When did you first become interested in science?

 

I think since I was a child I was interested in how things worked and why animals behaved in the way they do. I grew up on a farm and always wanted to be outside with the animals looking after them. 

What path did you take to your career?

 

I did my undergraduate degree in Psychology but also studied Biology and Spanish (in Scotland we have opportunities to study more than one subject). I became very interested in children, particularly in how children develop different disorders but also how children from different cultures may develop differently. I compared Kenyan and Scottish children for my first research project and loved playing games with the kids in little Kenyan villages. Then, wanting to get back to animals and their behaviour, I did a Masters in Evolutionary Psychology. Here I learned about the evolution of behaviour, how different species are similar or different and how this is related to our evolution. I studied African elephants in South Africa because elephants are clearly not related to us and different in many obvious ways, but they are also extremely social and empathic like us and I was fascinated about why this might be. This experience lead to working in Thailand as a research assistant for a year which was real hands on research but also education and conservation. 

 

What is an average day like in your job?

I'm now doing a PhD in the social behaviour of dogs and wolves. It's hard to describe a typical day as every day is different. But my job involves planning experiments to discover the social intelligence of dogs and wolves, and to compare the two. I do a lot of research on previous work and then design fun tasks for the animals to test their knowledge. I also get to know each animal personally by spending time with them. To understand their social world it's also important to observe them interacting naturally in their packs which I do as often as I can. It's not a bad life to sit in the sun and watch wolves interacting with each other! And being greeted with a huge lick on the face is just an added perk of the job!!

What is the best thing that has happened in your job?

I've had so many great experiences with both elephants and wolves. Walking in the African bush with 4 metre tall elephants is something very magical, the first time an Asian elephant was successful on the task I designed was really exciting and having the wolves greet me in the morning with licks and excited barks is amazing. 

What advice would you give to a young aspiring scientist?

 

Follow your dream. I didn't think it would be possible to study animal behaviour in such a hands on way, and yet I've already been doing it for 3 years now. Discover what you love and with hard work you can be doing it every day. Open doors for yourself, scientists don't bite so just tell people you're interested in their work, ask for opportunities, be proactive.