Explore the Human-Animal Relationship
Discover how the human-animal relationship affects the health of animals, humans, and our communities at large.
The Research Series on Human-Animal Relationships was founded in 2021 as an interdisciplinary research group and seminar series. The series features regular scholarly talks and discussions on human-animal relationships. Our affiliates investigate different facets of human-animal relationships, broadly construed. We collectively have expertise in veterinary medicine, animal cognition, anthropology, interpersonal psychology, and human decision-making, among other disciplines. In addition, our affiliates have joint appointments in other academic areas of the University of Arizona.
Upcoming Events
About The Upcoming Lecture
Affiliated Faculty
Evan MacLean
Evan MacLean is an Assistant Professor at the University of Arizona where he holds appointments in Anthropology, Veterinary Medicine, Psychology, and Cognitive Science. He is the founder and Director of the Arizona Canine Cognition Center. Dr. MacLean received his Ph.D. in Evolutionary Anthropology from Duke University.
Martin Reimann
Martin Reimann is an associate professor of marketing at the Eller College of Management, with appointments as associate professor in the Department of Psychology, the College of Veterinary Medicine, and the Cognitive Science Graduate Interdisciplinary Program. He currently serves as Eller Faculty Senator.
Maggie O'Haire
Dr. Marguerite (Maggie) O’Haire is an internationally recognized Fulbright Scholar and the Associate Dean for Research at the College of Veterinary Medicine. She earned her BA in Psychology from Vassar College in New York and her PhD in Psychology from The University of Queensland in Australia. Her research program focuses on the unique and pervasive ways humans interact with animals.
Jennifer Wishnie
Jennifer Wishnie is a public health professional with more than twelve years of global experience in food production, food safety and public health. Her areas of expertise include One Health medicine, cross-sector relationship building and collaboration, strategic programming, policy development and educational outreach and teaching.
Watch Previous Lectures
What are button-pressing dogs trying to tell us?
Featured Speaker: Clive Wynne, PhD
Clive Wynne, originally from England, studied at University College London and the University of Edinburgh. Before joining Arizona State University in 2013, he served on the University of Western Australia and the University of Florida faculties. His research centers on comparative psychology, focusing on the behaviors of dogs and their wild relatives. His team studies how pet dogs adapt to human behavior, applies behavioral techniques to address problem behaviors, examines shelter dog behaviors that impact adoption, improves sniffer dog training, and explores human interaction as social enrichment for captive canids.
Consumers and their Animal Guardians: Why Pets Are More Like Parents than Partners.
Featured Speaker: Dr. Martin Reimann
Martin Reimann is an associate professor of marketing at the Eller College of Management, with appointments as an associate professor in the Department of Psychology, the College of Veterinary Medicine, and the Cognitive Science Graduate Interdisciplinary Program.
Reimann holds a PhD in Psychology from the University of Southern California, a Habilitation, and a PhD in Marketing from TU Freiberg (Germany). Before joining Eller, he was a postdoctoral fellow at Stanford University and a W3 professor of marketing at Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg (Germany). He applies functional neuroimaging, behavioral experiments, and quantitative methods to investigate how and why people (1) consume product experiences and (2) form, maintain, and dissolve social relations with other humans, products, and pets.
Title: Adventures With C-Barq: How far can we go with proxy measures of canine behavior
Featured Speaker: Dr. James Serpell
James Serpell is an Emeritus Professor of Animal Welfare at the School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, which he joined in 1993. His research focuses on the behavior and welfare of dogs and cats, human attitudes to animals, and the history and psychology of human-animal relationships and interactions. He is also the creator of the C-BARQ, which is currently the world’s most widely used canine behavioral assessment instrument.
Social Determinants of Health Approach to Human-Animal Interaction Research
Featured Speaker: Jennifer W. Applebaum, MS, PhD
Jennifer W. Applebaum, MS, PhD is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Environmental & Global Health at the University of Florida’s College of Public Health and Health Professions. Trained as a Medical Sociologist with a background in animal sheltering, Dr. Applebaum’s research focuses broadly on the implications of social inequalities on human and companion animal health and well-being. Drawing from sociological theory and concepts to take a social approach to the One Health framework, her research is interested in the intersection of stress, structural-level social processes, the social determinants of health, and the human-animal bond.
Human-Animal Research with Dr. Evan MacLean | Oxytocin Pathways in the Context of Human-Animal Interaction
Dr. Evan MacLean is an Assistant Professor at the University of Arizona, where he holds appointments in Anthropology, Veterinary Medicine, Psychology, and Cognitive Science. He is the founder and Director of the Arizona Canine Cognition Center, which studies how dog behavior, cognition, genetics, and neuroendocrinology research can improve how dogs are selected, bred, and trained for societal roles. In addition to his work on animal behavior and cognition, Dr. MacLean studies the biological mechanisms involved in human-animal interaction, focusing on the neuropeptides oxytocin and vasopressin. His work has been highlighted in media outlets, including The New York Times, National Public Radio, the BBC, and National Geographic.
Learn More About our Research Initiatives
We are a community built on a shared commitment to exploration and innovation. Our research efforts focus on advancing human and animal health globally through interdisciplinary research.
You can learn more about our research areas focused on expanding the future of veterinary medicine and One Health.