Applied Animal Behavior & Welfare Lab at Virginia Tech

05/24/2026

We were well represented at the School of Animal Sciences Annual Research Day, with Rebecca Thompson, Yasmeen Gomez, and Yhakira Gray all giving excellent presentations of their work. Rebecca Thompson and Yasmeen Gomez even earned awards for their poster and lightning talks, respectively! Virginia Tech College of Agriculture and Life Sciences

05/14/2026

Congratulations to Kara Barth on successfully defending her Master's research looking at the effects of reggae music on vocalizations in dogs kenneled in a veterinary clinic. Kara was a student from the Anthropology program at Carroll College and was so glad to get to continue to work with her as a graduate student. Thanks to her other committee members Dr. Leonie Jacobs and Dr. Ben Hart. OMALS - Virginia Tech Virginia Tech College of Agriculture and Life Sciences

05/09/2026

Congratulations to Yhakira Gray for successfully defending her Master's thesis looking at the stability of dogs' preferences for different food items. Yhakira worked with us as an undergraduate MAOP Scholar and continued on as a graduate MAOP Scholar. She was involved in a variety of classes as a teaching assistant, working with dogs at the shelter, and helping conduct several research projects. We look forward to seeing what she does next! Thanks as always to her other committee members Dr. Lisa Gunter and Dr. Robin Foster. Virginia Tech College of Agriculture and Life Sciences

05/05/2026

Grassroots science starts with a great nose!

We are recruiting citizen scientist dog-and-handler teams for a new study here at the Applied Animal Behavior and Welfare Lab at Virginia Tech, training dogs to detect Pierce's Disease. We are currently looking for teams in the Blacksburg and Front Royal areas, but we are also collecting contact information from teams across the country for future studies - simply fill out the form, and you will be contacted if a project comes to your region.
Naïve dogs and experienced scent-work or working dogs are all welcome. Please note that signing up does not guarantee a spot, but it gets you on our radar. Follow the link below to express your interest, and we will be in touch!
https://forms.gle/6GkptHeyZZJPLBJG9

Thank you for your interest in our research! We are a team of researchers at Virginia Tech studying how dogs can contribute to real-world detection tasks. We maintain a list of interested dog-owner pairs who may be contacted about upcoming participation opportunities. Joining this list does not comm...

05/03/2026

Congratulations to Jenni Pfafman for successfully defending her Master's research on noise phobia in dogs. Jenni's research included investigating which behaviors owners found problematic for them or the dogs, which predicted owners were likely to seek help for their dogs, and correlations with other behaviors. Excellent work, Jenni! And thanks also to her other committee members, Dr. Courtney Sexton and Dr. Rachel Gilchrist. OMALS - Virginia Tech Virginia Tech College of Agriculture and Life Sciences

05/01/2026

Congratulations to Dr. Rebecca Thompson for successfully defending her doctoral dissertation looking at behavioral and physiological methods for assessing pain in horses. Dr. Thompson's creative research investigated how different assessments can help us identify pain, pain's potential impact on noise sensitivities in horses, and whether horses show clinical pain-related symptoms after exposure to the Lyme-causing bacterium, among many other studies she has conducted! We are so proud of her and look forward to seeing all the good she continues to do for horses and their owners! Thanks also to her committee members, Dr. Lucy Bergamasco, Dr. Robin Foster, and Dr. Virginia Buechner-Maxwell. Virginia Tech College of Agriculture and Life Sciences

03/30/2026

Congratulations to Mary Walker (who is already an emeritus professor of pharmacy at the University of New Mexico!) for successfully defending her Master's research on the role of human breath as an odor source for search and rescue dogs. Her research was conducted with the Canine Olfaction Lab at Texas Tech University. Thanks to her additional committee members Dr. Lisa Gunter, Dr. Nathan Hall, and Dr. Aviles-Rosa. OMALS - Virginia Tech Virginia Tech College of Agriculture and Life Sciences

03/15/2026

This upcoming Wednesday (3/18) from 5-6PM, we will have our second adoption event for the cats in our Shelter Cat Training Course. They are all ready and excited to go to their furever home that weekend, and some are still waiting for their purrfect match.

If that's you, learn more about the cats and complete the adoption survey below! They hope to see you there🐾

Cat Profiles: https://sas.vt.edu/extension/companion-animal/cattery.html

Adoption Link: https://virginiatech.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_1zxkLR0UhyeVIIC

03/04/2026

Dr. Dickinson will be presenting a (very) short talk, 90 seconds to be precise, at the Faculty Nutshell Talks, along with many other researchers from diverse and intriguing disciplines.
Come, and be dazzled by all the amazing and curious things Virginia Tech people study!
Thursday, 5 March @ 430PM The Center for the Arts at VT

02/24/2026

For our up-and-coming scientists in the room! Join us at CANIS Next, the scientific poster session, at this year’s CANIS Conference. The conference has a great lineup of speakers and presentations, and registration is included for presenting scientists with accepted CANIS Next abstracts!

CANIS NEXT is designed to spotlight emerging scientists and early career professionals whose work is shaping the future of canine science and applied practice.

This poster session creates space for research driven dialogue and mentorship across disciplines, connecting data, practice, and impact in one shared environment.

CANIS welcomes original empirical research related to behavior, training, welfare, sheltering, veterinary behavior, learning, cognition, and human canine interaction.

Apply to CANIS NEXT ⬇
https://www.canisconference.com/abstracts

Submission deadline March 31