I’m a Research Fellow based at Bristol Veterinary School. My main research interests revolve around species differences in welfare, which I use to explore evolutionary explanations for problems using phylogenetic comparative methods (statistical approaches allowing users to work with data from species, whilst controlling for shared ancestry). My interests are not limited to any one taxa or context; rather, I’m fascinated by patterns in species diversity and seek to understand drivers of it.

The main purpose of my comparative research is to identify welfare risk factors – these being species characteristics, e.g., biological traits – and use them to make tailored recommendations to improve wellbeing. To date, I’ve used this multi-species approach to identify welfare risk factors for captive wild animals (e.g., pet parrots and zoo-housed carnivores and lemurs). I’m applying this approach in a new context in my current work, funded by the Wild Animal Initiative, aiming to identify risk factors for conservation translocation outcomes, e.g., mortality rates.