Dr. Ruth Newberry

I am a Professor of Ethology at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences. I study the behaviour and welfare of dogs and other animals. This includes studies about behavioural development, social behaviour and environmental enrichment.

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Ruth C. Newberry is a Professor of Ethology in the Department of Animal and Aquacultural Sciences at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences. She received her PhD from the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, where she investigated the social development of pigs in a semi-natural environment, the “Edinburgh Pig Park.” She conducted research on poultry behaviour and welfare at the Pacific Agri-Food Research Centre in Agassiz, British Columbia, Canada before moving to Washington State University in 1996, and to Norway in 2013. Ruth's research is focused on behavioural development, environmental enrichment and play behaviour. She and her students have conducted studies on a variety of species including dogs, cats, pigs, goats, chickens, turkeys, clouded leopards, grizzly bears, laboratory rats and mice. Ruth is a past President of the International Society for Applied Ethology (ISAE), and serves on various scientific advisory committees that address animal welfare issues. She is a recipient of the Poultry Science Association’s Poultry Welfare Research Award and the ISAE’s Creativity Award. Current projects include environmental enrichment for broiler chickens, positive emotions in pigs, and personality and behavioural plasticity of dogs.