 |
Anna SchwankePosition/Title: PhD Candidate email: aschwank@uoguelph.ca Phone: Office: ANNU 218
|
I was born in Ontario but raised in Australia where I spent 10 years before returning to Canada to finish high school. I obtained my B.Sc. in Physical Science with a Minor in Physics at the University of Guelph and during my final year completed an undergraduate research project under Dr. Trevor DeVries working with dairy cattle. In 2019 I started my M.Sc. in Animal Behaviour and Welfare in Trevor’s lab, before transferring to the Ph.D. program and completing my qualifying exam in 2021.
My thesis is investigating how individual dairy cow personality affects feeding and milking behaviour in automated milking systems. I identify the personality traits of dairy cows by observing their behaviour when exposed to a novel environment, novel object, and novel human, and then use the personality trait (e.g. bold, explorative, active, fearful, social) scores to statistically detect associations with feeding and milking behaviour data. My past studies have found that more fearful cows may not be willing to consume high amounts of grain in the automated milking system, suggesting that a different motivating factor might be more effective for these cows to voluntarily milk. I have also found that personality traits are consistent across low/high feeding competition, as well as across the time that cows transition to using an automated milking system. I hope that my research will improve dairy cow welfare by helping to meet individual behavioural needs of these animals, as well as to improve production and resource efficiency for dairy producers. I have an upcoming study that will examine how dairy cow personality impacts the effectiveness of training methods and motivation to voluntarily visit an automated milking system.
In my spare time I love foraging, canning, baking, being outdoors and creating content for my Instagram account @thezerowastegryphon. I also serve as the Communications Director for the CSA club Spéro at Guelph.