Research output per year
Research output per year
Associate Professor
The University of Western Australia (M087), 35 Stirling Highway,
6009 Perth
Australia
Roles:
Associate Professor - School of Animal Biology
Associate Professor - UWA Institute of Agriculture
Expertises:
Animal Ethics and Welfare
Emotion and stress in animals
Biomarkers for emotional reactivity in livestock
My research funding has come from the Australian Research Council, The Medical Health and Research Council, and industry funding bodies such as Meat and Livestock Australia, and Rural Industries Research Corporation.
2005 - 2021: Senior Lecturer
School of Animal Biology – Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, UWA
2000 - 2005: Lecturer
School of Animal Biology – Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Science, UWA
1993 - 2000: Research Fellow
NHMRC and ARC funded position
Animal Science – Faculty of Agriculture, UWA
Current projects with the following PhD Students:
Sarah Babington: Biomarkers of positive welfare states in sheep
Callum Connolli: Melatonin and oxidative stress
Projects with past PhD students:
Lorelle Barrett: Nesting preference and motivations in ducks.
Anna Amir: Secondary plant compounds and reproduction in sheep
Aprille Chadwick - Improving welfare of reproductive technologies for goats
Daud Dzulsuhaimi - Thermoregulation and reproduction in male alpacas
Travis Murray - Dairy ewes and temperament: shape up or sheep out
Xiaoyan Qiu: Gene polymorphisms associated with temperament in Merino sheep
Stacey Rietema: Temperament and activity of the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis in sheep
Kelsie Moore: Pelt characteristics and insulation in alpacas
Mikaela Ciprian: Ethical theories and decision making in Animal Ethics Committee
Miriam Sullivan: How can we improve welfare for aquarium fish?
Kirrin Lund - Energy and nitrogen metabolism in alpacas
Alex Wells - Why producers do what they do: the case of mulesing in the Australian wool industry
Joanne Elliott - Attitudes, social influence and human behaviour in the adoption of strategies to improve lamb survival
Sharon Tay - Does mums diet affect her offspring?
I currently lecture in the following units:
SCIE2100: Social Responsibility in Action (Sem 1)
NEUR1001: Neuroscience in Society (Sem 1)
ANIM3306: Clean Green and Ethical Animal Production (Sem 2)
1) Animal emotional reactivity: development of reliable and practical phenotypic measures, relationship to maternal behaviour and metabolic status, identification of genetic markers.
2) Neurodevelopment of preterm lambs (as a model for preterm infants) including emotion reactivity, cognitive function and regulation of food intake and growth.
3) Animal Welfare: thermoregulation and heat stress, stress physiology, pain management, development of predictive indicators of animal welfare, development of biomarkers of positive welfare state in livestock.
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Vercoe, P., Watts, T., Shilling, J., Foster, K. & Blache, D.
Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (Western Australia)
1/11/22 → 30/06/25
Project: Research
Maloney, S., Pool, K., Blache, D., Walker, D., Algar, S. & Mugera, A.
15/04/21 → 30/11/25
Project: Research