Purdue University
Purdue Animal Sciences

Joseph P. Garner, D.Phil.

Joseph P. Garner

Assistant Professor

Animal Behavior and Well-Being

 

Research Interests


 

The overall goal of the Garner Lab's research is to integrate non-invasive methods more typically used in human health and psychiatry with traditional methods in ethology (animal behavior) and experimental psychology, in order to provide novel solutions to existing problems in animal behavior and welfare, animal behavior and production, and behavioral animal models. To meet this goal our research is currently focused on three subject areas, applied to two species.

The theoretical and methodological side of our research involves the interplay of three subject areas:

  1. Developing non-invasive human research methods, such as neuropsychology, epidemiology, and consumer demand theory, for use with animals.

  2. Using these methods, along with traditional ethological methods, to study Abnormal Repetitive Behaviors in captive animals in terms of animal wellbeing, and modeling human mental disorder, particularly Trichotillomania.

  3. Investigating the impact of housing and husbandry (and additionally experimental design and methodology in the case of laboratory animals) on the wellbeing of farm and laboratory animals, primarily by the use of computer simulation.

Due to our focus on technique, members of the lab have worked with a wide variety of animal species – including conventional laboratory species (e.g. rabbits, mice, and guinea pigs); farm animals, including pigs, and especially poultry (e.g. broilers, layers, quail, ducks and turkeys); and exotic or wild species (e.g. marine mammals, song birds, exotic rodents). Currently work in the lab is focused on exploring the topics described above in poultry and mice:

  1. Poultry. Past research includes work on the behavior and husbandry of broilers, scoring lameness in broilers, fear and enrichment in quail, and beak trimming in ducks. Current work includes assessment of the effects of feeder space and cage design in laying hens, using conventional and epidemiological methods.

  2. Mice. Past work has focused on Abnormal Repetitive Behaviors in mice, their implications for mouse wellbeing, and their development as an animal model of behaviors in human mental disorder, especially Trichotillomania. Current work continues these themes, and also involves all of the subject areas described above, as well as more traditional work on mouse housing and wellbeing.

Lab philosophy and culture

The lab emphasizes scientific philosophy; intellectual synthesis; interdisciplinary and collaborative research; the logical, empirical and statistical dissection of research questions; ethics and integrity; and the pursuit of questions with ethical and societal need and impact.

Members of the lab are encouraged to pursue their interests; to engage in the joy and excitement of discovery; and to foster these values in an open, collaborative and diverse environment. As such the lab is actively involved in providing research opportunities to undergraduate students, and especially to minority or underrepresented students through Purdue's MARC/AIM program, and Purdue's SACNAS chapter. Service to peers, the academic community, and stakeholders (such as producers, or patient groups) is highly valued.

Links

Trichotillomania Learning Center: www.trich.org

International Society for Applied ethology: www.applied-ethology.org

Purdue's MARC/AIM program: www.gradschool.purdue.edu/diversity/srop-marcaim.cfm

Society for Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science: www.sacnas.org


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