United States Region
North American Regional Meeting
SAVE THE DATE! We are pleased to announce the 14th North American Regional Meeting of ISAE is back on! The meeting will take place April 29-30, 2022 at UC Davis. Abstracts will be due January 14, 2022, and early registration deadline will be March 4, 2022. We are currently looking into virtual options for attendees unable to join us in California. More detailed information on submission format, registration costs, and more to be announced very soon. This meeting will adhere to the COVID safety guidelines for visitors to UC Davis. Questions can be directed to US ISAE Secretary, Tina Horback ()
Resources and Archives
Below, you can find resources relevant to the USA region of the ISAE along with information about our past regional meetings.
Past regional meetings
13th 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.
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
- 1st Place – Megan R. LaFollette: “It’s no laughing matter: Cage color and light intensity alter rat affect
- 2nd Place – Catherine Hixson: “Behavioural changes in group-housed dairy calves infected with Mannheimia haemolytica”
- 3rd 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
- 1st Place – Kathryn Henley: “An aural-visual classification of the vocal repertoire of adult pigs (Sus scrofa domesticus)
- 2nd 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
- 3rd 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
12th North American Regional Meeting
The 12th North American Regional Meeting of the ISAE was held on May 30-31, 2014 in East Lansing, Michigan, USA.
*A version of the abstract entitled "The days and nights of zoo elephants" with updated results can be found here.
11th North American Regional Meeting
The 11th North American Regional Meeting of the ISAE was held on May 11-12, 2012, at the Banff Centre, Banff National Park, Canada.
10th North American Regional Meeting
The 10th North American Regional Meeting of the ISAE was held on May 26-27, 2010 in Pullman, Washington, USA.
9th North American Regional Meeting
The 9th North American Regional Meeting of the ISAE was held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Academic programs in applied animal behavior
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
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
The Ohio State University
Animal Behavior and Welfare, Department of Animal Science
Purdue University
Animal Behavior and Wellbeing, Department of Animal Sciences
Center for Animal Welfare Science
Sonoma State University
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