United States Region

13^th North American Regional Meeting

The 13th North American Regional Meeting of the ISAE was held on May 12-13, 2017 in Ames, Iowa, USA. The meeting was held at Iowa State University, hosted by local organisers Suzanne Millman and Anna Johnson.

proceedings

The conference had a good turnout, with 60 in attendance from 19 institutions and a mix of ISAE members and non-members. A total of 22 oral presentations were given and 11 posters. Oral presentation session topics included the social behaviour of pigs, housing and environment, welfare assessment, health and pain relief, and behavioural variability. The conference proceedings can be viewed on the ISAE meetings webpage.

Many thanks to our theatre and poster judges. Awards were given for outstanding oral and poster presentations to the following:

Oral presentations

• 1^st Place – Megan R. LaFollette: “It’s no laughing matter: Cage color and light intensity alter rat affect
• 2^nd Place – Catherine Hixson: “Behavioural changes in group-housed dairy calves infected with Mannheimia haemolytica”
• 3^rd Place – Erin Davis: “The pain response of piglets after castration when using three different analgesics: Results from a behavioral test”
• Undergraduate – Hannah Pearsall: “The relationship between social aggression and play behavior in finisher pigs: do pigs that play less fight more?”

Poster presentations

• 1^st Place – Kathryn Henley: “An aural-visual classification of the vocal repertoire of adult pigs (Sus scrofa domesticus)
• 2^nd Place – Christopher Byrd: “It’s getting hot in here: A preliminary study to evaluate the impact of in utero heat stress on piglet behavior after weaning and transport
• 3^rd Place – Lydiane Aubé: “Sows’ preference for different fresh and dry mixed forages”
• Undergraduate – Ashley Birakos: “Comparison of perching behavior and its effects on keel bone deviations of laying hens in two types of enriched colony cages”

Dr. Cheryl Morris of Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium gave the keynote lecture, in which she spoke of advancements in animal care through training. The presentation was well received and led to a lengthy question-and-answer session.

A business meeting was conducted with a discussion on the future approach to organising regional ISAE meetings. No decisions were made and the final plan was to survey current members in the US and Canadian regions to determine preferences. No volunteers were found to organise the next meeting, so that will be addressed in the future.

At the time of writing, the Canadian region has 65 members, and the USAE region has 122.

^{Winners of the undergraduate and graduate student competitions. From L to R: Kathryn Henley, Lydiane Aubé, Ashley Birakos, Hannah Pearsall, Christopher Byrd, Erin Davis, and Megan R. LaFollette (Catherine Hixson not pictured)}

^{Local cheese was part of the social hour before dinner}

^{Deep conversation among attendees at the conference banquet}

 

12^th North American Regional Meeting

The 12^th North American Regional Meeting of the ISAE was held on May 30-31, 2014 in East Lansing, Michigan, USA. 

view abstracts 

^{*A version of the abstract entitled "The days and nights of zoo elephants" with updated results can be found here.}

 

11^th North American Regional Meeting

The 11^th North American Regional Meeting of the ISAE was held on May 11-12, 2012, at the Banff Centre, Banff National Park, Canada.

 

10^th North American Regional Meeting

The 10^th North American Regional Meeting of the ISAE was held on May 26-27, 2010 in Pullman, Washington, USA.

 

9^th North American Regional Meeting

The 9^th North American Regional Meeting of the ISAE was held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Below are academic programs that offer undergraduate and/or graduate student training in applied animal behavior:

University of California, Davis

Animal Management and Welfare, Animal Behavior Graduate Group

Animal Biology Graduate Group

Colorado State University

Livestock Behavior and Welfare, Department of Animal Science

University of Florida

Animal Behavior and Welfare, Department of Animal Sciences

Iowa State Univeristy

Farm Animal Behavior and Well-being, Deptartment of Animal Science

Iowa State Production Animal Medicine, Animal Welfare

Michigan State University

Animal Behavior and Welfare, Department of Animal Science

Zoo Animal Welfare

The Ohio State University

Animal Behavior and Welfare, Department of Animal Science

Purdue University

Animal Behavior and Wellbeing, Department of Animal Sciences

Undergraduate Program

Graduate Program

Center for Animal Welfare Science

Sonoma State University

Primate Ethology Research Lab

University of Tennessee

Applied Ethology, Department of Animal Science

Texas A&M University

Animal Behavior, Department of Animal Science

Texas Tech University

Animal Behavior, Physiology and Welfare

University of Washington

Certificate in Applied Animal Behavior (online)

Washington State University

Animal Behavior, Department of Animal Science