Aileen MacLellan

I completed a B.Sc. in Animal Biology with a minor in Psychology here at the University of Guelph. I have always been interested in animal behaviour and welfare, and during this degree, found it fascinating learning about how the two were studied. After my undergrad I worked for two years in zoo, then pet food research sectors where I realized I wanted to turn my interested in animal welfare into a career and returned to Guelph to start my MSc. Here, I worked with Dr. Georgia Mason examining the effects of conventional, barren housing on laboratory mice. This laid the groundwork for my PhD, where I am investigating whether the stress of conventional laboratory cages causes states consistent with clinical depression, and whether environmentally enriched cages protect mice from such effects.

Education:

BScH – Animal Biology, University of Guelph – 2015

MSc – Animal Biosciences, University of Guelph – 2018

PhD – Integrative Biology, University of Guelph  – 2019-present