Meet the OHAIRE Lab
Dr. Maggie O'Haire
Associate Professor of Human-Animal Interaction
Dr. Marguerite (Maggie) O’Haire is an internationally recognized Fulbright Scholar who is currently an Associate Professor of Human-Animal Interaction in the Center for the Human-Animal Bond at Purdue University. She earned her BA in Psychology from Vassar College in New York and her PhD in Psychology from The University of Queensland in Australia. Her research program focuses on the unique and pervasive ways that humans interact with animals. From research with household pets to highly trained service animals, her findings have been instrumental in evaluating the effects of human-animal interactions. She has received funding from three different NIH institutes (NICHD, NCCIH, NCATS) to fund her human-animal interaction research. Check out an interview with Dr. O’Haire and NIH Medline Plus and her "Meet the Anthrozoologist" Interview to see her advice on becoming a human-animal interaction researcher.
Dr. O’Haire’s research topics have included classroom-based, animal-assisted intervention for children with autism spectrum disorder and the effects of service dogs for veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder and their families. In addition to her peer-reviewed publications and textbook chapters, her work has also been highlighted in over 1,000 media stories around the globe, including NPR, the Wall Street Journal, and the New York Times. Dr. O’Haire has won the International Society for Anthrozoology (ISAZ) Early Career Award and the Young Alumnae Achievement Award from Vassar College for her exceptional professional achievements. At Purdue, she currently enjoys teaching and mentoring students in her productive human-animal interaction lab.
Clare Jensen
Graduate Student
Clare joined the OHAIRE Lab as a project coordinator in January of 2018 began her PhD in August of 2018. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology at Kalamazoo College in Michigan where she conducted research on augmentation of taste aversion learning. After graduating, Clare also spent time as a project coordinator on a crime reduction study through the University of Michigan School of Public Health. At Purdue, Clare is part of the NIH-funded study focusing on the efficacy of service dogs for military veterans with PTSD, a focus that will build into her upcoming dissertation.
Leanne Nieforth
Graduate Student
Leanne began her PhD in the OHAIRE Lab in August of 2019. She earned her Master of Science in Communication and her Bachelor of Science in Animal Science at the North Carolina State University. Prior to joining the OHAIRE Lab, her research focused on the human-horse interaction during equine assisted mental health sessions. At Purdue, Leanne is part of the NIH-funded study focusing on the efficacy of service dogs for veterans with PTSD. She has a special interest in the influence of service dogs on family dynamics.
Katelynn Burgess
Lab Manager
Katelynn joined the OHAIRE Lab in June of 2017, where she is currently the lab manager and the behavior coding coordinator for the OHAIRE Coding System. Katelynn earned her Bachelor of Arts in Experimental Psychology from the University of South Carolina in 2015. Prior to her work with the OHAIRE Lab, Katelynn was a project manager for a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) – funded research study, which measured the prevalence of behavioral and emotional disorders among children and adolescents. Katelynn has worked extensively with both adult and adolescent populations, and takes a special interest in trauma-focused interventions.
Amanda Brown
Project Coordinator
Amanda is currently the project coordinator for the NIH-funded service dogs for veterans study. She first joined the OHAIRE Lab in June 2018 as a research assistant. In 2017, she graduated from Texas A&M University with a Bachelor of Science in Psychology and a Certificate in Equine Science. After graduating, Amanda worked as a research assistant for STRONG STAR Multidisciplinary Research Consortium and assisted with multiple PTSD treatment research studies involving active duty service members and veterans. Her interests include PTSD treatment and animal-assisted interventions.
Prisca Mbachu
Research Coordinator
Prisca joined the OHAIRE Lab in the summer of 2018 and is currently the new research coordinator. Before advancing to her new role, she worked as an undergraduate research assistant where she contributed to the Canine Assistants study and the OHAIRE Coding System training course. She is currently working on the NIH-funded study focusing on the efficacy of service dogs for veterans with PTSD. Prisca earned her Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Engineering at Purdue University in May 2020 and will be starting her Master's in Biomedical Engineering at Purdue this August.
Rhea Sparrow
Lead Research Assistant
Rhea joined the OHAIRE Lab in August of 2018. She has contributed to the creation and management of the OHAIRE Coding System training course, the Purdue Canines for Autism Research Study (Purdue CARES), as well as various novel research projects. As the lead research assistant for the lab, Rhea trains research assistants while overseeing all aspects of participant communication. Rhea will graduate in May 2021 with a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish, and a Bachelor of Science in Brain and Behavioral Science with a minor in Human Development and Family Studies.
OHAIRE Lab Alumni
Dr. Kerri Rodriguez
Kerri Rodriguez conducted her PhD with the O'Haire Lab from 2015-2020. Her dissertation research focused on quantifying both psychosocial and physiological outcomes from PTSD service dogs and mobility and medical service dogs. She is now a postdoctoral fellow at the Human-Animal Bond in Colorado (HABIC) in the School of Social Work at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colorado.
Dr. Megan LaFollette
Megan LaFollette is a 3Rs Fellow with The North American 3Rs Collaborative. She has her PhD in Animal Behavior & Well-Being from Purdue University, where she also received a Master of Science in Animal Welfare. Her primary interests lie at the intersection of human-animal interaction and animal welfare, especially in practical refinements for laboratory and companion animals. These interests have led to her conducting projects focused on rat tickling, compassion fatigue in laboratory animal personnel, refinement for cats in confinement, positive reinforcement in training horses, the welfare of service dogs, and human behavior change for animal welfare.
Dr. Jessica Bibbo
Jessica Bibbo was a postdoctoral research fellow at the OHAIRE Lab from 2016 to 2017. Dr. Bibbo’s work focused on the impact of mobility and medical alert dogs on family members such as parents and spouses. Dr. Bibbo is now a Research Scientist at the Benjamin Rose Institute on Aging in Cleveland, Ohio where they investigate the impact of pet ownership and the human-animal bond on the lives of older adults and their families.
Dr. Georgitta Valiyamattam
Georgitta Valiyamattam was a Fulbright-Nehru Doctoral Research Fellow with the O’Haire Lab from 2016-2017. During her tenure she worked both on designing the neurobiomarker assessments that comprised her doctoral work and on exploring the multicultural considerations involved in animal-assisted interventions. Her dissertation research used an eye tracking paradigm to investigate how animals may modulate visual attention in children with autism. Georgitta is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Applied Psychology at Gitam University, Visakhapatnam, India and also works as a counselling psychologist with the Gitam Institute of Medical Sciences and Research. Her research interests include examining the benefits of animal-assisted intervention for children with developmental disabilities and gaining a more nuanced understanding of relationships with companion animals in the Indian setting.
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