Congratulations to our Graduate Student Conference Presenters!

We would like to congratulate three members of the Animal Welfare Program for participating in the Faculty of Land and Food Systems (LFS) Graduate Student Conference and for earning awards for their wonderful presentations!

The LFS Graduate Student Conference is a student-organized event where students from the faculty can present the research that they are conducting. The conference provides a platform for LFS graduate students to share their diverse work with a broad audience across multiple disciplines.

Anna Ratuski, a PhD student,  was awarded third place for her oral presentation ‘Playpen access is a positive experience for conventionally-housed laboratory mice.’ Anna’s presentation discussed the results from the article titled ‘Using approach latency and anticipatory behaviour to assess whether voluntary playpen access is rewarding to laboratory mice.’ Learn more about Anna’s research here!

Bailey Eagan, a PhD student,  was awarded the People’s Choice Award for her oral presentation discussing fearfulness in cats from hoarding environments. Her presentation discussed research from a study which found that over an average of two weeks cats could progress through a behavior modification program, and would seek human attention. Bailey’s results also found that cat stress, and the time to come out of hiding decreased over time.

Deyvika Srinivasa, an undergraduate student, was awarded first place for her poster presentation titled ‘Challenges and resiliency factors in Indian animal shelter staff.’ Deyvika’s research aimed to address the lack of literature on animal sheltering in India. A qualitative study on the experience of managers, animal caretakers, and veterinary nurses at Indian shelters was conducted. This research was part of Deyvika’s 2021 Work Learn International Research Award.  To learn more about this program and opportunities for undergraduate students to pursue research, check out the LFS Student Services page.

Congratulations to all presenters for showcasing their hard work and diverse research! Learn more about the 2022 LFS Grad Student Conference here!