red square that smells of menthol), by doing this we can see what stimulus elements are most salient to a cat when making decisions.