Rachel Thomson 

Rachel completed an MRes in Neuroscience and is now a doctoral student at the Centre for Comparative & Evolutionary Psychology, at the University of Portsmouth. Her research focuses on elephant cognition, personality and human-elephant conflict. In this workshop, Rachel will delve into the scientific value of animal models, methodological issues and ethical considerations when working with animals in both the laboratory and in the wild.

She will describe her use of novel-object presentations and puzzle-box experiments, crop-raiding analysis & community work for her fieldwork period in Botswana as well as her work on the Captive Elephant Personality Questionnaire Validation project for the Elephant Welfare Group that she began at the University of Southampton. She will finish by providing suggestions about how students can bolster their understanding of research methods and stats through observational studies at local zoos and wildlife parks.