Who We Are
We facilitate the well-being of animals using sound science and ethics to investigate and promote the best animal care and management practices.
Director: Candace Croney, Ph.D
Steering Committee Faculty Emeritus Grad Students & Postdocs
- Candace Croney, Director and Professor of Animal Behavior and Well-being
- Marissa Erasmus, Associate Professor of Animal Sciences
- Esteban Fernandez-Juricic, Ph.D, Professor of Biological Sciences
- Nicole Widmar, Professor, Associate Head, and Graduate Chair of Agricultural Economics
Colleen Brady, Ph.D
Professor, Agricultural Sciences Education and Communication
Research Interests: Human behaviors that impact animal welfare (specifically equine) and how we can design interventions to alter human behavior to enhance animal welfare.
Luiz F. Brito, Ph.D
Associate Professor of Animal Sciences
Research Intersts: Quantitative Genetics and Genomics.
Heng-wei Cheng, PhD
Adjunct Associate Professor, Animal Sciences
Research Biologist - USDA-ARS Livestock Behavior Research Unit
Research Interests: brain functioning in regulating stress response in farm animals, especially poultry, pain in farm animals, use of probiotics and synbiotics for improving animal well-being, modification of caging environments to improve hen well-being, and prenatal modification of neurotransmitter system for reducing aggression.
Candace Croney, Ph.D
Director, Center for Animal Welfare Science
Professor of Animal Behavior and Well-being
Research Interests: cognition; companion and agricultural animal welfare; enrichment; animal bioethics; public perceptions of animal agriculture.
Emily Curry, DVM
Clinical Assistant Professor, Shelter Medicine and Surgery
Research Interests: shelter medicine and surgery; public interest/social/ethical/economic issues relative to animal welfare; Interface between human-animal bond and animal welfare
Amanda Darbyshire, DVM, DACLAM
Clinical Assistant Professor; Assistant Director of Clinical Medicine, Office of the Executive Vice President for Research
Research Interests: laboratory animal medicine and welfare; gnotobiotics
Kari J. Ekenstedt, DVM, Ph.D
Associate Professor, Anatomy and Genetics
Research Interests: Companion Animal Genetics
Marisa Erasmus, Ph.D
Associate Professor and Extension Specialist
Research Interests: Animal Well-Being
Esteban Fernandez-Juricic, Ph.D
Professor of Biological Sciences
Research Interests: animal behavior, visual ecology, visual physiology, conservation ecology
Greg Fraley, Ph.D
Terry & Sandra Tucker Endowed Chair, Poultry Science/Associate Professor, Animal Sciences
Research Interests: Poultry neuroendocrinology and welfare
Heather Neave, Ph.D
Assistant Professor of Animal Science
Research Interests: behavior, welfare and management of dairy cattle.
Leanne Nieforth, MS, Ph.D
Assistant Professor, Human-Animal Bond
Research Interests: human-animal interactions
Niwako Ogata, B.V.Sc., Ph.D
Associate Professor of Animal Behavior
Research Interests: pursuing mental health and well-being in companion animals; translational research between the human psychiatric field and veterinary behavior.
Corinne Renguette, Ph.D
Associate Professor, Site Director Purdue Polytechnic
Research Interests: Assessment of educational technologies, Patient education, Health communication/health literacy, Industry/academic collaborations, Scholarship of teaching and learning; Language acquisition & literacy, discourse studies
Hsin-Yi Weng, B.V.M., M.P.H., Ph.D
Associate Professor of Clinical/Analytical Epidemiology
Research Interests: epidemiologic methods and their applications to human-animal interaction studies and animal welfare sciences
Nicole Olynk Widmar, Ph.D
Professor and Associate Head, and Graduate Chair of Agricultural Economics
Research Interests: farm business management; on-farm decision making; integrating consumer demand for livestock housing and handling practices into production decisions
Alan Beck, Sc.D.
Professor Emeritus of Animal Ecology
Research Interests: Human-animal bond; urban animal ecology; animal companionship; the effects of animal use for therapy.
Janice Kritchevsky, V.M.D., M.S.
Professor Emeritus, Large Animal Medicine
Research Interests: equine endocrinology and equine geriatric medicine; the welfare implications of chronic laminitis and other lameness in horses
Nancy Edwards, Ph.D, ANP, NP
Professor Emeritus of Nursing
Director, AGNP Program
Research Interests: adult nursing; gerontology; development of non-pharmacologic care protocols for neuroprogressive disease patients.
Allan Schinckel, Ph.D, M.S.
Professor Emeritus of Animal Sciences
Research Interests: breeding, genetics, and growth of swine.
Meagan Abraham, DVM
Graduate Student
Advisor: Darrin Karcher
Research interests: Poultry management and welfare
Uri Baqueiro-Espinosa, Ph.D
Postdoctoral Researcher
Advisor: Candace Croney
Research interests: Animal Welfare Science
Jeanna Blake
PhD Student
Advisor: Kari Ekenstedt
Research interests: Companion animal genetics
Yiru Dong
M.S. Student
Advisor: Marisa Erasumus
Research interests: Animal behavior and well-being
Brittney Emmert
Graduate Student
Advisor: Darrin Karcher
Research interests: Poultry management and welfare
Torey Fischer
Graduate Student
Advisor: Darrin Karcher
Research interests: Poultry management and welfare
Xiangwang (Wendy) Gong, M.S.
Graduate Student
Advisor: Heng-wei Cheng
Research interests: the impact of cold stress in laying hens on production and physiological responses.
Esther Oluwagbenga
PhD Student
Advisor: Greg Fraley
Research interests: Strategies for managing heat stress in poultry production
Rita de Kassia Rodrigues Bezerra Filgueira, BVSc
Graduate Student
Advisor: Niwako Ogata
Research interests:animal behavior and welfare, cat behavior, human-animal bonding, and shelter medicine.
Jenna Schober
PhD Student
Advisor: Greg Fraley
Research interests: Environmental enrichment and its effects on animal behavior and well-being.
Victoria Tetel
M.S. Student
Advisor: Greg Fraley
Research interests:
Taylor Thompson
Graduate Student
Advisor: Nicole Widmar
Research interests: Consumer/producer relations in modern agriculture
Hui Wen
Graduate Student
Advisor: Luiz F. Brito
Research interests: Livestock genetics and breeding: Animal welfare
