Question: What sorts of things do you do at science?

@bhavica32: Hello! Science is about being curious about something, then asking a question to try and work out the what/why/how of things. Pretty much every time we do an experiment, we’re asking a question. We generally have a good idea of what the answer will be because of other people’s work before us, but sometimes we can be wrong or the answers/results surprise us!

In my area of science, where I’m looking at the welfare of animals, I’m really interested in asking questions about what animals want and need to have the best quality of life they can. My area of work right now is working dogs, so I’m looking at what dogs need to be happy so they can give us the very best level of work performance. If we take really good care of our working dogs (farm, police, biosecurity, guide/assistance, racing greyhound, etc.) then they will give us more in return – everyone wins!

I do this in a few ways. I ask people what they thin about dogs and how they are cared for. Because people are in control of how dogs are looked after, it’s important to understand what they think is important (or not important). Then I look at the dogs and how they cope living the way they do. Lots of dogs get quite stressed living in kennels, so I also look at ways we can reduce this stress. Then I look to see if what the dogs need and want matches with what the people think is important. If they don’t match, I might need to do some work communicating the results of my research to help educate people about what dogs really want and need to be happy and work at their best.

Thanks for the great question – I hope my answer makes sense!

🙂