My name is Harry Blokhuis and I am professor of Ethology in the Department of Animal Environment and Health. I was born in 1955 in the small village of Woudenberg in The Netherlands.

My interest in animal behaviour was triggered by some books of the Dutch Nobel laureate Nico Tinbergen (1907-1988). I became intrigued by the relative ‘simplicity’ of his fieldwork (e.g. on the herring gull and the digger wasp). He showed how accurate observation and registration of behaviour together with imaginative questions about function, causation and development resulted in exiting hypotheses that could be tested (in a natural setting or in the laboratory).

During my study at Wageningen University in The Netherlands I became aware of the relevance of behaviour studies to improve housing and management and the welfare of farm animals (‘applied ethology’). Through stimulating teachers like prof Jos Metz and prof Piet Wiepkema I developed my interest in applied ethology and started a scientific career in this area.

In 1979 I graduated from Wageningen University as animal scientist with specialisation in applied ethology and animal physiology.

I started scientific work on animal housing and welfare in 1979 at the Poul­try Re­search Centre "Het Spelderholt". Since 1989 I was employed at different research institutes in The Netherlands where I was leading departments in the area of behaviour, housing and welfare of farm animals (cattle, pigs and poultry).

In 2007 I moved to Sweden and I live in Skokloster with my wife Mari.

I very much believe in education as a never ending process: lifelong learning. In my view there is also lot to gain for students when they learn in many different situations and different ways and this certainly includes team working and international experiences. I believe that nowadays students are responsible for there own learning process (define their own goals and ways to get there). I see my own task mainly in motivating and supporting the students in their learning process and making them aware of their strong and weak sides.

I have been coordinating several European research projects. The largest was Welfare Quality where we worked with about 250 scientists from all over Europe (and beyond) to develop systems for welfare assessment and communication. Another EU funded project that I coordinated is called "European Animal Welfare Platform". This platform was a unique project aimed at helping European producers to implement higher standards for animal welfare. Currently we are involved in two European projects. The main goal of the AWARE project is to promote further integration of Eastern European countries in research and education on farm animal welfare. It organizes interactions/networking between scientists, lecturers, students and stakeholders active in farm animal welfare knowledge transfer and implementation. The EU-PLF project deals with implementation of Precision Livestock Farming (PLF) systems on farm level.

Together with PhD, Post-doc and other collaborators and students, we also run specific projects at SLU regarding the role of positive emotions in chickens, welfare assessment in broilers and horses and human-animal interactions in horses.

You can find more details about me in my Curriculum Vitae.

Here is my list of publications.