Dr Davina Hill
- Lecturer in Welfare Physiology (Institute of Biodiversity Animal Health & Comparative Medicine)
telephone:
0141 330 2379
email:
Davina.Hill@glasgow.ac.uk
236c Jarrett Building, Garscube, Glasgow, G61 1QH
Biography
2019-: Lecturer in Welfare Physiology, University of Glasgow.
2018-19: Senior Lecturer in Zoology and STEM lead for Learning, Teaching and Assessment, University of Cumbria.
2016-18: Lecturer in Zoology, University of Cumbria.
2012-16: Quantitative Animal Scientist, Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC; research and consultancy).
2011: Visiting Fellow, University of Zürich, Switzerland.
2010-12: National Research Foundation Freestanding Research Fellow, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa.
Research interests
I have broad research interests spanning applied (welfare, adaptation to climate change, food security, conservation) and pure (life history strategies, co-operation, hormonal control of behaviour) aspects of biology.
My interests converge around the theme of how animals cope with the stresses associated with environmental change. My current work aims to help farming adapt to climate change by improving our understanding of animals’ responses to weather-related stressors. This has implications for welfare, productivity, feed efficiency and sustainability.
I am also interested in how alternative life history strategies can help animals cope with environmental change, particularly in socially flexible species. Presently, I am investigating variation in behavioural plasticity in response to the thermal environment, and the extent to which this might help species deal with climate change.
Current themes include
- Effects of weather on productivity and behaviour in dairy cows
- Alternative Reproductive Tactics in rodents
- Climatic effects on life history strategies in small mammals
- Sex differences in parental care
- Resource allocation strategies in domesticated mammals
Supervision
Current research students
Rachel Findlay-Robinson (full time PhD. 2018-) Climatic effects on life history strategy in a hibernating mammal, the hazel dormouse. Lead Supervisor; co-supervised by Dr Volker Deecke and Dr Andrew Weatherall.
I am also supervising three MSc projects in Animal Welfare Science, and supervise around six final year projects per year.
Supervision areas
I welcome enquiries from potential research students in the areas of behavioural and physiological responses to environmental change; stress physiology; thermal biology and life history strategies with a view to preparing funding applications. Information on applying for a PhD at the University of Glasgow can be found here. Funding schemes include NERC CASE studentships and Commonwealth Scholarships.
- Cook, John
Management factors associated with transition success in dairy cows - Green, Melissa Esmé Landry
The effects of urbanisation on physiological indicators of welfare in bats
Teaching
I co-ordinate two courses for MSc Animal Welfare Science, Ethics and Law:
- BIOL5116 Animal Welfare Assessment
- BIOL5127 Animal Legislation and Societal Issues
I also teach on the following courses:
Bachelor of Veterinary Medicine and Surgery
- Digestion (Year 1)
BSc Veterinary Bioscience
- VETSCI1006 Digestive Physiology and Metabolism (Year 1)
MSc Animal Welfare Science, Ethics and Law
- BIOL5114 Animal Ethics
- BOL5115 Animal Welfare Science
- BIOL5126 Key Research Skills
- BIOL5134P Research project
I created and lead the annual British Society of Animal Science (BSAS) R and Statistics Workshop (2013 to present), a residential course aimed at PhD students and professional scientists.
I am External Examiner at the University of Derby for
- BSc Zoology (Hons)
- BSc Biology (Hons)
- Certificate of Credit in Tropical Marine Biology.
Professional activities & recognition
Professional & learned societies
- 2006: Member, Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour
- 2013: R and Statistics Workshop lead, British Society of Animal Science
- 2016: Member, British Ecological Society
- 2016: Member, Animal Welfare Research Network
- 2017: Member, Royal Society of Biology
- 2017: Fellow, Higher Education Academy / Advance HE
- 2018: Certified Animal Scientist, British Society of Animal Science
- 2018: Member, International Society for Behavioral Ecology
Selected international presentations
- 2018: UK-Israel conference on Climate Change and Food Systems (organised by the British Council and the UK Science and Innovation Network), invited speaker and panel chair (Tel Aviv, Israel)
- 2018: 17th Biennial Congress of the International Society for Behavioral Ecology (contributed talk and invited moderator for Social Behavior) (Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA)