APA HAI

Join us to hear Melina Jacques talk about her new book, What it Really Means to Love Dogs: A Cultural and Ethical Exploration. Endorsed by animal ethicist Jessica Pierce, canine behaviourist Clive Wynne, and biologist Jonathan Balcombe, the book examines the social and ethical consequences of the modern elevation of dogs. It explores how dog devotion has become intertwined with moral identity, social expectations, and ideas about virtue and belonging, while examining the often-overlooked costs to people, other animals, and the environment. The book challenges widely held assumptions about what it means to love dogs and asks who bears the consequences when an animal becomes a cultural ideal.

Melina Jacques is an independent researcher and writer whose work examines the cultural, historical, and symbolic dimensions of human-dog relationships. She has spent many years researching the subject across animal studies, psychology, sociology, history, anthropology, philosophy, ethics, and related fields.

Join us to learn about Joni Delanoeije’s recent publication in HAI.

Joni Delanoeije is a psychologist, ethologist and business economist. She is a postdoctoral researcher and lecturer in organizational psychology and human-animal interaction at KU Leuven (Belgium), funded by the Research Foundation Flanders, and is also board member of the International Association for Human-Animal Interaction Organizations (IAHAIO). Combining insights from social psychology and anthrozoology, she aims to further the transdisciplinary understanding of human-animal psychological processes across organizational, societal and everyday life contexts to ultimately improve people and animal well-being.
Check out the IAHAIO White Paper HERE

Join us to hear about Don Cherry's latest publication.

Don Cherry is a PhD student in Pathobiology and Biomedical Science at the University of Missouri, studying mammalian behavior, welfare, and the connection on both ends of the leash. His research integrates behavioral, biological, and human perceptual measures to better understand animals’ experiences during training and in their environments.

Listen to Kimberly Illeah Marie Francisco talk about her recent publication. Kimberly is a licensed psychologist and a graduate of the pioneering batch of the Straight Bachelor of Arts–Master of Arts (SABMA) in Psychology program at Angeles University Foundation (AUF) in Angeles City, Pampanga. Her research interests include human–animal interactions, their implications for mental health, and the potential integration of human–animal interaction into clinical practice to promote psychological well-being and inform therapeutic interventions.

Join us to hear about Dr. Suárez-Yera's recent publication. Dr. Claudia Suárez-Yera is a researcher at the University of Almería (HUM-743 research group), where her work focuses on psychometric and theoretical models of attitudes toward animals from an intergroup perspective. Together with her team, they developed the HERA model and the HERAS instrument, and she has also worked on research addressing social inequalities and self-perceived health among immigrant and refugee women.

Learn about Catharina’s latest publication. Dr. Catharina Carlsson is a Senior Lecturer in Social Work at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden. She holds a PhD in Social Work, with research focusing on Equine-Assisted Social Work and the role of horses in relational processes involving young people with complex needs and professionals in residential care settings. With a lifelong engagement with horses, her research has increasingly developed from exploring horses as relational partners in social work practice toward the multispecies turn in social work. Her current work examines how relationships between humans and other animals challenge anthropocentric understandings of social work, with particular attention to relationality, agency, participation, ethics, and justice. Through the emerging framework of Relational Multispecies Justice, her research seeks to extend social work’s relational and ecological traditions by recognizing other animals as sentient participants in shared communities of care, interdependence, and flourishing.

Learn how topical pet flea and tick preventives impacts our water and our environment from Stephanie Hughes, a registered Chemical Engineer with 30 years of experience in water quality and regulatory compliance. Stephanie teaches at Santa Clara University and advises California municipalities. Since 2014, Stephanie has been evaluating less-toxic options to on-pet topical flea control due to water quality and public health concerns.

Join us as we talk with Christopher Morales about his latest publication. Christopher is a science educator and college instructor with a broader background in education andapplied research. His recent work has also examined human–animal interaction and disability access, including questions surrounding how ADA requirements may be expanded to avian species.

Join us to hear about Christine Olsen's latest publication. Dr.Christine Olsen is an ethologist and CEO of the International Community of Anthrozoology, with a PhD in public health science focusing on the effects of animals on human health. With a lifelong commitment to understanding animals asindividuals and promoting their welfare, she is, together with Line Sandstedt, the co-developer of the Animal Personality and Welfare Assessment – ICofA (APWA-ICofA), a structured method for understanding animal personality, emotional responses, coping capacity, and welfare-relevant needs.

Listen to Dr. Sexton talk about her recent publication. Dr. Courtney Sexton is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Population Health Sciences at the Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine and member of the Dog Aging Project research consortium. With a background in the evolutionary biology of the human-dog relationship, her research centers One Health and One Welfare principles to investigate how shared environments impact animals and people.

Join Faieeza Khalfe and Leigh Tucker talk about their research related to South African pet owners.

Faieeza Khalfe holds a Master of Arts in PsychologicalResearch, with distinction, from the University of Cape Town and a Master’s degree in Clinical Psychology from the University of the Western Cape, where she received a distinction for her dissertation. Her research interests include human–animal relationships, psychological wellbeing, and the ways in whichthese relationships are shaped by social and cultural contexts.

Dr Leigh Adams Tucker is a registered clinical psychologist and senior academic at the University of the Western Cape in Cape Town, South Africa. She provides leadership in clinical training, postgraduate education, and research, and contributes to advancing human-animal studies across Africa throughcollaborative research networks. Her scholarship explores One Health and One Welfare, with particular interests in the human-animal bond, animal cruelty prevention, humane education, and the wellbeing of veterinary and animal welfare professionals.

Join the research team at the University of Tennessee talk about their recent publication. Claire Schuch, PhD, is the Associate Director of Research at the Center for Pet Family Well-Being (CPFW), Candice Hinkle, MBA, PMP, is the Assistant Director, and Kaitlyn Andres, MS, MPH is a Research Associate. CPFW (formerly the Program for Pet Health Equity) is an interdisciplinary initiative at the University of Tennessee dedicated to strengthening the bond between people and their pets. We work to transform fragmented veterinary, social service, and community systems into integrated,community-driven One Health Systems that improve access to care and support for pet families.

Join us to hear Matthew Knight, a PhD candidate in Social Work at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and a Graduate Research Assistant at the Center for Veterinary Social Work talk about his latest research. Matt's research focuses on the human-animal bond, with particular interests in service dog partnerships, moral injury, and posttraumatic growth among military veterans.

Join Dr. Nichole L. Nageotte (Community Research and Evaluation Manager) and Dr. Lynn Von Hagen (Africa Conservation Program Director) - both at the Denver Zoo Conservation Alliance - talk about the important role zoos play in conservation.

Sindhoor is a canine behaviour consultant, a canine myotherapist, an anthrozoologist and an engineer by qualification. She researches free living dogs in Bangalore, India. She has presented her findings at major international conferences in the US, UK and has conducted seminars in Europe, UK and South America. She has been invited as an expert on several podcasts, including a few on NPR radio. She maintained a weekly column on dog behaviour, in The Bangalore Mirror for two years. She is a TEDx speaker, the author of the book, Dog Knows. National Geographic calls hers a ‘Great Mind’ in the bookazine, Genius of Dogs. She is currently the principal and director of BHARCS. BHARCS offers a unique, UK-accredited level 4 diploma on canine biosociopsychology and applied ethology.

Join us for a conversation with Dr. Chalotte Glintborg as we talk about her latest research on assistance dogs in Denmark.

Join us for a conversation with Hajnalka Selmeci, a sport psychologist who teaches at the Hungarian University of Sports Science while working on her PhD.
Hajnalka’s research focuses on the psychology of dog sports and what makes human–dog teams thrive – and she is always excited to talk about the intersection of psychology, performance, and our relationships with animals.

Join us for a conversation with Oxford zoologist Tim Coulson about octopus biology, how predator-prey arms races have shaped life on Earth, and the challenges of human-wildlife coexistence following wolf reintroduction in the American West.

Learn from Dr Ana Davidson and Lindsey Sterling Krank about prairie dogs in the west. These keystone species are threatened by plague and unlimited shooting on public lands, but conservationists are working to stop these threats.

Join us to talk about Kate Miller's latest research. Kate Miller is a PhD student at Colorado State University studying animal training, learning, and behavior. She is the Lead Animal Trainer at Human-Animal Bond in Colorado (HABIC) in the School of Social Work at CSU and a Karen Pryor Academy Certified Training Partner (KPA-CTP), with research interests focused on clicker training, marker use, and evidence-based positive reinforcement training.