Biography
Dr. Rebecca Doyle is a senior lecturer with the Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences, and researcher at the Animal Welfare Science Centre, at the University of Melbourne. She also leads the animal welfare network for the Global Agenda for Sustainable Livestock, and sits on the animal welfare advisory committee for Australia's Victorian State Government.
Rebecca started her science career studying animal science at the University of Sydney, graduating with honours 2006. Her honours research measured the endocrine function of poor growing baby saltwater crocodiles.
Rebecca started her first work in animal welfare in 2007 when she started a PhD with the CSIRO and The University of New England in Armidale, Australia. Here she conducted the first ever studies of cognitive bias in livestock, which ignited her passion for understanding sheep.
After completing her PhD in 2010, Rebecca took up a role as a lecturer at Charles Sturt University where she taught physiology and animal welfare and continued her research in applied ethology and animal welfare.
Since joining the University of Melbourne in 2014, Rebecca has continued to teach animal behaviour and welfare to undergraduates and graduates, while focusing on animal welfare science.
Rebecca’s research includes fundamental cognitive measures of welfare through to applied animal welfare research in Australia and internationally. This spread means she works at the forefront of animal welfare and can turn new discoveries into direct improvements in the lives of animals.
She is a previous recipient of the Australian Government’s Animal Welfare Science and Innovation award. Rebecca has been a proud member of the ISAE since 2008 and was the Australasian/African regional secretary for 4 years.
Rebecca loves working with sheep and goats, but also has a soft spot for Galapagos tortoises, sloths and other slow moving creatures that occupy slightly obscure ecological niches.
In February 2018, she travelled to Antarctica with around 80 other women for Homeward Bound, a leadership, strategic and science initiative that aims to heighten the influence and impact of women in STEMM.