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Deborah Wells

Dr

  • Room 02.511 - David Keir Building

    United Kingdom

Accepting PhD Students

PhD projects

Animal welfare, animal behaviour, laterality, pet-human bond, dogs, cat, zoo animals

1992 …2019

Research output per year

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Personal profile

Particulars

I graduated from Queen's University Belfast in 1992 with a first class Honours degree in Psychology.  I went on to pursue a PhD in QUB on the welfare of kennelled dogs, graduating with my Doctorate in 1996.  After several years of post-doc research, I was appointed to a lectureship in Animal Welfare in 1999.  I was promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2004 and to Reader in 2013.

Research Interests

My research concentrates on animal behaviour and welfare, with a particular focus on the domestic dog.  Much of my work has been concerned with exploring the welfare of animals housed in captivity (e.g. zoos, rescue kennels) and finding ways of improving psychological well-being through the implementation of novel and scientifically tested enrichment strategies. Other research areas include pets and human health, behaviour problems in companion animals and, more recently, laterality in animals.

Teaching

I teach at Level 1 (Introductory Psychology) and Level 3 (Animal Behaviour) on the UG curriculum.  I supervise Level 1 and Level 2 project groups and final year thesis students.  I currently have one PhD student, studying laterality in cats.

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Projects

S2268PSY: KTP : Devenish Nutrition

Wells, D.

01/08/2007 → 17/12/2019

Project: ktp

R1157PSY: Lateralised behaviour as a predictor of welfare risk in the domestic dog, Canis familiaris

Wells, D. & Hepper, P.

01/08/2013 → 31/08/2017

Project: Research

Research Output

Laterality as a tool for assessing breed differences in emotional reactivity in the domestic cat, Felis silvestris catus

Wells, D. L. & McDowell, L. J., 03 Sep 2019, In : Animals. 9, 10 p., 647.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article

Open Access
File
    • 1 Citation (Scopus)
    105 Downloads (Pure)

    The state of research on human-animal relations

    Wells, D., 19 Mar 2019, In : Anthrozoos. 32

    Research output: Contribution to journal › Article

    Open Access
    File
    6 Citations (Scopus)
    123 Downloads (Pure)

    Lack of association between paw preference and behaviour problems in the domestic dog, Canis familiaris

    Wells, D. L., Hepper, P. G., Milligan, A. D. S. & Barnard, S., 12 Oct 2018, In : Applied Animal Behaviour Science.

    Research output: Contribution to journal › Article

    Open Access
    File
    • 1 Citation (Scopus)
    110 Downloads (Pure)

    Laterality as a predictor of coping strategies in dogs entering a rescue shelter

    Barnard, S., Wells, D. L. & Hepper, P. G., 23 Oct 2018, In : Symmetry. 10, 11, 15 p., 538.

    Research output: Contribution to journal › Article

    Open Access
    File
    • 2 Citations (Scopus)
    154 Downloads (Pure)

    Lateralization of spontaneous behaviours in the domestic cat, Felis silvestris

    McDowell, L. J., Wells, D. L. & Hepper, P. G., Jan 2018, In : Animal Behaviour. 135, p. 37-43 7 p.

    Research output: Contribution to journal › Article

    Open Access
    File
    • 6 Citations (Scopus)
    201 Downloads (Pure)

    Prizes

    Research Prize for Best Research Project

    Wells, Deborah (Recipient), 2005

    Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)

    Winston Churchill Travelling Fellowship Award

    Wells, Deborah (Recipient), 1999

    Prize: Fellowship awarded competitively

    Activities

    • 9 Membership of peer review panel or committee
    • 2 Work on advisory panel to industry or government or non-government organisation
    • 2 Editorial activity
    • 1 Contribution to the work of national or international committees and working groups
    • 1 More

    Animals (Journal)

    Deborah Wells (Peer reviewer)

    2019

    Activity: Publication peer-review and editorial work types › Publication peer-review

    File

    Anthrozoos (Journal)

    Deborah Wells (Editorial advisory board member)

    2012 → …

    Activity: Publication peer-review and editorial work types › Editorial activity

    International Working Group for Advice on Dogs and Human Health

    Deborah Wells (Member)

    2011 → 2012

    Activity: Consultancy types › Contribution to the work of national or international committees and working groups

    Applied Animal Behaviour Science (Journal)

    Deborah Wells (Editorial advisory board member)

    2011 → …

    Activity: Publication peer-review and editorial work types › Editorial activity

    1st and 3rd Reign of Catz and Dogz Conferences (Event)

    Deborah Wells (Member)

    2009 → 2011

    Activity: Membership types › Membership of peer review panel or committee

    Impact

    Improving the Psychological Wellbeing of Captive Animals

    Deborah Wells (Participant) & Peter Hepper (Participant)

    Impact: Quality of Life Impact, Public Policy Impact