Marie Haskell is Professor of Animal Welfare Science at SRUC (Scotland’s Rural College), based in Edinburgh, UK. She completed her undergraduate degree at Massey University, New Zealand, followed by a PhD at the University of Melbourne. Her research has involved the use of behavioural techniques in understanding and improving animal welfare. Together with students and other scientists, she has sought to understand how fundamental animal abilities and attributes, such as personality, genetic make-up and cognitive and emotional abilities affect the way animals interact with their environments and how this influences their welfare. Building on these principles, she has been involved in developing behavioural indicators for use in welfare assessment tools. She principally works with cattle, but has research experience with pigs, hens, salmon and dogs.
“There is a lot of good stuff in this book. … Given the sheer breadth covered, allowing individual chapter purchase would be a bonus … . Young welfare scientists and others keen to advance their understanding of cattle husbandry, health and welfare may derive much of value from individual chapters that cater for their individual needs. The science oriented chapters are also comprehensively equipped with enough references to bulk out any PhD thesis.” (John Webster, Animal Welfare, April 17, 2024)