My name is Nadine Reefmann (*1980) and I have been a postdoctoral researcher at the Section of Ethology and Animal Welfare in Uppsala (Department of Animal Environment and Health, SLU) since autumn 2009.

I am fascinated by the issue of animal emotions, the cognitive processes involved, and how these relate into animal welfare. I very much enjoy the challenge of finding a way to look into the ‘black box’ of an animal’s subjective mind. How do we know, for example, what an animal perceives as positive in its environment? To answer such questions, modern techniques allow us to combine sophisticated behavioural observations with the non-invasive monitoring of neuro- and visceral physiological responses. Our current model species are dogs but I have also worked with sheep. This research in our international team will allow us humans to increase positive emotional states and improve animal welfare.

Ever since my childhood, I had been fascinated by mammalian behaviour and chose to study biology at the University of Münster in Germany. During this education, my interest broadened and I got intrigued by animal welfare. To gain experience with farm animal welfare, I conducted an internship with Professor Donald Broom in Cambridge for The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. We discovered lesions in broiler chickens in supermarkets that were likely to have coincided with poor welfare while the poultry was still alive. The resulting publication raised a lot of discussions on broiler housing conditions.

I combined my ‘two favourites’ of mammalian behaviour and animal welfare in my diploma thesis. Laboratory animals such as mice are usually housed in small and barren cages. In order to improve their welfare, we developed a semi-naturalistic environment that allowed them to live in a more natural population, and in which they could still be observed to phenotype their behaviour.

In 2005, I started a very interesting PhD position at the Centre for Proper Housing of Ruminants and Pigs in Switzerland. For three years, I could dive into the topic of how to assess emotional reactions in animals. Using sheep as a model species, we investigated the use of multiple non-invasive techniques to assess emotional states ranging from negative to positive valence. This included behavioural observations, physiological monitoring (e. g. cardio-respiratory and electro-dermal activity) and neuro-imaging. I became particularly aware of the relevance to look at the animal’s behaviour since the ear postures of the sheep were very useful to assess emotional reactions, both in experimental situations and on farm. This is how I decided to look deeper into the black box of positive emotions during my postdoc. 

If you want to know more about my research, please have a look at my list of peer-reviewed publications or contact me for further information.