Keynote Speakers

Professor Clive Wynne

Arizona State University

Public Lecture at Welcome Event - What makes dogs special?

Clive D.L Wynne, Ph.D., is the founding director of the Canine Science Collaboratory at Arizona State University. Previously, he founded the Canine Cognition and Behavior Laboratory at the University of Florida, the first lab of its kind in the United States. A native of the United Kingdom, Wynne has lived and worked in Germany and Australia as well as the United States and gives frequent talks to audiences around the world. The author of several previous academic books and of more than 100 peer-reviewed scientific journal articles that count among the most highly cited studies on dog psychology, he has also published pieces in Psychology Today, New Scientist, and the New York Times, and has appeared in several television documentaries about dog science on National Geographic Explorer, PBS, and the BBC. His latest book, Dog is Love: Why and How Your Dog Loves You, was published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt in September. He lives in Tempe, Arizona.

Mon 31st August 7-8pm UK time

Prof Clive Wynne "What makes dogs special?". Kindly sponsored by Pets at Home.

To register: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/116100889887

Manoj Guatam

Jane Goodall Institute Nepal

One Health One Welfare in animal conservation

Manoj Gautam is the Executive Director and General Secretary of the Jane Goodall Institute Nepal, the country chapter of the organization founded by the leading Primatologist, conservationist and United Nation’s Peace Messenger DBE Dr. Jane Goodall. Working at the Institute Manoj deals with several conservation related issues in Nepal and in Asia and specializes in designing community-based approaches to address the most pressing crisis in the field of conservation. He is an award-winning Animal Welfare advocate who has led several campaigns of international significance that has not only changed lives of thousands of animals in Asia but also the mindset of thousands of people influencing the way humans treat animals. While many animal activists are known to have resorted to violent activities causing immense human suffering, Manoj has established himself as people-charmer who influences human behavior around animal concerns.

Professor Nicola Williams

University of Liverpool

The link between antimicrobial resistance in humans and animals

Nicola Williams is a Professor in Zoonotic Bacteria Disease. She is a microbiologist who researches bacterial zoonoses (including antimicrobial resistance) in wildlife, food and companion animal species, investigating reservoirs, survival in the environment, fitness and transmission between animals and to humans, using a combination of conventional microbiology and molecular biology and next generation sequencing. She has a large portfolio of research on foodborne pathogens, antimicrobial use and resistance, including the link between companion animal ownership and antibiotic resistance and RAW feeding.

Professor Abigail Woods

King’s College London

Intersections in histories of human and animal health

Abigail Woods is a historian of science, technology and medicine. She trained in Cambridge and Manchester, and spent 8 years at Imperial College London before joining King’s College London in 2013, where she is currently Head of the Department of History. Reflecting her earlier career as a veterinary surgeon, her research focuses on the history of animals, animal health and livestock agriculture in modern Britain, the evolution of veterinary medicine, and the history of One Health. With colleagues, she co-authored One Health and its Histories: Animals and the Shaping of Modern Medicine (Palgrave, 2018).

Dr. Risë VanFleet

International Institute for Animal Assisted Play Therapy®, Boiling Springs, Pennsylvania USA.

Animal consent and wellbeing in Animal Assisted Interventions

Risë VanFleet, PhD, RPT-S, CDBC is a licensed psychologist, registered play therapist-supervisor, and certified dog behavior consultant with 45 years of experience in a variety of settings. She is the author of several award-winning books including Animal Assisted Play Therapy, The Human Half of Dog Training, Filial Therapy: Strengthening Parent-Child Relationships Through Play, Child-Centered Play Therapy, and dozens of chapters, articles, and online courses. She's the recipient of 14 national and international awards for her contributions to psychology, post-grad training, and writing. She works with children and families with mental health/relationship challenges, and also with dogs, specializing in puppy mill and unsocialized dogs who exhibit extreme fear. She also teaches mental health and animal behavior professionals throughout the world. She is especially interested in helping people develop healthy, reciprocal relationships with their animals, and increasing their awareness of animal sentience and well-being.

Matt Black

ISAZ Conference Poet (kindly funded by the Centre for the Humanities and Social Sciences of Health, Medicine and Technology (CHSSoHMT), at the University of Liverpool)

Matt is a writer based in Leamington Spa. Since being Derbyshire Poet Laureate (2011-13) he has successfully completed over 20 substantial commissions on public themes, and over the last 4 years has worked extensively on public knowledge work, including writing a play inspired by University of Liverpool academic research into extreme weather, which has toured for two years. He is currently presenting his show ‘The Snoopy Question; One dog’s answer to world peace’ on a UK tour, after a successful run at the 2019 Edinburgh fringe, and its content is based upon conversations with researchers at the University of Liverpool about dogs and their interactions with people. In 2019 he was commissioned by a University of Liverpool public engagement grant held by Dr Westgarth and Dr Pearson, who lead the cross-faculty ‘Connecting Human-Animal Interaction Research (CHAIR) network. In this pilot project he worked closely with four researchers to translate their findings into poetry, and also hosted a public writing workshop and reading event, which resulted in a booklet of poems by staff and students, called ‘Dear Fly’. Due to the success of this work, we wish to further public and researcher engagement with interdisciplinary anthrozoological research and Matt will be hosting a writing workshop at the conference, as well as writing poems based on talks he attends during the conference. Matt will also be performing “The Snoopy Question” at an evening event during the conference.

Tues 1st Sept 7-8pm UK time

Writer and poet Matt Black "The Snoopy Question" performance. Kindly sponsored by the University of Liverpool Centre for Humanities and Social Sciences of Health, Medicine and Technology.

To register: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/116104348231