We are delighted to welcome Mark Kingston Jones on this next episode of the iBuzz podcast! Mark is a co-founder of Team Building With Bite, which aims to increase cohesion and animal welfare by having teams come together to build enrichment devices. He is also the workshop Coordinator for The Shape of Enrichment, a non-profit dedicated to promoting environmental enrichment around the world. The organisation is based on two key founding principles: goal-based and holistic welfare programmes. 

Having always wanted to work with animals, Mark originally planned to become a keeper, but a desire to pursue research sent him down the path of education. Throughout his time in the field, he has seen environmental enrichment shift from being thought of as simply toys and extras to being an integral part of animal welfare. By creating behavioural opportunities and giving animals some choice and control in deciding if and how they want to interact with a change in their environment (such as...

In this episode, we are joined by Margo DeMello (PhD, Cultural Anthropology, UC Davis), Assistant Professor at Carroll College in the Anthrozoology Program. Margo has also been an adjunct professor in the Canisius College Anthrozoology program, she directed the Human-Animal Studies program at the Animals & Society Institute for 15 years, and she is the immediate past president of House Rabbit Society. She has published over a dozen books, most within the field of human-animal studies and body studies, and dozens of articles and book chapters.

To introduce us to her work and field, Margo explains the field of anthrozoology, the study of human-animal relationships, and what goes into pursuing a degree. She describes it as a lens through which we can look at other species in a way that challenges anthropocentrism and recognises that humans and animals have always been interlinked.

After working with the Animals & Society Institute for...

Jorg Massen, assistant professor of animal ecology at Utrecht University and editorial board member at Animals, joins us in this next episode of the iBuzz podcast. Jorg talks in-depth about a topic we can all appreciate – friendships among animals. 

He begins by sharing a bit about his background and PhD-work studying friendship in macaques, where he found that the concept of friendship between macaques is, in principle, actually the same as it is between humans in terms of how they maintain friendships and what fitness benefits (i.e. survival and reproduction) they gain from these relationships.

Jorg went on to study several different species, including chimpanzees, common marmosets, and a number of corvids. His findings suggest that some animals do make an active choice in their friendships and tend to befriend individuals with similar characteristics, likely because their behaviour is more predictable. Moreover, animals who have friends and more meaningful relationships...

We are delighted to be joined by Al Kordowski in this episode of the iBuzz podcast! Al is an animal behaviour and training practitioner who has trained with 125 different species over the course of his influential career. Though his work training animals has spanned from marine mammals to service dogs to hawks, his number one goal with every animal is the same: building a trusting relationship.  

In our episode, Al begins by sharing with us the evolution of the animal training world from using adverse methods to using positive reinforcement and providing animals with as much choice and control as possible. When he started working as a professional animal trainer, methods for providing veterinary care were far less developed than they are today. Thanks to hard work, it is now commonplace to teach husbandry behaviour to animals, making care safer for both the animal and the animal care professional and further developing their relationship. 

To make animal training the best...

In this episode the father of animal welfare, Donald Broom, Emeritus Professor of Animal Welfare at Cambridge University, Department of Veterinary Medicine and St Catharine's College, takes us on a journey through the emergence of animal welfare as a scientific field and discusses its role in the world today.

Donald is a long-standing pillar of the animal welfare community, having been Chairman or Vice Chairman of EU Scientific Committees on Animal Welfare 1990 – 2012. His many contributions to the field include scientific assessment of animal welfare, cognitive abilities of animals, ethics of animal usage, the evolution of morality, and sustainable farming. He has published over 360 refereed papers and eleven books including: 

"The Evolution of Morality and religion" (2003 CUP)

“Sentience and Animal Welfare” (2014 CABI)

"Domestic Animal Behaviour and Welfare, 5th edition" (2015 CABI) 

“Tourism and Animal Welfare” (2018 CABI) 

...

Jessica Dolce is a Certified Compassion Fatigue Educator via the Green Cross of Traumatology, receiving her training through The Figley Institute and Tend Academy. She brings seventeen years of experience working with and for companion animals to her online classes, workshops, and coaching.

