Do you want to join our team this Summer or even this Fall?
Here is an internship and/or job offer to work with us on dairy cow welfare, animal behaviour and artificial intelligence!
Contact us for more information
TITLE OF THE INTERNSHIP: Impact of enrichment on the welfare of dairy cows
Background and issues: Despite an intensification of farm animal industry, farmers are interested in providing an appropriate environment for their animals in relation to future compliance requirements, while trying to better understand the needs of the animals and in particular their welfare. Our projects focus on one main objective: improving current housing systems through environmental enrichment. Our main research question is: how to enrich the environment of the cow (e.g., social, or environmental enrichment) to enhance her welfare and her ability to meet her behavioral needs? To answer this question, several animal responses will be studied, including the clinical aspects such as analyzing gait and thermal responses in the hooves, and the behavioral aspects such as behavioral robustness and emotions.
Overall Internship Objectives/Expected Outcomes: Clinical component: Evaluate clinical aspects of welfare such as cow gait and body temperature. Behavioral component: Measure the emotions (e.g., reactivity tests) and behaviors (time budget) of cows when faced with different forms of enrichment.
Project in which the internship fits: The internship is part of the scientific programming of the WELL-E Research and Innovation Chair in Animal Welfare and Artificial Intelligence. MAIN ACTIVITIES ENTRUSTED TO THE TRAINEE: - Preparation for and participation in experiments underway at the time of the internship - Use of software for coding behaviors (The Observer) or clinical parameters - Analysis using R software - Writing a report of the internship in the form of a scientific paper - Oral presentations during lab meetings
REQUIRED PROFILE: - Knowledge: interest in the study of behavior and welfare in livestock - Operational skills: analysis of data sets and coding in R - Languages: English, French (optional) BENEFITS OFFERED (if applicable): - salary: $16/h SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL CO-SUPERVISION Partner 1: Elsa Vasseur, Professor, McGill University Partner 2: Marjorie Cellier, Post-doctoral researcher, McGill University CONTACT OF THE SCIENTIFIC LEADER: Name and position of the scientific leader to contact: Marjorie Cellier Address: Macdonald-Stewart Building, Macdonald Campus, 21111 Lakeshore Road, Ste Anne de Bellevue, QC, H9X 3V9, Canada Website (team and/or project): www.cowlifemcgill.com and www.well-e.org Email: marjorie.cellier@mcgill.ca TRAINING DATES: Number of weeks to be determined with the supervisor between May and December 2023 PLACE OF WORK: Department of Animal Sciences, McGill University, Macdonald Campus, Ste Anne de Bellevue, QC, H9X 3V9, Canada