Jessica is an adjunct faculty member at The Maddie’s® Shelter Medicine Program at the University of Florida and has worked with organizations such as the ASPCA, Maine Medical Center, Maine Department of Agriculture, Southern Maine Community College, and the International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants.

Jessica shares her personal stories of connecting with dogs and how she came to work in her education and communication company with 

Jessica discusses the importance of focusing on healthy boundaries and letting go, and taking good care of oneself, and reaching out for support. 

Jessica zooms in on the individual aspects of care and self-care, as well as the need of...

De eerste Nederlandse podcast is met Dr. Ineke van Herwijnen!

Ineke van Herwijnen behaalde haar Master Nutrition and Health aan Wageningen University (Nederland) met een specialisatie in gezondheidspreventie in 2001. Terwijl ze werkte als communicatiemanager bij een grote multinational, begon ze haar carrière in hondentraining en welzijn, wat leidde tot haar werkzaam bij de Koninklijke Nederlandse Vereniging voor Hondenbescherming.

Ineke is opgeleid tot hondentrainer, tester en therapeut en heeft ruime ervaring op het gebied van hondenbezit en welzijn.

Ineke neemt ons mee naar de aanleiding van haar promotieonderzoek onderwerp en welke onderzoeksvraag er centraal stond.

Opvoedstijlen en visies van dieren en waarom deze belangrijk zijn voor mensen die honden hebben maar ook instructeurs en gedragstherapeuten en specifiek hoe deze van toepassing zijn op de houder-hond relatie wordt besproken en toegelicht.

Ineke verteld natuurlijk weer een paar mooie hondenverhalen en...

Jim Guenter is the CEO of Species360

Jim has led Species360 since 2015. Before joining our organization, he served in technology leadership roles for major US corporations including Target.com, Best Buy, and Accenture, in computer systems and sciences. Jim also served 5 years in the US Army.

Species360 is a non-profit organisation and works with over 1200 member institutions worldwide, including aquariums, zoos, wildlife rescue and rehabilitation centers, governments, universities and colleges, and others. The member community curates and shares husbandry, welfare, medical, and population data for animals in their care, using a software system called Zoological Information Management System (ZIMS). 

A special module called Care and Welfare allows animal care professionals to record and communicate the welfare of animals in their care, watching the trends over time, being able to monitor different characteristics. From moving around the enclosure, how they interact with other...

Carl Safina is an author and ecologist and founder of The Safina Center, fusing scientific understanding, emotional connection, and a moral call to action. Carl Safina's writing about the living world has won a MacArthur “genius” prize, Pew, and Guggenheim Fellowships; book awards from Lannan, Orion, and the National Academies; and the John Burroughs, James Beard, and George Rabb medals.

Carl and talks about 'making a case for life on Earth', how people can help, what is at stake, and how we can make a difference for nature. Stories are what makes information stick, what the Safina Centre does is storytelling and story-making.

Carl talks about his books and the creative spirit of The Safina Center as an original blend of science, art, and literature in the form of books and articles, scientific research, photography, films, sound-art, and spoken words.

Carl shares stories about protecting seabirds, fisheries management, and about animals being able who they are...

Erika Fleury is an author and the Program Director of the North American Primate Sanctuary Alliance (NAPSA), and an unofficial primatologist, and loves to talk about primates!

As Program Director Erika works on a lot of different topics, from legislation, addressing primates not being suitable as pets, grant writing, workshops, and the international animal community, from zoos to legislators, students, and members of the public.

Erika shares what makes a true sanctuary, the different animals who live and found a new home, from cows, tigers, to other primates, about the necessary protocols and procedures to maintain sustainable care and welfare of animals in NAPSA sanctuaries.

Erika highlights how some so-called 'sanctuaries' are not engaging in ethical practices such as breeding and selling primates to the public.

Erika talks about how important it is to explore and use your talents, and how this can benefit primates. It is also important to ask questions like: Do you want to move to a...